Chapter 127
127
The Monday after Dario’s return, Niccolo convened an emergency meeting before dinner. As head of security, I joined all the brothers in the parlor.
“I just got word that the Genoans sent their enforcer into our territory,” Niccolo informed us. “Umberto Fumagalli p>
An enforcer was the top soldier of a mafia family – usually the most trusted assassin, and an all-around scary motherfucker who could get people to fall in line with implied threats. The enforcer was usually the one given the assignments that needed to be handled quickly and decisively, with no room for fuckups.
‘The Genoans’ were the Oldanis – the Cosa Nostra family that controlled Genoa, a coastal city three hours to the northwest of Florence.
I was relatively new to the world of the mafia, but I knew one thing for certain: the Oldanis sending their top assassin into our territory was not a good sign.
“Where is he?” Dario asked. “Do we know p>
Niccolo frowned. “It makes no sense – one of our spies saw him in some backwater village named Mensano p>
“We’re sure it’s Fumagalli?” Dario asked.
“This is the picture I got from our guy,” Niccolo said as he held out his phone. “It was taken half an hour ago p>
We gathered around to get a better look. Onscreen was a snapshot of a man getting out of a green Audi. He was in his late 30s and ugly like a toad, with fat lips and heavily lidded eyes.
“That’s him, alright,” Dario said with a sigh.
“You know him?” I asked in surprise.
“We know all the major players in all the families,” Niccolo explained. “Fumagalli’s been their top guy for a decade p>
“What are we going to do?” Roberto asked.
Niccolo shrugged. “We have to kill him p>
Nobody else seemed taken aback by that; they all just seemed resigned. Dario even nodded his head approvingly.
Me, on the other hand…
“Are you kidding?” I asked.
All the brothers turned to me in surprise. They were far more shocked at my reaction than they were at Niccolo suggesting we gun down another family’s representative.
“No,” Niccolo said with a raised eyebrow, like Don’t be absurd.
“Why would you kill him?!” I asked, incredulous.
“To send a message p>
“Which is what p>
Niccolo looked like he was about to tear me a new asshole when Dario raised his hand to silence him. Then he turned to me.
“This is a provocation,” he explained patiently. “A test. Right now, the families of the Cosa Nostra are sniffing around, trying to determine if I’m a wolf or a lamb. If I’m a wolf, they’ll leave me alone. If I’m a lamb, they’ll slaughter me and take my territory for themselves. It’s nothing personal – it’s just business. The weak don’t survive long in our line of work, so it would happen sooner or later. And the first to slit my throat gets the spoils of war p>
“You’re sure they’re testing you?” I asked dubiously.
“If they’re not, they’re still up to no good. The Oldanis should never have sent anyone into our territory without first asking my permission. For them not to ask me is disrespectful in the extreme; for them to send their enforcer is a blatant sign of ill intent.
“Whatever their reason for sending Fumagalli, the Oldanis know they’re playing with fire. If I don’t respond decisively, they’ll take it as a sign of weakness – and then they’ll be on our doorstep in just a few days, gun in hand p>
“What about when we visited you in San Vittore – and the second time when we took you home?” I challenged him. “Did you call the family that runs Milan and tell them we were coming p>
“Oh yes,” Niccolo said smugly. “That was the first thing I did p>
“…oh.” I felt a little deflated, but I still kept pushing. “Can’t you just call them, then? Tell them you know what they’re doing and order them to pull their guy out p>
Adriano snorted. “That’d tell them Dario has no balls p>
Niccolo glared at him, but Adriano just shrugged. “Well, it would p>
Niccolo turned to me and asked mockingly, “Would your former employers have made a cordial phone call to Vladimir Putin if the Russians sent their deadliest assassin to your country? And would they have politely suggested he remove his assassin at once – or ‘there will be consequences p>
Even though I’d revealed I’d worked for MI6 during my first meeting with Leonardo, Fausto, and Niccolo, I assumed none of the other brothers knew (except for Dario, whom I had told in prison). I appreciated Niccolo’s discretion, even if I didn’t like his tone.
“No, but we would have tried to take him alive,” I argued. “Killing him outright would’ve risked starting a war p>
“Wars are fought often in the Cosa Nostra,” Dario said calmly. “Especially when a new, untested don takes control. Trust me: if we kill Fumagalli, it sends a message to every other family in Italy not to fuck with us p>
“Aren’t you afraid the Oldanis will get angry and try to get everyone else to help them kill you p>
“No. Everyone will know Fumagalli should have never been here in the first place. We risk a small war with the Oldanis, it’s true,” Dario said, “but we risk a gigantic war with the entire Cosa Nostra if we don’t react decisively. Do you understand p>
I understood one thing: these were entirely different rules than what I was used to.
In the military, I had always been bound by the Rules of Engagement: legal and military guidelines that dictated what I was allowed to do in a firefight – who I was allowed to shoot, and when I was permitted to shoot.
