Chapter 1 - Dominic
I am the guy they call when there’s a problem that needs to be solved because no one else can do what I do. I will go to any lengths to protect and help the family. Ihavealready gone to great lengths to do so. Many people think I’m nothing more of me than a heartless killer, but I simply have a particular set of skills, and those skills yield results—results my family need.
So, when Frankie called me to tell me I’d be escorting someone related to the enemy we’re currently fighting to a meeting with another enemy family. I did what I was told. Andres is related to Jose Catalan, who wants my brother dead. I don’t trust Andres, but I do what I’m told.
We’re meeting with Facuno Lopez, a family from Argentina that Jose controls. But not by choice. I could be walking into a trap, though I’d be more worried for them if that’s the case. I wait outside the airport for Andres to arrive, my sunglasses hiding my blue-gray eyes. I have received a photo of him, so I know who I’m looking for. I doubt he knows who I am.
He walks out of the arrivals gate and stops, looking around carefully. I walk toward him.
“Andres?” I ask, standing straight.
“Who are you?” he asks suspiciously.
“Dominic Sorvino, the lamb to the slaughter,” I say, using the security phrase I’d sent to him earlier. He relaxes visibly.
“Thank you, what time are we meeting them?”
“Immediately,” I say. I don’t offer to take his bag. I’m a go-between, not a personal valet. I lead him toward the armored car waiting outside. The driver opens the door for me, and I climb in, shifting along so Andres can get in as well. “We’ll be there soon.”
“If all goes well, I’ll be in Argentina soon, and your brother will be free to return to New York,” Andres says with a smile that I do not return.
“Best you make it happen. We don’t take betrayal lightly,” I say. “Especially when it’s us getting betrayed.”
“I have no fight with the Sorvinos, only with Jose,” Andres says, looking out the window.
Traffic is surprisingly light, it is still early, and we arrive at the large beach house on Long Island. The guards wave us through, and my driver parks just to the side of the house. I climb out and wait for Andres. “Leave your luggage. If they agree, we can get it later.”
“If they don’t?” Andres asks though he doesn’t seem nervous.
“Then you better come up with another plan, and you probably won’t need your luggage,” I say, leading him up to the door of the house.
A young woman in a black and white maid's outfit opens the door and curtsies. “Mr. Lopez is expecting you out on the deck.”
She leads us through the house. It’s grand, but I’ve never been one for expensively decorated homes. It serves a function, and I don’t see the point in making it pretty.
“A Sorvino and a Catalan walk into my house, and I don’t shoot them. It is an amazing day,” an elder-looking man laughs, clapping his hands together, a cigar clenched between his teeth.
“Sit, sit,” he waves to some chairs around a table to his left. “Do you want a drink? A cigar? They come from Cuba.”
I shake my head and sit down, leaning back. Andres takes a cigar and sits down. Facuno lights it, and Andres inhales.
I watch the exchange carefully, keeping my senses tuned to any movement or approaching guards. Facuno sits opposite us and spreads his arms wide. “So, you’ve made it clear you want to overthrow Jose Catalan, someone we both dislike. That’s a dangerous game, Andres. He has many families that support him.”
“They support him out of fear,” Andres says quickly. “But if we can garner their support, and turn them against him, then we stand a chance of replacing him with a more agreeable Don.”
“Such as?” Facuno asks. “There are many who would take that seat.”
“I would take that seat,” Andres says. “I would be fair, keeping trade open and profitable for all families.”
Facuno laughs. “You have big dreams, and now the Sorvino family provides the muscle.”
“I’m no one’s muscle,” I say, crossing my legs. “But he has our family’s backing.”
Facuno stares me out. I can tell he’s sizing me up, but what he says next surprises me.
“I can’t help you. Unfortunately, something has come up that prevents me from going against Jose,” Facuno sighs. “I would have done it, though, please believe me. And he won’t hear of this betrayal from me.”
“What’s come up?” I ask before Andres can speak.