Wolf Connection (1)
The four families, excluding the Carmen Family, had gathered in one place. The location was the same restaurant in the western part of the city as before. The difference from the last disastrous meeting was that Rita Carmen—the woman Eddie Sanchez had accused of being the Godfather’s killer—was not in attendance.
“So what’s this about today?”
Four bosses. To be precise, four bosses and one of their sons. The first to speak was Mikhail Dragovich.
“You’re not going to ask for help with the war against the Carmen Family, are you?”
Manfredi, the eldest son standing behind the mentally unstable Vito Marinelli, voiced his concern about the purpose of the meeting.
“No. I can handle that woman on my own.”
“...Your bluffing hasn’t changed a bit.”
The moment Sanchez replied, Dragovich shot back sharply.
“What? What the hell are you talking about?”
“You’re the biggest among us, yet you can’t even catch one woman who’s the smallest in size.”
The “size” Dragovich mentioned referred not only to physical stature but also to the scale of their families. The Carmen Family had very few formal members by nature, but an enormous number of associates who could cut ties at any moment.
“Do we really need all five families fighting each other in the first place?”
“Fuck off, Manfredi.”
With Felicia absent, Manfredi was now the de facto power within the Marinelli Family, though he was not the boss. There was nothing he could do about Sanchez’s crude behavior.
“The western district hasn’t had a single quiet day because of you and that woman.”
“You were hanging out with her until recently, yet you talk like that?”
“What about committing more troops?”
“What a brilliant idea. Lusso!”
Sanchez sneered at Darius Lusso, who had spoken after Dragovich.
“What are you going to do by dumping more golems on the streets? You might as well slap name tags on their chests. Lusso, have you even been to that neighborhood?”
The Carmen Family’s territory largely overlapped with the areas where Dark Elves lived. The whole district followed her and cooperated with her. It was nearly impossible for the golems or other races Sanchez mentioned to directly target Rita Carmen. At the same time, they couldn’t just raze the entire Dark Elf district either.
Meanwhile, Dragovich was listening carefully to the exchange between Sanchez and Lusso. He saw signs that mirrored what had happened when he himself had joined hands with Rita Carmen only to break away later.
“Do I really have to keep listening to a former street brawler?”
“That’s enough, both of you.”
Manfredi stepped in at the right moment and ended the argument between the two bosses, but one thing was clear: the Lusso Family had been of no help whatsoever to the Sanchez Family in resolving the western district’s problems, and the reverse was equally true.
The Lusso Family was locked in fierce warfare with the swarm of new organizations flooding the northern part of the city, the forces pushing in from the outskirts, and the caporegimes who had broken away from the Fellini Family’s influence. During that time, the Fellini Family—who had previously clashed with them over the Academy—had nearly taken complete control of the eastern district.
Both bosses were burning with frustration but had no solutions. It was driving them insane. Of course, Sanchez had been devising his own solution in the meantime and was already seeing results.
In the subtle lull that followed the brief pause in conversation, the attendants each boss had brought stepped forward. They delivered a single piece of news.
“What?!”
“Is that even possible?”
The restaurant door opened, and two men walked toward the bosses.
Luke Fellini. And the other man was none other than Kazin—the same man who had visited the bosses not long ago regarding the drug supply.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?!”
Darius Lusso shot up from his seat immediately. The flames on his face burned hotter than ever, so the other bosses instinctively put some distance between themselves and him.
“You dare crawl into this place?!”
Lusso drew a pistol from inside his coat and aimed it at the sudden visitors. In contrast, the two men simply looked at the bosses as if they didn’t even need to bother reacting.
“Hey, vampire. I wouldn’t do that if I were you. If you pull that trigger, there won’t be another shipment of drugs coming into this city ever again…”
“Shut your damn mouth!”
Lusso was the type who, once his flames were fueled by rage, could rarely calm down.
Anger overwhelms all evils. The best way to shake off rage is to do nothing at all. To save yourself from anger, coldly observe someone else losing their temper.
The blazing flames around Lusso’s head suddenly formed letters. I was probably the only one who could see this. Of course, now wasn’t the time to pay attention to his words.
“...What the hell does that mean?”
“Lusso, lower the gun.”
Dragovich’s question was followed by Sanchez’s firm voice.
“Now!”
It looked like Lusso was glaring at me. The problem was… his entire face was on fire, so good luck figuring out where his eyes were.
“...Fine. But you’re not walking out of here alive. Remember that!”
“Isn’t that a bit harsh? Your side was the one who touched the child who lost his parents first. The reason you all gathered today is because I have a proposal for you.”
“....”
“And if that guy shoots me, just like Kazin said, there will be no drugs and no proposal.”
“Hmph. Looks like a wolf has no fear after all.”
I decided to take Dragovich’s words as a compliment.
“So what exactly is this proposal you have for us?”
Sanchez didn’t seem particularly rattled by the situation. Of course, he had no idea what my proposal actually was either.
“Five families. Or should I say four now? Anyway, if you promise not to touch the central district or the Academy, I’ll sell you the surplus drugs we have.”
What I was saying wasn’t purely my own decision. And Kazin accompanying me wasn’t something I had planned either. The day before the bosses’ meeting, Kazin and Haremo had sailed in to find us. According to Kazin, his boss had heard about the behavior of the five families and flown into a rage. That fury had led to the decision to exclusively supply drugs to our Fellini Family.
If that happened, the other families would have no way to obtain large quantities of drugs except by buying them from us.
“Just so you know, whether you kill me or reject my proposal, the result will be the same.”
