Page 137 of Niccolo (Mafia Kings #7)

Niccolo

T he next morning, Don Severino and his men arrived to pick us up in his fleet of limousines.

Lars, Alessandra, Caterina, and Mei-ling stayed behind in the palazzo . Only the Widow, Lucia, Bianca, and Rachel would be accompanying us.

The women remaining behind looked nervous, but Dario, Valentino, and Roberto reassured them that Lars would see to their safety. After the husbands kissed their wives, we set off.

By 9:30 AM, we reached the site of the Council meeting: a massive residence near the Pantheon.

‘Pantheon’ means ‘all the gods’ in Greek and was originally a pagan temple constructed before the birth of Christ. At the time, it contained ornate statues of all the Roman gods (basically stolen from the Greeks): Jupiter/Zeus, Juno/Hera, Venus/Aphrodite, Pluto/Hades, and a dozen more besides.

The Pantheon was destroyed by fire several times and rebuilt over the centuries. However, Christianity became the official religion of Rome in 380 AD and eventually supplanted the old ways.

In 609 AD, the pope got the emperor’s permission to turn the Pantheon into a church. The pagan statues were removed and replaced with saints and religious iconography. This change – this ability to adapt – explains why the Pantheon is the best-preserved ancient Roman building in Rome today.

There’s something to be said for changing with the times. As did the Church, so did the Cosa Nostra.

The palazzo where the Council would take place was not nearly as old or grand as the Pantheon, but it was spectacular in its own right.

A masterpiece of 16 th -century architecture, its exterior still looked as it did when Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci walked the streets of Rome – but its interior had undergone significant updates.

The floors were still marble, but the walls had been covered with mahogany paneling carved in sumptuous patterns.

Rather than light and airy , the interior was dark and serene.

Don Severino himself escorted us into the building, flanked by his foot soldiers. We had to surrender our guns in the foyer. Our pistols were placed in drawers and locked, and then we were presented with the keys to retrieve our weapons later.

Don Severino addressed our group. “Don Rosolini, his brothers, and Donna Fioretti will accompany me to the main chamber. Everyone else will be asked to wait in a separate room until they are called to testify before the Council. There will be plenty to eat and drink, but if you need anything else, just tell one of my men, and he will communicate your request to me personally.”

We said our goodbyes to Bianca, Lucia, and Rachel and followed Don Severino.

As we walked down a long corridor, I saw all the dons and consiglieres of the Cosa Nostra, talking amongst themselves in hushed tones – no doubt comparing notes about who they planned to support.

“Ready to wheel and deal?” I whispered to Dario.

Dario sighed. He absolutely hated the political trappings of being a don.

“Only if I must,” he grumbled.

“Oh, it’s an absolute requirement.”

“What if I just let you do it?”

“My pleasure! Just make introductions so I don’t breach protocol and speak to anyone out of turn.”

The first person we encountered was Don Amato of Naples, a short, balding man with a combover. He looked at us distrustfully as we walked up to him.

“Don Amato,” Dario greeted him.

“Don Rosolini,” Amato muttered.

“Have you met my brother and consigliere, Niccolo?” Dario asked.

“Don Amato, such a pleasure!” I said, bowing slightly. “I know our father counted you as an ally of our family for – what – nearly 20 years?”

“Yes,” Amato said unhappily – mostly because he knew I was about to call in a lot of old favors. He said, more to Dario than to me, “I was very sorry to hear about your father.”

“Thank you, Don Amato,” I replied warmly. “That means a great deal to us. I know our father would be truly grateful if we could count on your support in the Council.”

“Your father supported my fight against the Camorra,” Amato said sharply, “but it seems that support dried up after his death.”

“I apologize, Don Amato,” I said pleasantly. “We had to split all of our holdings with our uncle, who then turned around and tried to kill us. But if you can help us put this matter right today, I’m sure our family can continue that legacy of support.”

Amato looked uncomfortable. “Yes, well – ”

Suddenly, a booming voice rang out.

“Finally,” said a gravelly voice with a Sicilian accent. “I’ve been looking forward to this.”

Shit.

I turned around to see Don Vicari striding towards us angrily, fists clenched at his side.

Every other don and consigliere in the room went silent, watching and waiting to see what happened next.

By now, they all knew we had arranged a marriage between Valentino and Vicari’s daughter Isabella – but that the marriage had been called off.

What they didn’t know was why, unless one of Vicari’s men had leaked the reason.

Judging by the intently curious expressions down the corridor, they still didn’t know.

I glanced over at Valentino, who would have been Vicari’s son-in-law if things had gone differently.

My little brother had murder in his eyes – as did Adriano.

Everyone else was tense, ready for violence –

But Dario played diplomat perfectly.

“Don Vicari,” he said, his voice neutral.

“Don Rosolini,” Vicari sneered, his voice full of venom. He glanced at Valentino. “And you…”

Vicari trailed off in disgust, then glared at the Widow.

“And Signora Fioretti, too. All my favorite people in one place,” he said sarcastically.

The Widow looked down her nose at him. “Along with my least favorite person in all of Sicily. What a coincidence.”

“Watch your tongue, old woman,” Vicari snarled.

“Don Vicari – ” Severino barked angrily –

But Dario held up a hand to stop Severino.

I can handle this.

The Roman mafia don fell silent.

“If you have any issues with us, let’s discuss them in private,” Dario said coldly.

“Oh – let’s,” Vicari jeered.

“Keep it civil,” Severino warned.

Vicari scoffed. “As long as these assholes do.”

Severino glared as Vicari walked off, then turned to Dario. “Are you sure you don’t want me to – ”

“I can handle him, but thank you. Until later, Don Amato,” Dario said, and we left the balding man staring after us in wonder.

