Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 82847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
He perked up right away. “Deal.”
We arrived in Catania, drove down a couple streets to the restaurant. The truck pulled over, and we saw Don Mancini get out of the vehicle up ahead and head to the restaurant. Leo and I got out, while the others stayed with the truck, packing under their jackets and in their jeans.
We both trailed far behind Don Mancini, trying to be subtle since we were in public, with people on the sidewalks.
They arrived at the restaurant and checked in with the host before they were escorted to the table. We were given a different table a couple feet away, out of earshot but close enough to blow brains to bits if necessary.
We did the dance, ordering wine and entrees like we were out to dine.
“The two guys in the corner are with Hector,” I said. “You can’t see them because they’re directly behind you.”
“You’re sure?”
I nodded.
Leo took a peek at his father over his shoulder, the four men sitting at the table over candlelight handling business. Everyone else in the restaurant didn’t have a clue about the deal going down and the truckload of guns parked on the street. “Seems to be going well.”
“Yeah.”
We drank our wine and tried to blend in, but neither of us spoke to the other because we strained our ears to pick up on the quiet conversation at the boss’s table. They ordered appetizers like they intended to be there for a while.
Our entrees came out, and we started to eat.
I noticed a table of women across the room that kept looking over at us. We didn’t need the attention during a deal, but there was nothing I could do about it. I hoped they didn’t come over and make my life difficult.
“Hope no one thinks we’re on a date or something,” Leo said as he spun his fork in the pasta.
“We have bigger things to worry about right now, Leo.”
The conversation at the table turned a bit heated. The bodyguards in the corner pivoted their positions a little differently, like they wanted to make it easy to reach in and grab their guns from inside their jackets.
Leo abandoned his food and focused on the conversation.
Don Mancini said something about them being cheap, and they fired back and called him greedy. It went back and forth for a while, and it seemed like there would be no end in sight. Hector was decades older than Vincenzo, just like Luigi had been. Vincenzo was unusually young to be a don.
I left my chair and walked over.
“Wolfe,” Leo said in a hushed voice.
The bodyguards reached for their guns in their jackets but didn’t pull them out.
I grabbed a nearby empty chair and placed it at the head of their table before I took a seat. “Let me save you both some time, alright?” I turned to Hector. “Don Mancini is the only arms distributor in Sicily, and that monopoly is growing. If you want something cheaper, then deal with the Russians. But remember—you get what you pay for. Our product is designed by the military. What does it matter how light your wallet is when your gun jams and you end up dead? And then your wife loses everything because your enemies take it all from her when you aren’t there to protect her. She’ll end up a seamstress, working her fingers bloody into her nineties. You want that for her?”
Don Mancini initially flashed me an annoyed look, though he didn’t make himself look weak by reprimanding me. But once he glanced at Hector’s reaction, that ire started to fade.
“You know how many other meetings we have this month?” I asked Hector. “If you don’t want our product, we don’t give a shit. There’s a line of men who do. So don’t waste our time if you’re too cheap to do business.” We didn’t have a line of men who wanted our product—yet. But that would change quickly.
Hector studied me before he looked at the don. “Where did you find him?”
Don Mancini stared at him like he didn’t appreciate the question. “He was a stray.”
“And no one is more loyal than a stray who finds his forever home,” I said. “So are we doing business or not?”
Hector stared at me for a moment longer before he looked at Don Mancini again. “The highest we’ll go is—”
“Pay our asking price or leave.”
Elio turned to me. “Wolfe—”
“Do we look like vendors at the market?” I snapped. “We’re not here to barter or negotiate on price. Take it or leave it. Waste another moment of the don’s time, and I’ll skin your two bodyguards over there and turn them into pork rinds.”
Hector looked at Don Mancini like he would contradict me.
He didn’t.
Hector then turned to his associate, and they had a quiet conversation exchanged in whispers before he looked at the don again. “Alright, we accept the price. But we would like to discuss a wholesale price in the future as a possible third-party distributor—if you’re open to the idea.”