“There are more.” Nova sat back as Enzo wiped blood from his face and glared at Nova furiously. Nova pulled out another stack of pictures. “The Brambinos work in very highline circles. They cater to clients who have a fetish for interesting last names.” Nova set a picture in front of the Viteris. And another in front of the Lombardis. Then he set four in front of the Savios and pulled the one on the bottom out and put it on top so Marcell could see it. “I guess Mazza isn’t quite as interesting as Savio, but it’s good enough. My brother wore a unique leather band on his wrist that was clasped with a lion head. That is the Brambino marker for their sex slaves. The slaves will use them to find one another and have a tendency to randomly go up and hug one another.”
“And tell them they matter,” Marcell said as he looked at Enzo furiously. “You motherfucker. You’ve been selling my daughter. You’re the reason she’s strung out on drugs.”
Enzo looked pale. “There is no proof. He’s bullshitting you.”
“I used the information I got off Mary’s computer to hack into Carmine’s system. These pictures were on his computer along with encrypted files that detailed their value and client list.”
Nova looked away from the horrified commission members and stared at the last picture in his briefcase, one he pulled out of the stack twenty seconds before he tossed them on the table. He saw Dante De Luca glance at it and frown, but Nova closed his briefcase.
“How the fuck would you be able to read the files if they were encrypted?” Enzo asked, still surprisingly cool under pressure. “I call bullshit.”
Nova held up his hands and looked around at all of them. “Really? You don’t think I can crack an encrypted file? Motherfuckers like me are the reason Carmine’s not supposed to keep this shit on his computer. It’s the reason he’s not supposed to be e-mailing about it either. I could’ve been the feds. He broke the oath. He exposed all of us.”
“What are you trying to say?”
Nova glared at Enzo. “I want the Brambinos disbanded.”
“You can’t fucking disband us.”
“You broke the oath. You used our children,” Nova started. “You can either be disbanded, or this war starts to get real interesting, because I assure you the Morettis take a huge fucking issue with this.”
“They’re not your children. They’re bastardi. There’s nothing that says they were included in the agreement,” Enzo argued.
“These are kids!” Nova pointed at the pictures on the table again, looking at Enzo. “Some of them are your fucking kids!”
“You taking it personal?” Enzo laughed. “This is a bastardo vendetta.”
“You bet your ass it’s a vendetta. I take it personal as fuck,” Nova growled at him and then looked to rest of the council members. “We want the Brambinos disbanded.”
“Disbanding us for this is just like disbanding the De Lucas for loan-sharking or the Morettis for drugs. This is Cosa Nostra. You don’t get to pick and choose who has the best racket. We all know where the Morettis sell their shit. They’re not any better than us,” Enzo said sharply. “Been to any raves lately, Moretti?”
“We can’t disband them,” Dante agreed, but he narrowed his eyes at Enzo. “But I think financial restitution is fair. They broke the oath. The entire Borgata should be punished. Anyone have an issue with that?”
Enzo threw up his hands. “I have a fucking issue with it.”
“Fine.” Nova nodded in agreement. “Ten million isn’t fair, but it’ll stop a war.”
“Fuck you,” Enzo growled. “Your brother wasn’t worth that!”
“Ten million for every kid with an interesting last name.” Nova arched an eyebrow when he finished. “Including yours. I want the money made out directly to each victim. I wanna be listed as the conservator for all the accounts—”
“Why do you get to be conservator on our kids’ accounts?” Marcell growled at him.
“’Cause I’m the bastardo who gives a shit,” Nova said as he held up his hands. “Some of them have drug problems. Some of them have mothers who gave birth to them as sex slaves and have absolutely no idea how to manage finances. Some of them have fathers who have a proven track record of using them for cash.” Nova glared at Enzo again. “If they’re competent and over eighteen, I’ll turn it over to them, but either way I will offer total transparency to the commission on everything. Ten million to each kid; everyone walks out feeling a little better about their absolute fuckup as fathers and brothers, me included. I’m not taking any less blame than anyone else here.”
“You’re trying to bankrupt us,” Enzo growled at him.
“No, I was trying to disband you and wipe your disgusting Borgata from history. The restitution was De Luca’s idea, and trust me, it’s a painful compromise,” Nova assured him.
“I think it’s more than fair,” Dante agreed. “I obviously don’t have kids, legitimate or otherwise—” Dante glanced at Nova. “No offense.”
Nova shook his head. “None taken.”
“But if someone sold a De Luca for their last name…” Dante snorted and looked at the rest of the council members. “Yeah—” He shook his head. “I’m not sure if I’d settle for the cash, but lucky for you, I know how to keep my shit handled. I vote for the ten-million compensation for each victim. I’m fine with Moretti handling the accounts as long as we have transparency.”
“I agree.” Marcell nodded and turned to glare at Enzo sitting next to him. “And I want a ban on dealing flesh in Cosa Nostra. You’re putting a bad fucking name on our organization. Let the yakuza and the cartel sell their souls for that shit.”