Page 18 of Arranged
“Yeah. I want to hear your idea.” If it was good, there was no reason for me not to use it.
A perplexed look crossed his face.
“What? You don’t want to share now?”
“No, it’s not that. I didn’t think you’d want to hear it. No one ever does.” There was something in his eyes when he looked up at me that made me step closer to him.
“Well, I do want to hear it.”
“You said you needed to get someone in a club. I guess that guy in the photos is your enemy, right?”
I nodded.
“A band can do it. You just need to find one that he’ll like and want in his club.”
“Okay, but if a random band comes to offer—”
“No. Not like that. You need to make him want them. Don’t have them come to him. They should have concerts in all the other clubs and catch everyone’s attention, including his. Pick some small band outside your territory. Something similar to what he likes. Then give them exactly what they need to get big: money. Someone like you can promote the hell out of them. It doesn’t even matter if they’re awesome. Good will be enough. But your promo has to be strong. That’s all. People will be curious and will go see them. Then, if you’re lucky, your guy will bite, and he’ll invite them straight into his club.”
I kept looking at him. “That’s not a bad idea.”
I could try to make it work.
“All you have to do is pay the band enough so they’d do what you need them to. They can look around the club, or you can get them to record their performance. They should be careful about it, but if they’re caught, they will have an excuse and can say his club is the best one from all those where they performed, so they wanted to use it for their next video,” he said.
Santino was good, but was he good enough to figure out something like this?
Maybe not.
It was worth a try.
It had a better chance of working out than if I tried to send one of my soldiers there or a spy. And Santino would never be able to prove that I was behind the whole thing, even if he figured out something was up.
Torturing or killing off a somewhat famous band would be a terrible idea and very bad for business.
I’d have to make sure the band became well known all over social media. If anything happened to any of the members or if they disappeared, everyone would be looking for them or trying to figure out what was going on.
Santino didn’t need that kind of attention.
But would he think about that possibility and never invite the band to his club while he was there? Or would his own ego blind him from seeing what was right in front of him?
A small smile spread across my lips.
“Thanks,” I said, and then I hurried out of the room so I could find Rafael.
We had to set our plan in motion as soon as possible.
Luca’s surprised gaze was still on me before I closed the door.