“Even if I don’t make it back alive, it’ll be the same,” Kazin added immediately after I finished.
“Without this friend, you lose your connection to Tirenia. Without me, you lose your connection to this friend.”
The money that could be made from drugs was enormous. Not earning a single penny from it would be a massive loss—especially in times like these when money and everything else were in short supply.
“So what’s it going to be, vampire? Are you going to choose thousands of pounds of drugs? Or are you going to kill one elf?”
“Ha! I’ll kill the elf!”
Lusso shouted without the slightest hesitation. The other bosses, however, all wore expressions of deep contemplation. Looking at their faces, the outcome of this meeting was already decided. They weren’t fools, after all.
“Lusso, you haven’t forgotten, have you?”
Sanchez spoke first, representing the other bosses.
“Before the Godfather, this is how we handled things. We swore to settle disputes by vote and abide by the results.”
“Yeah, fine! Let’s take a damn vote then!”
Kazin and I simply watched as the bosses cast their votes.
“I vote to kill that bastard.”
Lusso raised one arm with an exaggerated gesture. But nothing happened. It was a pathetic sight with no one joining him. Kazin and I looked at the other bosses, and the bosses looked at each other, but not a single hand went up.
“Goddammit, what the hell is wrong with you people! I know exactly what you’re scheming! You greedy bastards!”
No matter what Lusso said, Kazin couldn’t hide his smile. I was still managing to keep my expression neutral.
“That son of a bitch killed my caporegime and stole the drugs that were supposed to come to us! Are you saying money is more important than our rules and revenge?!”
“....”
“This bastard deserves to die like a dog right now!”
Hearing this kind of talk right to my face was starting to piss me off. The part about me supposedly stealing the drugs that were supposed to go to the four families was pure comedy.
“Hey, Lusso.”
Sanchez was the first to speak. When Lusso’s gaze turned to him—
“Shut up. Drugs are what matter to me.”
An alliance that offered no help was worthless. Compared to that, the possibility of coexisting with the drugs and the wolf’s successors was an easy choice.
Sanchez declared his position and announced that he supported my proposal. Dragovich and Manfredi raised their arms in agreement. One vote to kill me, three votes in favor of my proposal.
“Then it’s decided. Wolf, we four families promise not to lay a hand on the central district or the Academy.”
“Good. Then I’ll be going.”
Satisfied with Sanchez’s words, I turned to leave. I added that the details regarding the drug supply would be communicated through Kazin. Unlike me, who left without hesitation, Kazin gave them a light bow. After all, they were still bosses.
The sight of Lusso simply staring as Kazin and I disappeared before his eyes was utterly pitiful.
*
Kazin and I rode in my armored car toward the port. I had no idea what the bosses talked about after we left. They had probably argued fiercely over the vote, with the others trying to calm Lusso down.
“Luke, didn’t you say Sanchez and Lusso were allies?”
“They were. But it doesn’t look like that anymore.”
It seemed Kazin thought the same and had asked just to confirm.
“He’s probably going to go on a rampage after this. He might even join forces with the Carmen Family.”
“The alliance has flipped…”
The Lusso Family, who had joined hands with the Sanchez Family, now with the Carmen Family. The Dragovich Family, who had joined hands with the Carmen Family, now with the Sanchez Family. It was a situation perfectly fitting for the five families.
Some people thought of the five families as a single bloc, but that was a mistake. In fact, I had thought the same until I adapted to this world. The five families had spent a long time fighting and hating each other. At best, as Sanchez had mentioned earlier, there were minimal rules like settling disputes by vote.
“By the way, you don’t really have anywhere else to stay, do you?”
“Why? Is it okay if I impose on you?”
There were still rooms available at the Rufus Carlton Hotel. Since Kazin had helped make my proposal land more effectively, I could at least do that much.
“Yeah, go ahead. Until you head back, stay as long as you want at the hotel where Elena and I are staying.”
“Looks like I’m racking up another debt, huh?”
I shrugged at Kazin’s words. It wasn’t as if the debts I’d piled on them so far were few.
“So how much are you planning to supply them?”
“Half of what we buy from you. That should be enough.”
The other half we planned to sell ourselves in our own territory. Oh, and of course the amount we were already supplying to the Marinelli Family was separate from this.
Come to think of it, Vito Marinelli’s acting was truly impressive. Everyone’s attention must have been on Lusso’s burning head, yet there he was, sitting alone, staring into space and drooling.
After chatting about this and that, we soon arrived at the hotel. I headed straight for the top floor while instructing the staff to show Kazin and Haremo to their rooms.
Ding-dong—!
Today was supposed to be the day I spent with Elena. But the moment the elevator chimed, both Elena and Felicia appeared outside the suite door.
“....”
Elena tried to close the door as soon as I stepped into her room, but Felicia shoved her shoe into the gap.
“You gonna take your shoe out?”
“How about you pull your strength first?”
“Elena, we should at least go inside first.”
I calmed my two wives, who were once again engaged in a power struggle, and led them into the room. I intended to tell them right away what had happened at the bosses’ meeting.
However… Elena, just like me, had something to show me.
“It’s completely different from the last one.”
The new painting from the black artist Elena had asked to paint my portrait. I couldn’t remember the artist’s name. Perhaps because she had explained that it would be placed next to my father’s portrait, the result was a rather decent one.
“What do you think? Do you like it?”
“Yeah, it’s not bad. But knowing you could have painted it like this from the beginning makes me a little annoyed.”
Seriously, if you could do it well from the start, why didn’t you?