Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 56831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“Yeah, but don’t worry,” I said. “The criminal behind the attack hasn’t been heard from in almost three months, and I really don’t think he’ll cause any more trouble.”
“Oh, I’m not worried,” Henry said. “I’m just sorry I wasn’t here to defend your mom and the bar when it all went down.” He was so frail that a light breeze could probably knock him over, but it was a sweet sentiment.
“Fortunately, they didn’t go after Mandy or any of her patrons,” Pete said. “They just smashed up some furniture and the bottles behind the bar. Someone called 911 right away, and the thugs ran off as soon as they heard the sirens.”
“But my buddies told me the man behind the attack was never arrested,” Henry said. “What’s to stop him from doing it again?”
Pete’s dark eyes sparkled with excitement. If there was one thing my friend loved, it was the opportunity to gossip. “He wouldn’t dare. I’ll explain why, but let me back up a minute. Around the same time this lowlife, Mario Greco, sent his men to smash up the bar, he also had them kidnap Adriano. I don’t know if you heard that part.”
Henry’s watery eyes went wide, and he exclaimed, “No! Is he okay?”
Pete nodded. “He’s fine. He ended up escaping, but that gives you an idea of the type of criminal we’re talking about here.”
Henry was hanging on every word. “Then what happened?”
Pete’s flair for the dramatic was becoming more apparent by the moment. “Eventually, Adriano managed to track this guy down by getting help from the Dombruso family, his long-lost relatives on his late father’s side. I guess they’re bigtime gangsters or something. Anyway, there was a high-speed car chase, followed by a confrontation between Adriano and Greco. I saw the whole thing. Adriano told this guy he’d kill him if he ever showed his face again, and the Dombrusos were there to back him up. That must have put the fear of god into him, because Greco hasn’t been seen since.”
“That’s not exactly what my brother said,” I pointed out. “I wasn’t there, but I heard about it from Adriano. He basically just told this guy to leave town, or he’d be sorry.”
“Well, yes,” Pete conceded, as he made a cup of tea, “but killing him was implied in the ‘he’d be sorry’ part.”
I shook my head. “My brother might break the law from time to time, but he’s not a murderer.”
“Of course not,” he said, “but I’m pretty sure his mafia relatives could make that guy disappear with a single phone call. I think Greco knew it too, and that’s why he backed off.”
Henry turned to me and asked, “Is that true? Are they really in the mafia?”
“I’m not sure.” The old man looked skeptical, so I added, “Adriano only recently met them, and since he and I had different dads, I don’t have much to do with his father’s relatives. Plus, I wasn’t directly involved in most of this, so I don’t have a lot of details. You know how overprotective Adriano is. He didn’t want me to get hurt, so he made a point of keeping me out of the loop when all of this was going down.”
The old man grinned at that. “Yeah, he really is protective of you. I remember when you were a kid and some bully in the neighborhood was giving you a hard time. Your big brother scared him so bad that the kid wet his pants and ran home crying.”
I almost asked which time he was referring to, because stuff like that had happened a lot. I’d been small for my age and an easy target for bullies, while Adriano was huge and ten years older than me.
Pete placed the mug of tea on the bar, added a very generous splash of brandy, and said, “Here you go, Mr. Kissinger. It’s on the house. Let me know how I did, so I can be sure to get it right next time.”
Henry looked delighted as he picked up the cup and said, “I can already tell it’s perfect, kid. Do it just like that next time. Oh, and welcome. I can tell you’re going to be a great addition to this place.”
As Henry returned to the booth where his friends were waiting, I asked Pete, “Could you please tone down that story a bit, the next time you tell it? You made my brother sound like Al Capone.”
“Okay, but he really is a bit of a gangster. The old-timers in this neighborhood have known both you and your brother all your lives, so I’m sure they’ve noticed.”
Maybe he had a point. Until recently, Adriano had run an illegal gambling operation, and he’d definitely cultivated a tough guy persona to go with it. That business was what had put him in an actual gangster’s crosshairs. But when Mario Greco had tried to pull off a hostile takeover, he’d found more than he’d bargained for in Adriano Dombruso.