Forty-Two
Aidan
"I didn’t expectto hear from you so soon. Your father must really have liked that gift of mine, hmm?"
Not bothering to turn around, I kept my face averted, gaze fixed on the outside world as I peered out of a window that had more grime on it than the floor beneath my feet. I meant it too—this was regularly cleansed for DNA. The window evidently wasn’t.
"Sometimes, a gift just keeps on giving, doesn’t it?" I replied.
"Heard on the news that the cathedral got torched. Your church as well." Valentini strode toward me, moving to stand opposite me before he leaned against the wall. "They’re saying that a charred skeleton was found there."
"I wonder whose bones they could belong to?" I questioned, finally catching his eye.
He grinned at me, and after sharing that smile, I took the opportunity to take a glance around the warehouse he’d agreed to come to, and to check out his men.
They were edgy, one kept flicking a knife in his hand, and though the blade was tucked inside a sheath, he was clearly nervous about being on Irish territory, in a place where bodies routinely had a habit of entering but never exiting—at least, rarely in one piece. Lean and tall, his agitation made him the focus of my men too.
Brennan was warily watching him like he was about to throw that knife, while my brother’s hand had tunneled into his pocket where I knew he was probably palming his own switchblade.
The other Italian was stocky, his features blunt, his eyes dark, but his expression was blank. Enough that it drew my attention.
As I stared at him, Valentini murmured, "Mycapos."
I blinked at his explanation, appreciating it. "My second," I replied, motioning at Brennan with my chin. "The rest are guards in case you do something stupid like try to pull a fast one."
Valentini grinned. "I’m Sicilian, Aidan," he chided. "We Sicilians don’t break our word."
"You identify as Sicilian and not Italian?" I queried.
"Are you Irish or American?"
Though I got what he meant, I replied, "I’ve never even been to fucking Ireland."
He smirked. "Still Irish though, aren’t you?"
I smirked back. "Still am, for sure."
"Much as I appreciate the meeting, especially so soon, I was hoping to meet with your father, Aidan—"
"I know you were. Some business is for me to deal with now. That’s not to say that you’re less important to my father, if anything I think it’s indicative of what you were saying yesterday—we’ll be the ones who’ll reign over this city together."
I’d had power in the Five Points since I was sixteen years old, but this highlighted how little I’d really had.
Thiswas power.
Forging new alliances and breaking up others.
Valentini’s eyes gleamed. "A new guard."
I nodded. "Exactly. Now, why would he broker this agreement and not me?"
He shot me a steady look. "That means a deal’s going to be had? You’ll back me as Don?"
"TheFamiglia’sbeen a fucking mess for decades. What makes you think you can reign over it and keep those animals in line?"
"Do you know how it works?"
"Vaguely. What’s on Wikipedia mostly," I mocked.