Having been around them all more than Santi had as an adult, I felt it was pretty safe to say that it wasn't going to matter to them. Sure, my brothers might feel obligated to give Santi some words about treating me right. But everyone involved would know it was all bluster because unless Santi horribly abused me in some way, there was nothing they could really do to the brother of the Capo dei Capi.
Eventually, I was sure Santi would be promoted, too.
He had to start out like everyone else. I mean Lorenzo had even made him act as a bagman, going around and collecting the shy like some common soldier. But I think all of us in the know knew that it was all for show, something like good faith to the other capos and soldiers, to make them see that Santi was willing to put in the work like they'd all done.
After today, they'd know he went and made his bones too.
It was only a matter of time after that.
Suddenly, the books would be open, and he would climb rank fast.
Maybe he would be given a capo position.
But I was pretty sure Lorenzo would skip all that, and give him the most desirable of positions.
Because Santi had been out when Lorenzo took over, Emilio had been the one to get the underboss place. Rightfully so, if you asked me. The man had been loyal since childhood, and had paid his dues ten times over.
But there was still the consigliere position up for grabs.
Lorenzo didn't have a lot of other close friends or family members.
Sure, there were his guards like Christopher, but he was too far down in the chain of command.
And, of course, there was Brio.
But, let's face it, Brio's crazy ass didn't exactly scream "advisor" to anyone with a rational mind.
But Santi?
Santi would make an amazing consigliere. A rational, trusted friend, a voice of reason, one of the few people who would be allowed to argue with the boss.
On top of having been raised in the life, so he knew all the intricacies of it, he'd also been a successful businessman in his own right.
I liked the idea.
I was sure that once the others got used to him being around, got to know him better, they would all agree it was the perfect position for him.
And on a personal level, I liked it for him because it offered him—and Avi—more layers of protection. For all intents and purposes, if you fucked with a consigliere, you might as well have fucked with the boss. Hell, back in the nineties, some low-level drug-dealing associate had put hands on the consigliere at the time. He was hit shortly after.
Santi would have power and money and safety.
The perfect trifecta.
I mean, yes, if you wanted to be a pessimist, it also put a bigger target on his head when things were tense between the Five Families. But I was neither an optimist or a pessimist. I was a realist. And the reality was, no one was better suited to run the whole of the New York mafia than Lorenzo Costa. He was cool and collected and fair, but ruthless when necessary. I had no doubt that, eventually, after maybe a little more unrest and some possible bloodshed, that he would bring peace to the Families.
And at that point, Santi would be in the best possible position.
I wanted that for him.
And if I ever got the chance to make any casual comments about what a good, logical, trusted advisor Santi was, I would do it.
"You good?" Salvatore asked, snatching me out of my swirling thoughts, finding him watching me with lowered brows. "Been away for a bit, and I imagine I'm a little rusty when it comes to reading women, but seems like you got some shit on your mind."
"Just... Family stuff. Nothing too important," I explained.
"They'll be fine with it," he said, shrugging. "If it turns out that they need to," he clarified, "they will be good with it."
"Yeah," I agreed, filling a cup for him.
"You sure you're not just worried about Santi being out doing... business today?" he asked. "'Cause that would be normal too," he added.
"Well, I wasn't until now," I said, throwing a hand out in frustration.
"He'll be fine, babe," Salvatore assured me, sneaking some sugar into his coffee. "If for no other reason then he brought Brio with him. Brio could have his leg severed off, and would walk on his bloody stump just to be able to whack a crowbar across someone's head."
That was very true.
Santi was in good hands.
But still, now that he reminded me that I was supposed to worry about him, I was worrying about him.
And not just in a physical way. I was worried about what it was going to do to him mentally and emotionally to do a hit. Even a very justified one. Even when it was the person who'd murdered Avi's mom.