Page 40 of Little Deer
“Technically, we all have access to ports, so she might not have thought she needed it,” Dante chimes in. “Or maybe she hadn’t gotten around to expanding that way yet?”
“The Russians have their own system, so she would be in direct competition with them,” Nico states. “She probably didn’t try to approach them so that they wouldn’t know what she was up to. She didn’t want to start a war and then try to explain why it started, I imagine.”
“But there were marks on the Russian side of the map,” Amara says with a frown. “I need to look at that again, but I’ll dothat after. We need to get this all down first so we can make a plan.”
“Did you find out if the Conti name is the same as Bianca’s family?” I ask Dante.
“My contact said that they didn’t know any first names. There are a couple of Conti families around, but why would he deal with any others?”
“I wonder if it is Bruno Conti and if he knows that Leonardo is involved, or if he’s only going with Esposito, not knowing of the connection?”
“The Contis are sharp, and they probably know all about Leonardo and Esposito. Maybe not this whole ring bit, or they might and not care. Leonardo also isn’t the one who killed his daughter. If Leonardo told Esposito to let Bruno know that this whole deal is being able to go after Giovanni and the Russians, he’s probably jumping at the chance.”
“So why sell Lucy? Aren’t they related in some kind of weird way? Marriage wouldn’t be a solution.”
“Technically, Lucy is a niece, so it’s not a direct relation to Conti. Or Leonardo and Esposito didn’t tell him and are only saying they have a woman for them. Buyer implies that this isn’t a marriage. This was purely transactional,” Dante points out.
“I just realized something,” Sienna says. “Look at all these groupings. Giovanni and the Russians, that’s a huge army at his back if he wants it. He doesn’t have many men, so that’s a way to grow his numbers. Marco married Sinead, and he was already worming his way into the Irish early so he has a lot of men at his back now too. Nico has everyone here and large numbers. Leonardo has his men, while seemingly vast, and Esposito. Esposito doesn’t have many men in comparison. They’re running short. Leonardo is running short on men, time, and probably power. Out of everyone, he’s on the losing end if he doesn’t find someone else to help them.”
“Out of the Contis and the Bianchis, the Contis are larger,” Dante agrees. “If you want power, and having the revenge aspect, they’re a better source.”
“If you’re looking at it from a tactical point of view, now is the time to strike at Leonardo,” Lazaro states. “He’s weakened. He’s lost his bargaining chip with the Contis or Bianchis, which means he’s going to be scrambling to find the other girl, or find another way to get their help.”
“We don’t know where he’s hiding,” Pietro reminds us. “We can’t just send our own men in blind. There is also the matter of Giovanni and Marco. Marco is young and stupid, and he’s focusing on taking over a territory that he has no hope of winning. The other family members of Gallo’s won’t stand for this. Marco’s days are numbered. Giovanni is mad enough about losing two more of his sons and all their inside knowledge that he’s probably planning an attack right now. We have to be smart. We have to be careful.”
“What if…” Amara trails off, frowning and looking uncertain.
“What is it,colombina?” Lazaro prompts. “Every suggestion is helpful.”
“Well, I don’t have all the data,” she admits. “We haven’t gone through all the notes, journals, and documents that Nico’s mother left, but she had a secret entrance into Leonardo’s house, right? But if Leonardo, Seamus, and Esposito have been working together for so long, there have to be places or routes that they can use to hide their men, right? Make them seem weak, and then, when the time is right, they strike. Or it’s a way for them to get out of the city before shit hits the fan. Let us all fight it out, kill each other off, then come back stronger and bigger than before and take out the winner so they have it all to themselves.”
“Yes,” Sienna cries excitedly. “Amara, you’re a genius. And if that’s not what they’re using, thinking that we’ve found it all,so they don’t dare, it’s our chance to use it. Not for the whole trafficking thing, but for a strategic advantage.”
“You want to use the routes for our men so we can surprise them,” Gia summarizes. She grins. “Beat them at their own game. They’re probably scrambling to close those up or switch plans and routes, which means that things will be missed and forgotten. There might also be other important things found in there. More information.”
“This entire war is about to fuck up some major routes and alliances,” Sofia states, moving to stand next to Gia. “We need to go through the documents. Fast.” She looks at Zeno and Urso. “I know you’re digitizing stuff, but we need access to the documents, too. Maybe with us looking at them, we’ll spot something quicker that we can use. You all figure out the logistics of everything going on right now, but we can help.”
I glance at the other men in the room, grinning. “You heard them. I guess we’d better get to work.”
“Where are the documents now?” Amara asks Zeno.
“We have them with our tech teams,” Zeno replies. He glances at Dante. “They’ve been working to scan everything and are about halfway through now. We can give you the half they already scanned, and we’ll try to get the rest scanned as fast as we can.”
“What about the journals?” Gia asks. “We’ll need those too. It’s possible that our mother or Amaras noticed or said something that could be helpful.”
“Topolina,” Nico cautions.
“What did I say about treating me like I’m broken?” Gia snaps, glaring at him. “I won’t break, Nico. You need to either accept me as strong and able to handle it, or not. And if I can’t, someone else can read it. When this is over, do you want a wife who can stand beside you knowing that she’s faced the worst, or someone who hides when things get hard?”
“I want a wife who isn’t hurting and in pain,” Nico snaps back, scowling at her.
“Well, that’s not possible. Life is painful, and you’re probably going to hurt me at some point. You’re kind of an asshole like that.”
I snicker at Nico’s dark expression. I can see that he wants to argue with her, but he wisely keeps his mouth shut.
“The journals are in my room,” Papa says. “I will bring them down. I have read through them but seen nothing that means much, but perhaps you will all see something that we would miss.”
“I know I don’t know what’s going on, and I’m not really one hundred percent a part of this, but I can help too,” Kida offers quietly. “The sooner this is over, the sooner we can go home.”
