Revenge Read Online Free PDF Page B

punishment. Think on that.”
    Silence descended on the cabin. A silence big
enough to think in. But a silence that gave him no peace. He had to
call Dom. And he had to figure out some solution to this mess with
Andretti. But there was no dissuading a man of honor bent on a faida —a blood feud.
    Enrico picked up the satellite phone kept on
board and punched in Dom’s number. He answered on the second ring.
“ Ciao , Rico, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
    Enrico took a deep breath before answering.
“Carlo sent me a present today. A dead falcon.”
    “At your hotel room?” Dom’s voice was tinged
with alarm. “How did he know where you were?”
    “Either he has someone watching me, or
there’s a traitor in our midst.”
    Dom said nothing for a moment, then he
ventured, “If there’s a traitor, it’s the boy.”
    Enrico snorted. “You’re not serious.”
    “Aside from Ruggero and me, he’s the only one
who knows where you are at all times.” Dom let that sink in, then
he added, “And he is an outsider. I told you not to take him into
the family.”
    “I remember.” Enrico risked a glance at
Antonio, the boy’s straight blond hair, blue eyes, and pale skin
clearly marking him as other . Not one of them, not
Calabrian. But he just couldn’t picture it. Of all his people,
Antonio was the one whose loyalty he was most sure of. The boy
loved him. He would stake his life on it. He was staking his
life on it. He’d sooner suspect Ruggero, but he had no reason to
doubt him either; the Velas had long been tied to the Lucchesis.
And when it came to Dom, there was no question. Dom was his first
cousin and his best friend. He took a breath. “It’s someone
else.”
    “I’d still keep an eye on him. He came to you
looking for a job, remember?”
    They’d had this argument before. Such caution
was a good quality in a capo di società , a second in
command, but it was wearing at times. And unwarranted in this case.
“Let it go.” Dom sighed, but said nothing. “There’s something
else,” Enrico said. “I’ve been thinking.”
    “That’s never good,” Dom teased.
    Enrico smiled, then sobered. Dom wasn’t going
to like what he had to say. “We have to stop doing business with
the Andrettis. And the other families who don’t abide by the
code.”
    Silence, then he heard Dom clearing his
throat. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
    “I do. We’re not men of honor if we don’t
live by the code.”
    “The fucking code!” Enrico could practically
see Dom’s eyes rolling. “The code is antiquated. How do you expect
us to compete with the Sicilians and the Russians if we don’t
change our ways?” Dom was careful not to mention the drugs or
prostitution forbidden by the code, in case the phones weren’t
secure. One never knew.
    “There are plenty of other ways for the
families to make money. Look at ours.”
    “Hmm. Yes, every family has an investment
banker at the top.”
    “I’m hardly an investment banker.”
    “You’re far too modest. You’re a banker and an excellent shot.”
    Enrico laughed. “If you say so.”
    “You and I both know most of the families
haven’t the brains to do what we do. Hell, I don’t have the
brains to do what you do. I know that. That’s why you run the banks
and take care of the wash.” The wash was their code for money
laundering. Most of the families used the Lucchesis to clean their
money—by running it through legitimate businesses or through a
byzantine series of dummy corporations—and to manage it.
    He heard Dom exhale before he continued. “You
can’t really mean to cut ties with Andretti. If you think he wants
to kill you now, just wait. And we can’t cut off the others. It’ll
be suicide.”
    “I do mean to cut Carlo off. At least him.
Preferably all of them. I know it’ll hurt our profits, but I can’t
stomach it anymore.”
    “You and your father. Such men of principle.
Principles are the excuse people use when they don’t