“Everything okay?” Niccola tossed two cards aside and signaled to Francesco, who sent two new ones flying across the table.
“Yeah.” I glanced at my cards and saw I had a full house, and my thumb flicked the corner of the card, covering a small symbol at the bottom. “Just taming the pit bull.”
“Ernesto met Sienna today. It didn’t go so well.” Niccola filled in Vinni’s grunt of confusion.
“If he touches her again, I will kill him.” I directed my comment to Francesco, so he knew where I stood.
“Get in line,” he responded.
Reciting my cards in my head, I took note of the pot on the game board. The ace and king of hearts was currently the biggest pot. Now I just needed the chance to play them before anyone else did.
Once a month, we took turns hosting a game of Rummoli. We played for high stakes and took the game seriously but had a lot of fun. It was really more of an excuse to shoot the shit while we discussed things as a family. My father called it ourfamily meetings. We were a modern syndicate, but a few old-school roots still ran deep. We knew we had to move with the times to continue to stay on top, but things like the Rummoli game went a long way back in the family and kept us focused.
“So,” Vinni started in, “how long are we going to let this prick rule the dockyard?”
“Until I know exactly what Stefano is up to.” I sipped my sidecar and, with my free hand, removed my tie.
“Fair enough.” He cleared his throat like he wanted to say more. I sent my glance his way and waited. “So, are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?”
“I’m not following.”
“The hot little number who has you in a twist?” He laughed. “I’ve never seen you in such a mess before.”
“I second that.” My father muffled a laugh, and I shot him a glare. We normally gave each other shit when we played, but we all knew when we left the room, that was where it ended. It was the main reason Mariano stopped being invited.
“I mean, I knew you two had a history,” Vinni went on, “but you’ve dated lots of women, and none of them have ever made you this uptight.”
“Is it because she doesn’t fall for your charms?” Harris, Niccola’s long-time best friend and basically family, chimed in with a laugh.
“She does,” I admitted. “She’s just a very stubborn woman who knows me all too well.”
“That’s the best kind, son.” My father laughed. “Women should make you work for their love.”
“Agreed,” Francesco, to my surprise, spoke up, “no matter how hard the work is.”
“Care to share, old friend?” I lifted an eyebrow at him. He didn’t often talk about his personal interests when it came to women.
“No, this conversation is about you.” He chuckled.
Everyone started to play the game. We usually began with the poker round. I tossed my chips in the center and waited for my father to go. He eyed me and leaned back, tilting the corners of the cards up.
“I’m in.” He tossed his chips into the center, and we waited for Niccola.
It came down to Vinni and me, so I showed my cards and won the pot. Now I led and played my lowest card.
“Ten of hearts.” I tossed my card down and waited for the others.
“Jack of hearts.” Niccola kept the game moving.
The dockyard hit was consistently playing in my head, and I thought it was time we discussed it.
“I think we need more cameras at the dockyard,” I started. “How was it that someone was killed on our territory, there was a woman witness, and the cameras were turned off?”
“It’s not more cameras that we need. It’s that they should be run on a separate WIFI network that only you and Piero can access.” Harris moved his hand to declare the suit was dead. He tossed out his lowest card. “Three of spades.”
“I like that.” I nodded. “Make that happen.”
“Will do.”