Page 31 of Taken By the Underboss

He waited until we were starting down the garden path before speaking again. “So, whatwouldconvince you to stay?”

“Honestly? I don’t even know if there is anything. I’m comfortable at my job. My father has finally started to settle in at the nursing home and stability is very important for him.”

Alessandro’s shoulders dropped slightly with what I could only guess was disappointment, but I had to be honest with him. We were having such a lovely evening and I didn’t want to spoil it, so I chose instead to try and find a way to change the subject.

“I’m curious. How did you end up working for the Venturis?”

“It’s not a very interesting story really. I enjoy going to the card club on occasion and met Teo there. I had just completed my military tour. Teo and I were barely in our twenties while most of the other men there were twice our age so we sort of developed something of a friendly rivalry seeing who could wring the most money out of those guys. We started hanging out together outside of the club as well and one day Teo had a job that needed to be done. He mentioned it to me. I was already looking for a way to make some real money and had no direction.

“And you had no hesitations about joining a mafia family?”

“If it had been anyone else's, I would have never done it but with Teo and his father, they aren’t like other mafia families. They have morals. There are lines they won’t cross and those mesh really well with my own boundaries."

"So, you don't break the law like other organizations?"

Alessandro hesitated for a moment, choosing his words carefully before speaking. "We do. But there are lines we won't cross."

"What do you mean?" I paused to look at him, curious to hear what he had to say.

"For example, on occasion, to protect our people, we sometimes need toswaycertain people in power."

"Sway them? You mean threaten them?"

Alessandro started down the path again and I followed.

"We try to speak with them and explain how our way would benefit the city, but they don't always agree."

"And if they don't?"

"Then we sometimes have to resort to bribery. But you have to understand, our enemies do it and worse. If we didn't bend the rules on occasion then our enemies would become too powerful, and we wouldn't be able to protect ourselves."

"And if bribery doesn't work? What then? Where do you draw the line? Threats? Violence? I've heard the news stories. Family members of officials being kidnapped or worse. I've treated victims of mob retaliations in the hospital. I've seen what people like you do. I heard what you planned on doing to the Romanos and while I know they are in the mob too, you're still talking about taking a life. Two lives."

Alessandro stopped abruptly and looked almost hurt by my words. He reached over and took my hand. I flinched but the gentleness of his touch calmed me. I held my breath, looking up into his eyes, and waited for his response.

"Most of the time, we don't hurt anyone, but I will admit that there are occasions when violence and even death are necessary. Just like in war. We only use that as a last resort to protect our family. As far as the other stuff, bribery is as far as it goes. If we can't reason with them and we can't get them to take a bribe then we move on to someone who will.

“Matteo's father, who was don before him, changed a lot about the family when he came into power. We don't threaten public officials or other people not in the Mafia. The way we look at it, if someone will take a bribe then it means that they were already corrupt and we just got to them before our enemies.

“Most people, even good men, would give in to political pressures if it was protecting himself or the lives of his family so we don't use threats, kidnapping, or violence to try to persuade. We do sell drugs to help fund our family. We are very particular about the chemical makeup of the drugs. Our dealers are not allowed to add or manipulate the product in any way to make it stronger or cheaper. That way it is a reliable pure product with less chances of overdoses."

“But people can still overdose. So many people are addicted to drugs nowadays because they have access to it. They get started at a young age before they know the consequences. Then they're hooked and they can't get clean. You profit off of their suffering.”

“We don't sell to kids. We make that very clear to our dealers. They are not to sell near schools or to anyone underage. If an adult wants to go out and start smoking or drinking they're allowed to make that decision for themselves because they are adults. The same goes with the drugs that we sell. If an adult chooses to us drugs then we're going to sell it to them and profit off of that, yes. But we are not the ones targeting children."

“So that's what you mean by guidelines and a moral code? You don't sell drugs to kids, and you don't threaten only bribe?” I asked honestly trying to understand.

Alessandro nodded, and gently brushed across my knuckles. Realizing that we were still holding hands, I gently pulled my hand back from his.

"It's just..." I looked down, finding it hard to meet his gaze when he looked so intensely at me. "It's hard to see things in the gray areas. Good. Bad. Legal, illegal. I'm used to things being clear."

"I understand. A lot of people who aren't familiar with our ways have a hard time understanding that what we do is for the greater good. We fight corruption by being corrupt ourselves."

"How is that even possible?"

Alessandro took a seat at the base of a large tree, and I followed. "There are a lot of other families, the Romano's included, who do a lot worse than we do. Bribery and selling drugs or guns, that's just the tip of the iceberg for them. We have found a way to cause the least amount of harm while still being able to gain power so that we can keep evil men like them from taking over this country that we love.

"I am sorry that you heard what you did about the Romanos because it caused your life to be upturned, but I'm not ashamed of what I have to do. I'm not ashamed that eventually I will hunt them down and kill them because they're horrible men. They've done horrible things and they don't deserve to draw breath any longer."

---