We followed Vicari down a separate hallway – just Dario and I. Valentino and the Widow were about to come, but Dario gave them a subtle shake of the head, and they stayed behind with our other brothers.

“What, you didn’t want to include your entire family of half-wits?” Vicari jeered.

“Didn’t need them to deal with a moron,” I said cheerfully.

Dario gave me a half-amused, half-reproving look as Vicari exploded.

“Fuck you, consigliere!” he hissed. “I can’t wait to vote against your family and watch Fausto cut off your balls!”

“And I can’t wait to tell everyone about Isabella and Ludavica,” I said in a chipper voice.

Vicari immediately went silent and turned slightly pale.

He was such a homophobic asshole that the thing he feared most was everyone in the Cosa Nostra knowing his daughter was gay – and that she had married a woman instead of Valentino.

Vicari was convinced that the other dons would laugh at him behind his back. Maybe he thought that his daughter being a lesbian would make others think he was gay or something.

Which, for a douchebag like Vicari, was a fate worse than death.

A good consigliere would have advised Vicari against antagonizing us, given that we knew his weak spot.

Too bad for Vicari that he’d killed his consigliere .

Now that I saw he was rattled, I couldn’t help but twist the knife.

“Your daughter didn’t ask me to tell you ‘Hello,’ but she did ask me to pass on her thanks to her great-grandmother for making her, Ludavica, and Valentino sangue di mi sangue. That was the term – wasn’t it?” I asked, even though I knew that’s exactly what it was.

Sangue di mi sangue was an old Sicilian blood oath, literally ‘blood of my blood.’ It meant that the recipient of the blessing was protected by threat of death if anyone harmed them.

Isabella’s great-grandmother – Vicari’s grandmother – had invoked sangue di mi sangue to protect Isabella, Ludavica, and Valentino from her grandson and all of his men.

The old lady had even put a distinctly supernatural tinge on the oath, threatening to hang around after her own death to drag anyone to hell who would mess with her great-granddaughter.

In addition, the old woman revealed that in her youth, she had loved a girl named Constantina… and when the old woman had been forced into an arranged marriage, Constantina had committed suicide out of despair.

If Vicari feared the rest of the Cosa Nostra knowing his daughter was gay, he would have shat himself if they found out about his grandmother and the true love of her life.

I didn’t like using something so sensitive and beautiful as leverage…

But when you were dealing with a shithead like Vicari, sometimes you had to get down in the shit with him.

“When it’s your turn to vote, you’ll abstain,” I said coldly. “You don’t have to vote for us – I won’t demand that – but you will not vote against us . Or everyone in the hallway back there will hear about what really happened on your daughter’s wedding day.”

I had seen rage in Vicari’s eyes before, back in the chapel where we’d nearly all killed each other in a Mexican standoff.

That was nothing like the demonic fury I saw in his eyes now.

“I hope you rot in hell for all eternity,” he rasped.

“Likewise,” I quipped. “Now, if that’s all, we’ll be on our way.”

“You little shit – ”

“Ah ah ah,” I said, waggling my finger. “Remember what Don Severino said: keep it civil.”

“I’ll see you dead one day, consigliere,” Vicari hissed, then turned to Dario. “And you, too – ALL of you.”

“Perhaps,” Dario said coldly. “But not today. Thank you for your time, Don Vicari.”

Vicari stood there, trembling with wrath –

But what could he do?

Dario was letting him walk away with a scrap of dignity, at least.

If he tried any more insults, it would not only make him look weak – it would invite reprisals.

Like starting a whisper campaign about his daughter and grandmother.

He finally gave us a look like fuck you and die, then stomped off.

Dario looked at me sternly. What the fuck were you trying to do?

“You handled that masterfully!” I said with faux cheerfulness. “You were much more tactful than I was!”

“I noticed,” Dario growled.

“We make a great team.”

“Hrm,” he grunted.

We headed back towards the main corridor –

But I immediately noticed that something was wrong.

I could see several dons and consiglieres at the intersection of the hallways –

And all their faces were turned in one direction.

Don Vicari had already disappeared around the corner, so I didn’t think it was him.

Suddenly, I knew with dreadful certainty who they were looking at –

Even before I heard Adriano roar, “GO FUCK YOURSELF, YOU FUCKING MURDERER!”

“Jesus,” I swore as Dario and I ran for the main corridor.

As we rounded the corner, we saw Adriano being held back by Massimo and Valentino. He was struggling to get away from them as he pointed at someone 50 feet away:

Fausto.

My uncle stood there, glaring at my brothers with pure enmity.

Behind him stood Sofia, looking like a deer in headlights.

My heart leapt at the sight of her.

Fausto pointed at Massimo and shouted, “THERE’S the fucking murderer! He killed my SON!”

“YOU KILLED OUR FATHER, YOU GODDAMN PIECE OF SHIT!” Adriano howled.

Dario rushed up, grabbed Adriano’s shoulder, and whispered in his ear.

Adriano immediately stopped struggling.

Now it was Don Severino’s turn to shout as he looked back and forth between us and Fausto.

“There will be no violence here! Not in this building, and not in my city! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?”

“Understood,” Dario said quietly but forcefully.

“I need to hear it from him!” Severino barked as he pointed at Adriano.

By now, Massimo had let him go. Adriano angrily straightened his jacket and said, “No violence.”

Severino turned and glared at Fausto.

“Perfectly understood,” Fausto said with a nasty smile, then glared at us one last time before he walked into the meeting chamber.

Sofia gave me a fleeting look, then followed her master inside.