Adriano said, plopping down in the seat next to Baggio. “He hasn’t seen what Gilberts can do. Though I do think fish delivering messages to a person would be difficult. The message wouldn’t last. And how would he get there?”
“Yeah, birds have an advantage, but that’s not taking away the thinking capacity of a fish.”
Men started to come in while this fucking conversation went on.
“Between chicken and fish…” Adriano scrunched up his face. “I really enjoy both. Both are lean, depending on the way you fix them, but I think eating fish might be better. Brain food, with the oils and stuff.”
“Fuck-exactly!” Baggio said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Though I’d really fuckin’ hate to eat Gilberts. Only if I had to.”
These fucking guys.
After all of the men arrived, we discussed the usual business.
Calcedonio mentioned redoing the Primo Club, maybe making it look like a real gentlemen’s club. It needed to be different, he said. It was about time.
I liked the plain look of it. The tables scattered wherever with cards on them. The old bar with countless scuff marks. Even the floors gave it a touch of nostalgia. They had been there since my grandfather had owned it. Ceramic tile with red rose patterns. Some of the roses looked like bloodstains. The floor had cracks that I could see when I closed my eyes. They’d been there since I was a kid.
Another man brought up the Scorpio Lounge—most people just called it Scorpio—a known business that made good money, and said that Dario Fausti had redone it.
“Moving on,” I said.
Toward the end of the meeting, Tito walked in. Calcedonio forfeited his chair so he could sit. The guy next to Calcedonio stood so he could set his bag down. A dozen or so red roses stuck out of it.
Tito stared at me, crossing his arms over his chest.
“You come here to show me how your glasses can fog from your fuming?” I said when all of the men left and Calcedonio had shut the door, leaving us alone.
He took them off and cleaned them with his shirt. His eyes looked beady when he didn’t have them on. “I went to visit your wife,” he said. “At Bella Luna. I wanted to buy Lola a gift.”
She was there later than usual. “Nunzio is with her,” I said. “She’s going over her inventory with Brooklyn.”
“I know this,” he snapped. “I was there.”
I sighed. “Say what’s on your mind.” If he had something to say, and you didn’t acknowledge it, he had a way of causing havoc without speaking a word.
He adjusted his glasses on his nose. Now he was staring at me like I was a specimen. “I feel responsible for this.”
I waited for a minute or two.
“For giving her to you,” he said.
“Ah,” I said. “You come to lecture me on being a good husband.”
He shook his head. “I am godfather to many children. I have even walked some down the aisle when their fathers were not able to, or were not fit. And I have always made a promise to them. I would always take care of them. I did the same when I became godfather to your wife.” He became quiet for a minute, thinking. “I would have never brought the two of you together if I did not think you could be a good husband. If I would have even suspected you would have tried to bring her here to face Silvio and his son for any price, but especially for the price of a sham.”
I narrowed my eyes against his, demanding the truth. The price of a sham?
“Silvio told your grandfather that you had disobeyed him. That he had asked you to find Alcina in return for the information he had on the Scarpones, and you had agreed. Emilio did not want you involved in the situation with Vittorio Scarpone. You knew that. So did Silvio. So you both disobeyed him. But Emilio felt what Silvio did was worse.
“Silvio was setting you up—he never had the information on Vittorio that you were looking for. So Silvio did not kill Emilio because he wanted the family. That was just a bonus. Silvio killed Emilio because he knew Emilio was going to kill him first. As for Vittorio Scarpone? Whatever your grandfather knew about Vittorio Scarpone, he took to the grave.”
“Tell me what you know about the man.”
“Listen to me,” he almost hissed. “I not only hear, but I listen. I not only look, but I see.