Mafia Kings: Adriano: Chapter 61

I sat at the outdoor table with my brothers and Lars, sipped a cup of espresso, and wished I was back in bed with Bianca.

It was time for business, though.

Niccolo had called an emergency meeting. He struck an ominous tone from the very beginning. “I think we should temporarily retreat from Florence.”

“Fuck that,” I snarled. “We’ve spilled blood there – no fucking way we abandon it now.”

“I said ‘temporarily retreat,’ not ‘abandon,’” Niccolo said in irritation. “You may be capo of Florence, but I have to look at the bigger picture.”

“I seem to recall you telling me I should ‘temporarily retreat’ from Florence on Friday night. But if I had, we wouldn’t have Lettieri right now. And we sure as hell wouldn’t know about Mezzasalma or what’s going on with Rome and Venice and – ”

“Adriano,” Dario said in a tired voice.

It was a warning from my don.

I immediately stopped talking.

“Thank you,” Niccolo said tartly.

Although I wasn’t sure if he was thanking Dario for interceding, or thanking me for shutting up.

“As I was about to say, I got to thinking last night. At first blush, it seemed that wiping out the Agrellas might be a tactic to turn the cops against us.”

Valentino frowned. “Why couldn’t it just be about taking over Florence? After all, once this Mezzasalma guy got rid of the Agrellas, we’re the only thing standing in his way.”

“Taking over Florence is the obvious benefit, but it doesn’t make sense strategically.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because now Mezzasalma has a shitstorm on his hands. He’s brought worldwide attention to what he’s done. Not exactly optimal for someone trying to run things from the shadows.”

“I don’t know,” I said doubtfully. “He chopped off the head of the snake with one blow.”

Niccolo smiled sarcastically. “And that’s exactly what the Cosa Nostra does, right? Blow shit up and get on the front page of newspapers around the world.”

He had a point. The Cosa Nostra was extremely secretive. We didn’t like to call attention to ourselves.

But Mezzasalma had gone 180 degrees in the exact opposite direction.

“Sounds like you have a theory,” Massimo said.

Niccolo grinned. “You know me so well.”

This was my brother’s favorite part of being consigliere: trying to figure out the enemy’s thinking so we could beat them at their own game.

“Like I said, at first I thought the real purpose of the massacre was to turn the authorities against us. If Mezzasalma makes them think we did it, they’d run us out of Florence. Once civilians start talking about voting politicians out of office, we become more trouble than our bribes are worth.

“Except… I don’t think that’s what’s actually going on. Not after what Lettieri told us. I think Mezzasalma wants us to believe he’s trying to turn the cops against us… but it’s all a smokescreen.”

“So what’s his actual play, then?” Lars asked.

“Rome, Venice, Sicily, Naples, and Milan.” Niccolo paused dramatically. “I think he’s trying to turn the five most powerful families in the Cosa Nostra against us.”

Almost everybody at the table – Roberto, Massimo, Lars, and Valentino – looked at Niccolo in shock.

Dario was the only one who didn’t react. Niccolo had probably already told him before the meeting, seeing as he was the don.

I raised my eyebrows. “And why do you think Mezzasalma’s trying to turn them against us?”

“If the five families think we murdered our business partners of two decades, imagine what we’d do to them given the chance.”

“That’s crazy,” Valentino protested.

“Crazy to us,” Niccolo replied. “Not so crazy to anyone watching from the outside who has no idea what we’re up to.”

I shrugged. “Interesting theory, but that’s all it is until you’ve got something to back it up.”

Niccolo gave me a dangerous smile. “How about this? I tried to contact every consigliere from the five families this morning… and not a single one of them would take my calls.”

There was shocked silence from everyone around the table.

Only Dario looked unsurprised, though he did look somber.

If what Niccolo just said was true, we were in deep shit.

“No one?” I asked in astonishment.

“No one. The five families have effectively cut off all diplomatic relations with us. As of this moment, we are the North Korea of the Cosa Nostra – a hermit kingdom shunned by all. But unlike North Korea, we don’t have any nuclear weapons to dissuade a first strike against us.”

“Fuck,” Valentino said quietly.

“Yeah,” Niccolo agreed grimly.

I was about to ask what we were going to do –

When suddenly I was interrupted by the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.