and minor sideline skirmishes to actual, bloody warfare on American streets. Under Nick’s insistence, they’d left the Poughkeepsie site alone, but his allies were not content to wait until he had what he wanted to make the move he meant to make.
He had lost his daughter and had his home violated, but Giada had nearly been killed, too, and the Saccos wanted an answer for that. The other dons wanted to move as well; the attack on two dons at Nick’s home was an offense that couldn’t be left to stand, not even in appearance only.
So in the weeks since Cuccia had ambushed Nick’s home, the Saccos had flexed their arm and gotten Boston Harbor closed to all imports coming from Sicily. When the Sicilians moved that product to New York instead, the Romanos had moved on the first Sicilian shipment coming into New York Harbor, and the resulting firefight had resulted in thirty-one dead, one shipping vessel sunk, and two others badly damaged. Shortly thereafter, Danny Romano, Sal’s youngest son, in his twenties and only a soldier in his family’s business, had been shot down outside his girlfriend’s house. His girlfriend had been killed, too, and both bodies left to lie where they’d fallen.
Nick hated moves like these, which could not help but draw massive civilian attention. Their business worked best in the dark. There was heavy press coverage in New York, and reporters and law enforcement types who were old enough to remember the Italians in their heyday were wondering if the city was entering a new era of mob violence.
He hated it. But he didn’t get in the other families’ way, because he had more important things to focus on than policing the conduct of other dons, of another Council, on their own turf. He had his wife and children to care for, his daughter to mourn, and vengeance to seek.
As he considered the information Lara had brought him, he realized how the moves in Boston and New York had eased the way for his vengeance. Sicily was in chaos. It was primed for him to move.
He looked up from the folder and settled his attention on Lara. “You’re absolutely certain of this?”
She looked up from her silent examination of her own hands and met his gaze directly and with confidence. “I wouldn’t have brought it to you if I weren’t.”
True; Lara was fastidious in all things. She had an array of mental health problems, but the way those problems manifested had this benefit: no one was more detail-oriented or precise than she. “How did you catch it?”
“You wanted intel on the other families in Sicily. I worked with Calvin to create a net, I caught their transmissions, and I decoded those that were in code.”
“From across the ocean.”
“Digital information doesn’t care about the ocean.” She cocked her head. “You sound surprised. Why did you ask me to do it if you didn’t think I could?”
Nick smiled. “I’m not surprised. As soon as you said you could, I knew you could. But you should take a beat, Lara, and recognize how impressive you are.”
Trey grinned proudly at his wife. “He’s right, babe.”
“I know I’m good at this,” she said, simply.
Trey winced as he lifted his arm and pulled his wife close. “You really are.” He looked to Nick. “That gives you what you need?”
“It’s a major lead, yes. Do you understand why?”
With a nod, Trey indicated the folder in Nick’s hands. “I don’t know what that is.”
Another thing impressive about Trey and Lara: Lara was Nick’s cryptologist and worked with his most highly sensitive information—intel about his enemies and associates and the data of his own work. She had in her capacious mind all the ammunition anyone would need to destroy him.
Her husband was Nick’s heir. But he was only recently made, and Nick hadn’t yet brought him fully into his inner circle. Thus, Lara kept Nick’s secrets even from him.
But it was time to bring Trey all the way in. Nick wanted his heir to be ready to take his seat when the time came, and he had grown tired. He didn’t know how much longer he had in him to live this life and take these risks.
He lifted the folder a little. “This is a set of several different decoded conversations between Fabrizio Guttuso, Giorgio Campanotto, and Marco Leone. Do you know those names?”
Trey thought for a second. “Guttuso is another Sicilian family—Fabrizio is the don, right?” When Nick nodded, Trey continued, “Leone is Cuccia’s