Chapter 7 - The Revelation of the Plot
By noon,
Tony returned to the clinic with a folder,
his expression grim.
Vincent met him in the private library,
the smell of old books and leather providing a quiet sanctuary.
"You were right,
Boss,"
Tony said,
tossing the folder onto the desk.
"It wasn't just a random hit."
"The Vipers were paid by a middleman,"
"and that middleman works for Carmine Falcone."
Vincent’s eyes darkened,
his hands clenching into fists.
Carmine Falcone was the head of the rival family,
a man who had been itching for a war for years.
"Why her?"
Vincent asked.
"Why Elena Martinez?"
"She’s a waitress,
Tony."
"She has nothing to do with us."
Tony sighed,
leaning against the doorframe.
"She doesn't,"
he agreed,
"but her father did."
"Apparently,
her father was an old accountant for the Falcones,"
"and they think he hid some ledgers before he died."
"They thought if they squeezed his daughter,"
"she’d tell them where they were."
Vincent felt a surge of cold fury.
"She didn't know anything,"
he said,
it wasn't a question.
"No,"
Tony confirmed.
"She was clueless."
"They were torturing a woman for information she didn't have."
Vincent stood up,
the chair scraping loudly against the floor.
"Falcone knew this was my territory,"
he said,
his voice trembling with rage.
"He did it to see if I’d react."
"He thought I was getting old,"
"that I wouldn't care about a single woman in a tenement."
He walked over to the fireplace,
staring at the cold ashes.
"He forgot who I am,"
Vincent whispered.
"He forgot what happened to the last people who took someone from me."
"Tony,
gather everyone."
"I want a meeting with Falcone."
"Not at a restaurant,"
"not at a neutral site."
"Tell him I’m coming to his house."
"And tell him to bring his own priest."
The war that had been simmering for thirty years,
was finally about to boil over.
And this time,
May you like
Vincent Torino wasn't fighting for territory.
He was fighting for a girl who had dared to grab his sleeve.
