his wife and children to a nicer place in a better part of town. Peter and Liam had been sending more money than ever home to their mum and dad. Danny himself had still been able to slip money into his sister-in-law’s hands from time to time when Rowan wasn’t looking. Enough to help with the children and his newborn nephew. All eight members of the crew had at last been able to tithe, and it was more than just a couple of pennies at a time.
As much as the guilt ate at him, as much as he hated himself and feared for the future as he steadily entangled himself and the lads with Sicilian gangsters, he didn’t see a way out. Not unless they wanted to return to the lives they’d been living before. The money they had now wouldn’t last forever, and when it ran out…
He sighed, holding his friend close to him.
This wasn’t the work he’d hoped for.
But how could he escape it without losing this taste of a life without hunger?
Chapter 14
“Sit down, Carmine.” Maurizio gestured at the other chair in his office. “There’s something we need to discuss.”
Carmine’s heart was in his throat as he took a seat. Getting summoned by the boss always unsettled him; the man was like an uncle to him, but he was a capo first and foremost.
Maurizio wasn’t in a rage, which was promising. As he poured them each some fine brandy, he looked tired, like a man feeling every ounce of the world on his shoulders.
They clinked their glasses together, and Maurizio sat back in his chair and sipped his drink. Then he met Carmine’s gaze across the desk, his expression filled with fatigue and resignation. “I believe, Carmine, that there are changes coming.”
Carmine studied him, cradling his glass in his hand. “What kinds of changes?”
Maurizio was quiet for a moment, staring thoughtfully into his drink before bringing it up for another sip. “The world is changing. Times are changing.” He sighed. “This city… The families in it…” He shook his head. “We either change with those times, or we die.”
This wasn’t like Maurizio, and Carmine didn’t like it. The capo was usually strong and stoic even in the face of trying times, and it was alarming to see him faltering like this.
Maurizio took a deep breath. “There are others gaining power much faster than us. Closing in on our territories and our markets.” He put his glass on the desk and sighed. “I don’t like it, Carmine, but I have to do something. We can either join someone more powerful, or we can wait for someone more powerful to crush us.”
Carmine scowled. He wanted to insist that the Pulvirentis were powerful, but he knew better. As much as his pride didn’t want to admit it, there were others whose operations were already bigger than the Pulvirentis would ever be, and they were growing by the day. Some even had connections to the powerful Chicago Outfit, which was gaining power and notoriety faster than the organizations here in New York.
“Who should we join?” he asked quietly. “Is there anyone we can trust?”
“It’s difficult to say. We have friends in Cola Schiro and Joe the Boss.” Maurizio tapped thick fingers beside his glass. “If I make an alliance with one, I stand to make an enemy of the other.”
Carmine nodded slowly. Maurizio understood the politics of the families better than he did, but Carmine knew of them. Joe the Boss ran the Morellos. Cola ran the Schiro gang. Both were strong and connected. Respected and feared. Powerful and growing.
“What do you think, Carmine?”
Carmine blinked. “Me?”
“Yes.” His mentor nodded. “If you had to choose between Joe and Cola, who would you choose?”
“Uh.” Carmine swallowed. “Well, right now I’d choose to be glad I’m not in the position to make the choice.”
A dry laugh cracked through the heavy exhaustion in Maurizio’s expression. “Suppose you were.”
Carmine thought about it for a long moment. “I don’t know much about Cola and his crew. Haven’t met him or even heard much one way or another about him.” He paused. “Joe’s got Giuseppe Morello working as his consigliere. Have to respect a man who’s got an old capo as his right hand man.”
Maurizio nodded slowly. “Hmm, you make a good point. I never liked Giuseppe, but he was a capo no man crossed twice. A capo with him as consigliere…” Another slow, thoughtful nod. “Certainly not a man I want as an enemy.”
Carmine nodded too. He