Bianchi smiled, but only because he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “We want to live to fuck another day,” he responded. “That’s why! What the fuck do you mean why? You know why!”
“You have your legitimate empire, Michello,” Teddy Stefani finally spoke. Of the three Dons, he was the calmest. And the one Mick respected the most. “You have Sinatra Industries and your beautiful hotels around the world. You’re even partnering up with Reno Gabrini out in Vegas. You have taken the legit world by storm. But we’re just gangsters. We don’t have empires to protect us. We don’t have Reno Gabrini in our corner. We don’t have legitimacy to recommend us. We have what we have. All underground. All shady. It is our life. It is who we are. We can’t afford to let Provensano take an inch of it away from us.”
“Or even try to,” DeLuca added.
“What do you suggest, Don Stefani?” Mick asked.
“Postpone the shipment if we have to. Call it back to Rome. Our buyers will wait. If that won’t fly, then we need to at least keep it in the harbor, but do not unload.”
“And risk seizure by the authorities?” Mick asked. “By those money grubbing pricks? I would rather Stanislav have it.”
Then Mick leaned forward. He was on one side of the table, the three Dons were on the other side. “If a man cut and run from me, I will cut him down. That’s the law of the jungle, gentlemen. A jungle Stanislav Provensano knows too well. We are not cutting and running from any man. I already have my men at that dock. I already have them working the area as if they had been there for years. Provensano’s men haven’t even shown up yet, and probably won’t until the shipment ports in three months. The only way to kill a snake is to kill a snake. Head and tail. This is our opportunity to trap and to kill that snake. And then you, my three colleagues, will take over that territory that the snake once commanded. It will be handed to you on a silver platter.”
But Teddy stared at Mick. “And what’s in it for you?” he asked him. “You are not the charitable type. Something is always in it for you.”
Mick smiled. “Of course,” he said, and leaned back. “I will leave you to it,” he said.
“Leave us to it?” DeLuca asked. “What do you mean? You’ll pull out?”
Mick nodded. “Yes. All of my shares, all of my interests in that area of my life will be your interest. Provensano’s take will be your take alone. I will take no parts of it.”
It was the proverbial offer they knew they couldn’t refuse, but Mick ran their operations too. Mick was the brains, not just the brawl behind it all. They weren’t business people. They were just thugs. How were they going to make it, and continue to make the kind of money they were making, without him?
But before they could ask the question, the intercom buzzed. Mick answered it.
“Miss Rosalind Graham is here to see you, sir.”
Mick felt a sense of relief that she had arrived safely. He had been worried about her all morning. “Send her in,” he said, stood up, and began buttoning his suit coat.
The three Dons stood up too, although they had no clue why Mick had. “Who is this person that they can’t wait until we finish our meeting?” Carp Bianchi asked. “We’re still meeting here!”
Mick ignored him and began walking toward his office door.
Carp looked at Teddy. “Who is she?”
Even Teddy had to shrug his shoulder. “Never heard of her,” he said.
Mick opened his office door just as Roz was reaching for the knob. She smiled when she saw him, looking so handsome in his double breasted suit. And he smiled when he saw her, looking gorgeous even casually dressed as she was.
He kissed her on the lips and pulled her in. “Didn’t get lost?” he asked as he closed the door.
“Not with that GPS,” Roz said gaily. “That chick’s a pain in the ass, but she’s good.”
Mick laughed. “I call her Blanche. Annoying enough, right?”
Roz smiled. “Right,” she said. Then she looked at the three older men standing in his office.
Mick knew this was a crucial moment in their budding affair. He knew she either was going to look and listen to these guys and get it, or she was going to look and listen to these guys and ignore it. If she ignored his reality, they had a problem.
He placed his hand in the small of her back and escorted her toward the three men. “Rosalind, I would like you to meet three of my business partners. This lovable lug here is Teddy Stefani. One of my sons is named after him.”
Teddy smiled and nodded his head. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“Nice to meet you,” Roz responded.
“This guy here,” Mick said, “is the guy you love to hate. Vito DeLuca.”
Vito didn’t like that description. “Ma’am.”