Here, the rules seemed to be Might Makes Right…
Project Strength At All Costs…
And Kill or Be Killed.
These were tribal warfare rules – and the mafia was nothing if not tribal.
I realized there was an analogy that described the situation pretty well. In many ways, MI6 had been like the Oldanis, and I had been like Fumagalli when I went to Lake Como. MI6 knew they were risking a huge international incident by sending me, and that’s why they had to disavow me when I got caught.
I had gone to Lake Como to kill someone high up the food chain – someone protected by a hundred layers of security. Given that, then what the fuck was Fumagalli doing in Dario’s territory?
“…I understand,” I said grudgingly.
“Well, now that we’ve got Lars’s approval,” Niccolo said sarcastically, “we need to figure out who’s going to handle Fumagalli p>
“I will,” Adriano volunteered.
Dario shook his head. “He knows you. He’ll recognize your face from a dozen weddings over the years. He’ll see you coming a mile away p>
“That applies to all of us, then,” Niccolo said in exasperation.
“…not all of us p>
Dario looked over at me, and his brothers did the same.
I immediately realized what they were thinking.
“No,” I said.
“I wouldn’t ask you if it weren’t serious,” Dario said quietly.
“I said I would train your men, not be your assassin. Plus, you said I could say ‘no’ to any request you gave me. Remember p>
Dario looked at me silently for a long moment… then nodded, no reproach in his eyes. “That’s true. That was our deal p>
“This is bullshit – ” Adriano snarled, but Dario held up one hand. Adriano stopped talking immediately.
Dario peered into my eyes. “This needs to be done, though. Which of the men you’ve trained are up to the job p>
“Theoretically, they could all do it… but only a couple of them have ever shot anyone before. I’m afraid they would freeze when the time came.” I sighed. “This guy Fumagalli is their number one killer, right p>
“Yes p>
“Then I don’t think any of them should do it. They haven’t trained for it p>
A voice in my head said, YOU have, though.
“Send me,” Adriano implored Dario. “I can do it – I can pop the motherfucker p>
“That attitude right there is exactly why you shouldn’t do it,” I snapped. “You can’t go in hot on this – you need to be cold. In control p>
Adriano glared at me. “Says the guy who’s too afraid to do it p>
“Fuck you,” I said at the exact same instant Dario snapped, “Adriano p>
“What?!” Adriano complained, more to his older brother than to me. “He knows that by not doing this, we’re inviting the Oldanis to come kill us and take our territory! But you’re letting him tell you no p>
“It was an agreement Lars and I made in San Vittore,” Dario said coldly. “I will not allow you to question that agreement p>
Dario’s willingness to stand by me, no matter what, touched me deeply…
And I began to reconsider.
“Well, we still need a fuckin’ enforcer!” Adriano snarled. “I’m more than up to the task, so send me p>
“Dario,” I said quietly.
He glanced over at me. “What p>
“Do you swear to me that if we don’t do it this way, it will only get worse? That by not killing this guy, it’s just going to bring down a shit-ton more trouble on our heads p>
“Remember when Aristide Caproni’s men attacked us, and I told you we had to kill them all, or it would only invite more reprisals p>
“Of course p>
“We’re in almost exactly the same situation right now p>
“But Aristide attacked us. This guy Fumagalli hasn’t done anything p>
Dario gave me a half-smile. “I realize it’s difficult to understand, but by trespassing on our territory without asking my permission, the Oldanis’ offense is almost worse. At least Aristide paid me the respect of confronting me face-to-face. The Oldanis hold me in such contempt that they think they can do whatever they want. Continuing to let them believe that is a serious mistake… and an invitation to try to kill us later p>
What Dario said made sense.
It was ugly…
But it made sense.
I sighed. “…all right. I’ll do it p>
A palpable sense of relief flooded the room.
“Are you sure?” Dario asked.
“…yeah,” I said grudgingly.
“If it makes it any easier for you,” Niccolo said, “Fumagalli’s a vicious sadist – a real piece of shit p>
I glared at him. “How convenient p>
“No, it’s true,” Valentino protested. “I met him at a wedding when I was 17. He got drunk and started telling me shit, like how he likes to torture people and record their screams for later. And after he’s done, he cuts off body parts and mails them to their relatives. ‘Keeps people in line,’ is what he told me p>
“Well, Jesus Christ,” I said loudly, “why didn’t you lead with that p>
The entire room laughed.
Niccolo slapped me on the back. “Don’t think of it as being our enforcer; think of it as performing a public service p>
“A public service which just happens to benefit you personally,” I said with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
Niccolo gave me an impish smile. “Hey – win-win p>
Dario put his hand on my shoulder. “Thank you.” I could hear the relief and gratitude in his voice.
“Thank me after it’s over,” I grumbled.