Page 13 of Reign Of Triumph
“Buy her another one,” Luciano suggests.
“Tried that. She wants her ring. And after all she’s been through, I want to find it for her.”
“And what if that’s not possible?” Nero says, throwing out his hands. “This is a big property.”
“It’s got to be in the area off the terrace. With any luck, we’ll find it, but if not, I’ll pretend to keep looking while I have another one made.”
“We better find it,” Nero declares. “She’ll know if it’s not the same one. Serafina probably spent hours looking at it on her finger last night. I saw her face when you said it was perfect for her. She has it memorized.”
“I’ll ask Danilo and Vincenzo to come with metal detectors. Fingers crossed, we might get lucky and find the ring quickly.” Luciano then makes the call.
“It’ll give you a chance to meet the two men who will end up being your most loyal soldiers. They asked to be transferred before you came along. They might also make excellent bodyguards for Vera and Serafina,” Nero says.
“That’s a good idea. I’ll feel them out when they get here,” I say.
“Nero, Luciano, and Eros, please come eat something,” my mother calls out to us. The last thing on my mind is food. But to an old-fashioned Italian mother, feeding her family is love. All three of us look at each other, then have a bite to eat while we wait for the others. Serafina managed a couple of plain tea cookies with her tea, then laid her head on the arm of the sofa and fell asleep.
Danilo and Vincenzo are solid men with La Famiglia. Their families have been serving Marco and his father before him, and despite Giusto’s inappropriate action, it took them some time before divulging their concerns to me. I’m sure that having Nero and Luciano present is making them more comfortable about speaking up.
“Too many men have died, and it could have been prevented,” Danilo finally says. “Giusto wants everything, like now.” He snaps his fingers. “That’s not the way Luciano taught us.” I find out that Danilo and Vincenzo both trained under Luciano before moving under Giusto’s management.
“Yeah.” Vincenzo blows out a breath. “Half the time, we’re being reactive, like when our warehouse was broken into. He declared war, and we didn’t even know who broke in. Nothing was taken, and it turned out to be a couple of homeless guys who wanted a warm place for the night,” Vincenzo says in an exasperated tone.
“It’s a good thing his latest mistress put him in a good mood that day and he listened long enough to call off the attack on a local MC, because that would have been disastrous,” Danilo finishes with a snort of derision.
“Be sure you both make it to the meeting this evening. Your loyalty belongs to Eros, to your capo, and to La Famiglia. Our don will make that clear this evening. The other men respect you and being present will send a statement of support for Eros’s command. It will go far, for many are uncertain about the change,” Nero states decisively.
“You won’t find many who will question the change,” Danilo says, then he looks right at me when he says, “You have your work cut out for you. The books are a mess, the guys are slacking off, and the warehouse needs maintenance. That’s just the beginning. Plenty of the low-level drug traffickers have gone MIA. Vincenzo wanted to get out on the streets and bring them in for an explanation, but Giusto didn’t want to expend the manpower.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“Who knows?” Vincenzo shrugs. “Never did get a straight answer.”
“Why didn’t you bring this to my attention?” Luciano asks.
“He’s our boss. For all we know, it could have been an order from above. It wasn’t for us to question. At some point, we’re supposed to trust our leader,” Vincenzo responds.
I can understand his perspective. Underbosses are supposed to take care of their men. The leader is responsible for the financial growth of the businesses in each territory. The more money we make, the more gets distributed to the soldiers. Marco told me that the men under Giusto aren’t making nearly what they should.
“We’re going to make this right. If we work together, we’ll make Marco proud. We’re going to turn this around, if you give me a chance,” I tell them.
Danilo nods, and Vincenzo extends his hand to take mine in a firm handshake. “We’re in. If Marco, Nero, and Luciano believe in you, we do too.”
“We’d better get out there and see if we can find that ring,” Danilo says with a chuckle. Both men came equipped with metal detectors, so they head outside.
I check on Serafina several times during the next couple of hours, while Danilo and Vincenzo dedicate themselves to the search. Between my mother and her mother, she’s being well cared for. Dad is standing sentry to the women. Luciano convinces him to come and join us for a bit. Nero wants my father in attendance this evening when we meet, but Dad is hesitant to leave the women alone. Luciano assures us that two guards are on their way, and the women will be in safe hands.
Suddenly, I hear, “Found it!” Danilo is holding his hand straight up in the air with a shiny object between his fingers.
“Holy shit! I didn’t actually think this would work,” Vincenzo exclaims with a laugh.
They run it up the walkway and put it in my palm. I close my fist around it. “I can’t tell you how I appreciate this. Serafina was extremely upset, and this will bring a smile to her face. Wait around; we’ll go to the meeting together. My mother is making an early dinner, and I’d like you to join us.”
“We’d be honored, boss,” Danilo says.
“Thank you, sir,” Vincenzo answers.
When dinner is served, I help Serafina to the table. She insisted on joining us. I sit next to her, and before any of us takes a bite of the delicious manicotti that our mothers made, I place the ring on her finger, on her good hand.
