A round of murmured yeses answered Dad’s question.
“I think the bigger question is if Raphael is going to spill his guts about the Gabbianos for a lesser sentence,” Cris said. “There have been rumors that he’s going to implicate Santi and Dominic in a bunch of shit, which has the Sicilians awful anxious.”
Santi’s trial was scheduled for next month, with Dominic’s following the month after. They’d been intentionally spread out so the media could capitalize on all the drama and attention.
Fucking sick.
As if this story needed to be more sensationalized. As if those men needed more infamy.
“They should be fucking anxious regardless,” Ace spat.
Our youngest brother harbored the most hatred for the Gabbianos out of all of us. Understandable. Dominic had held a gun to Roxy’s head a few months ago.
“Because if Raphael and Santi don’t talk at their trials, I guarantee you Dominic will before his time comes. He’s a disloyal coward. I’ll put money on it that he gets shanked in prison before he can ever open his mouth.”
“That being said,” Dad continued, “tensions are obviously going to be high around the courthouse next week. The heads of each family are bound to be present. They’ll have soldiers stationed all over downtown, patrolling the streets against attack, especially the Esposito members. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Sicilians even sent men to monitor the situation.”
“You think there will be war?” Rome asked Dad, a lethal edge to his voice.
And I meant lethal in the literal sense. Being an ex-sniper with the Army Rangers, Rome was no novice at taking lives. He and Luka had gone in and gotten out of the military at the same time, and both had come out of the experience changed men.
While Rome was dark and quiet most of the time, internalizing whatever pain he dealt with, Luka was the louder, more boisterous one who struggled with keeping a lid on his anger. His pain existed more in the external sense, on the surface. While Rome was deadly accurate with a rifle, Luka was deadly accurate with a right hook. He’d been involved in more hand-to-hand combat in the special ops, and thanks to his background as a champion fighter, he’d been highly skilled at it. Rome was now a gunsmith and had his own reputable shop in Crown Heights, while Luka owned and operated his own gym in Bensonhurst.
Dad blew out a weary breath. “I don’t think the Espositos will fear Sicilian interference during the trial, as much as they will an attack from the Niners.”
The Niners were the largest and most dangerous gang in all of New York. They’d already declared war on the five families a few months ago by shooting up a mafia summit meeting. The Niners’ new leader claimed the attack had been carried out by a group of rogue members who had since been “dealt with.” But no one, including the families, were convinced the Niners weren’t still bent on whacking all the mafia bosses in order to take over their territory.
Unfortunately, the Niners were no better than the families. In fact, they might have been worse in some ways. They had no code of honor, no familial loyalties. They were unpredictable and heavily armed.
In this case, an enemy of our enemy was not our friend.
“You really think the Niners would go after Raphael while he’s behind bars?” Ace asked Dad. “In the middle of this media frenzy? They’d be painting a giant target on their backs.”
“It’s actually the perfect opportunity to gain power,” Luka commented. “Everyone in the entire city will be watching this trial. There’s no better time to strike fear into the hearts of the populace. Not to mention, the leadership shift going on in the families leaves the syndicate vulnerable.”
“And Benito doesn’t have the clout Raphael does,” I added. “The other members don’t fear him like they do his brother.”
Benito Esposito was Raphael’s half-brother, who moved into the boss position after Raphael got locked up and Stefano was killed.
Cris rolled an unlit cigar between his fingers. “Either way, this is a window for an enemy faction to take control.”
Dad grunted. “It’s going to be all hands on deck to make sure Raphael’s trial doesn’t turn into a fucking blood bath. I want us surveilling the scene from all angles. I’ll be inside the courtroom with Cris when he testifies. Luka will be guarding the courtroom from the hallway. Ace, I’ll want you monitoring all security