Page 142 of The Enforcer

“He’s getting a pass,” Nova said before Dante could finish, because this was honestly a problem he hadn’t considered, and Nova had spent three days thinking of every possible problem. “They’ve been blackmailing him for years. They made him believe they would kill our brother in prison if he didn’t go along with their fucked-up shit. Maybe they would’ve killed Romeo. They break all the other pacts. They manipulated a kid to humiliate the Morettis because they know our dicks are bigger than theirs, and the only way they could get back at us was to screw a twelve-year-old!”

The table was quiet again, as everyone but Nova, Carlo, and Monte took their seats in uncomfortable silence. Nova just stood there looking at them. “Is it funny to you that the Brambinos took one of our kids and used his last name to humiliate us? Because you may not be laughing when you hear everything I have to say.”

“He’s sixteen.” Enzo narrowed light eyes at Nova. “He’s old enough to make his own decisions. There’s no proof he was working for us—”

“Working?” Nova repeated in disbelief. “Is that what we’re calling it?”

“Working,” Enzo repeated without hesitating. “He fucked Lorenzo’s wife. That’s a death offense. If we give this Moretti a pass, we’re gonna have to give all the Morettis a pass, and there’s proof right in front of us that the Morettis fuck anything they can get their hands on.”

“Who we fuck is our business,” Monte snapped at him.

“No, it’sourbusiness. You make it our business all the time.” Enzo held up his hands at Nova and Carlo as proof. “What the fuck is this kid doing here, anyway?”

“He holds the official consigliere spot. He’s taking Aldo’s commission seat.” Monte said it without flinching.

“Ouch.” Enzo grinned and pulled back. “That one hurts, huh, Monte?”

“Not at all. He’s smarter than everyone at this table, and we all know it.” Monte gestured to the seat across from Enzo. “Zu.”

Nova’s pulse was still thundering, but he sat down and set his briefcase next to him before he asked, “Does anyone else agree with the Brambinos?”

Two more hands went up, and Nova just stared at the Viteris and the Lombardis in shock. “You’re voting to ice my brother? He’s a victim.”

“We have to fucking look at him,” Matteo Lombardis growled. “Raid our houses in the middle of the night. Humiliate us. Yeah, I’m voting to ice him.”

“It’s not like he’s gonna go away.” George Mario, the consigliere for the Viteris, shrugged. “Obviously, Morettis don’t have an issue with cushioning their administration with dirty blood. You’re asking us to give him a pass when God knows how many goodfellas, legitimate made men, have to look at him and know he fucked their wives. No. That’s bullshit. That’s an insult to anyone who took the oath. The Morettis aren’t that fucking special. You don’t get that. If it was any other family, he’d already be dead.”

Nova looked away, swallowing hard for one long moment, knowing he was going to lose his fucking mind in about two seconds.

There was a tic in his jaw from how hard he was clenching his teeth.

Dante De Luca stepped on Nova’s foot, jerking him out of his mental rage.

Then Dante leaned against the table, folding his arms and tilting his head to look at Lorenzo across the table. “So basically, my cousin and now his brother die ’cause you can’t get the fucking job done. Pezzo di merda, you’re not worth that.”

“My brother’s not dying,” Nova assured all of them. “We’re not gonna accept the vote. The Brambinos have manipulated all of you to stand against us.”

“Four against one. Cry all you want; there’s no debating that.” Enzo shook his head with an amused smile. “Go home, little boy. You can’t take all of us.”

“Two,” Dante reminded them and then finished his earlier statement, “If his brother doesn’t get a pass, it’s us against the rest of you. Still seems lopsided, but the problem is—”

“We’re the most powerful Borgatas,” Nova finished for him, unable to believe the stroke of luck. The De Lucas weren’t a natural enemy of the Morettis like the Brambinos, but they weren’t particularly friendly either. The De Lucas were formidable, but they were also very self-contained. While the Morettis worked with many facets of the underworld, the De Lucas deliberately kept to themselves, but Nova had to point out to the table, “Combined, the De Lucas and the Morettis have five times more disposable income than the rest of you, and more importantly—”

“We outnumber you,” Dante said slowly, raising his eyebrows like he enjoyed it. “You have four votes on this council. We only have two, but trust me, we could trim down the north end of this commission real fucking fast. We know what you think of us, but Siciliani started Cosa Nostra. This isn’t your thing. It’s our fucking thing. We tolerate you, but we can fucking end it for you.” Dante turned to Nova when everyone had fallen silent. “I think they’d like to hear a counteroffer.”

Nova looked around the table, searching for the right counteroffer. He instinctively looked back to Carlo, whose eyes were wide in horror like he hadn’t expected Tino’s potential execution to be an issue either.

Especially since Carlo would rightfully be the one to carry it out.

If a decision came down from the commission, their Borgata had the right to take care of it rather than leave it to the Savios, who might make Tino’s death more unpleasant than it needed to be.

Carlo looked like he might be sick.

He spent his entire life on the outskirts of their world.

Barely associating with other members of Cosa Nostra because anyone could end up being voted on at this table.

The only ones Carlo was ever guilty of letting in were Tino and Nova.