Everyone paused, even though there was the hassle of changing seats. Dante De Luca was already sitting. Young for a capo bastone, his entire body seemed tense as he looked across the table at the Brambinos.
He pointed to the empty seats next to Enzo Brambino, the Brambino Borgata’s capo bastone. “Right there, motherfuckers. That’s where the Savios sit now.”
“Is my brother dead?” Nova directed the question at the Savios. His hands were shaking again, and his voice cracked but he couldn’t help it.
“I’m a made man,” Lorenzo started.
“Shut up,” Marcell Mazza, long-standing consigliere for the Savios, growled at Lorenzo before he asked, “Where’s Aldo?”
“IS MY BROTHER DEAD?” Nova shouted at the room.
“No.” Marcell shook his head. “He’s fine. A little bruised, but fine. We have him, but he did fuck a made man’s wife. He fucked a lotta wives—” Marcell looked pointedly around the table. “That’s a death offense. Lorenzo could’ve killed him. We didn’t outta respect. Your brother’s not made. He’s not protected. We could’ve killed him immediately, but we’re taking it to the commission instead. That’s why we called the meeting.”
“Are you shitting me right now?” Nova asked them incredulously. “He’s sixteen. Those fuckers were selling him”—he pointed at Enzo Brambino—“and your wives were buying him. You cannot possibly be serious.”
“I don’t have a wife, but—” Dante De Luca shrugged and then glanced to the thick, angry-looking enforcer standing behind him. “Were any of our houses raided, Sergio?”
Sergio shook his head, his dark gaze narrowed at the Brambinos. “No, Zu.”
“De Lucas take care of our shit,” Dante said to the table. “Ours wives don’t rent kids. If his brother doesn’t get a pass—”
“He’s getting a pass,” Nova said before Dante could finish, because this was honestly a problem he hadn’t considered, and Nova had spent three days thinking of every possible problem. “They’ve been blackmailing him for years. They made him believe they would kill our brother in prison if he didn’t go along with their fucked-up shit. Maybe they would’ve killed Romeo. They break all the other pacts. They manipulated a kid to humiliate the Morettis because they know our dicks are bigger than theirs, and the only way they could get back at us was to screw a twelve-year-old!”
The table was quiet again, as everyone but Nova, Carlo, and Monte took their seats in uncomfortable silence. Nova just stood there looking at them. “Is it funny to you that the Brambinos took one of our kids and used his last name to humiliate us? Because you may not be laughing when you hear everything I have to say.”
“He’s sixteen.” Enzo narrowed light eyes at Nova. “He’s old enough to make his own decisions. There’s no proof he was working for us—”
“Working?” Nova repeated in disbelief. “Is that what we’re calling it?”
“Working,” Enzo repeated without hesitating. “He fucked Lorenzo’s wife. That’s a death offense. If we give this Moretti a pass, we’re gonna have to give all the Morettis a pass, and there’s proof right in front of us that the Morettis fuck anything they can get their hands on.”
“Who we fuck is our business,” Monte snapped at him.
“No, it’s our business. You make it our business all the time.” Enzo held up his hands at Nova and Carlo as proof. “What the fuck is this kid doing here, anyway?”
“He holds the official consigliere spot. He’s taking Aldo’s commission seat.” Monte said it without flinching.
“Ouch.” Enzo grinned and pulled back. “That one hurts, huh, Monte?”
“Not at all. He’s smarter than everyone at this table, and we all know it.” Monte gestured to the seat across from Enzo. “Zu.”
Nova’s pulse was still thundering, but he sat down and set his briefcase next to him before he asked, “Does anyone else agree with the Brambinos?”
Two more hands went up, and Nova just stared at the Viteris and the Lombardis in shock. “You’re voting to ice my brother? He’s a victim.”
“We have to fucking look at him,” Matteo Lombardis growled. “Raid our houses in the middle of the night. Humiliate us. Yeah, I’m voting to ice him.”
“It’s not like he’s gonna go away.” George Mario, the consigliere for the Viteris, shrugged. “Obviously, Morettis don’t have an issue with cushioning their administration with dirty blood. You’re asking us to give him a pass when God knows how many goodfellas, legitimate made men, have to look at him and know he fucked their wives. No. That’s bullshit. That’s an insult to anyone who took the oath. The Morettis aren’t that fucking special. You don’t get that. If it was any other family, he’d already be dead.”
Nova looked away, swallowing hard for one long moment, knowing he was going to lose his fucking mind in about two seconds.
There was a tic in his jaw from how hard he was clenching his teeth.
Dante De Luca stepped on Nova’s foot, jerking him out of his mental rage.