Two Wars (2)
The day after Albert Cario’s head of security defected to us, things proceeded exactly as planned. Albert Cario visited his longtime favorite barbershop. It was located on the first floor inside the Park Sheraton Hotel. After what he’d done to the wolves I sent, I was surprised he had the nerve to go out at all.
“Is he fearless? Or has he simply let his guard down?”
“He’s probably just an idiot.”
While Sarina and I exchanged those short words, Cario finished his haircut in the fourth chair from the left—the one he always used. The barber tilted the boss’s chair back until he was lying flat. Then he placed a hot towel over Cario’s entire face and began preparing to shave him.
That was the moment.
Cario’s head of security slipped away with the other bodyguards. Since the boss’s face was completely covered by the steaming towel, he didn’t notice the change. The barber was too focused on the shave to care what anyone else was doing. After all, his only customer that day was Albert Cario.
“....”
The head of security and his men strolled down the hotel corridor toward us. The burly, distracted-looking chief spotted me and Sarina, gave a slight nod, and signaled. Everything was ready.
I pulled my hat down lower.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Sarina and I crossed paths with Cario’s bodyguards. We didn’t run, but we moved faster than a normal walk, heading straight into the barbershop.
“....”
I quietly opened the door and stepped inside. Sarina silently motioned for the barber and the other employees to step aside. In our hands were .38 caliber revolvers.
There was no need to call Cario’s name or give him any warning.
Sarina and I took up positions on either side of the reclined man. Just before the first bullet could pierce his chest, Cario’s eyes suddenly snapped open and he bolted upright. Had he instinctively sensed the danger?
“You— you… sons of bitches!”
Before he could fully rise, Sarina and I pumped more than five rounds into him. Cario roared like a wild beast the entire time, flailing both arms as if they could somehow block the bullets like shields. But the end that awaited him was utterly pathetic.
“Stupid bastard.”
By the time Sarina spat those words, Cario was already a corpse sprawled across the barbershop floor. Or rather, not quite dead yet.
I did exactly what my father used to do when executing enemies. I pressed the .38 revolver against the back of Cario’s head and pulled the trigger. A confirmation kill.
And just like that, Albert Cario became a dead man.
The new boss of the Cario Family was the head of security who had cooperated with us.
I, Antonio Alini, swear my eternal loyalty.
“Don Fellini, I pledge my loyalty to you.”
“No. I’m only a proxy.”
Antonio Alini, the new boss of what was once the Cario Family and was now the Alini Family, bowed deeply and kissed my ring. It was a true oath of fealty. As I had said, I was not the boss. I stood there only as the family’s underboss, acting in the boss’s stead.
With that, southern Beverly fell under our sphere of influence.
Of course, there was some internal resistance within the Alini Family.
“Sarina, I’ll leave those guys to you.”
“Yes. Leave it to me. I’ll handle them thoroughly.”
Sarina added that she would never disappoint me. And so Sarina and the wolves under her command began purging the dangerous individuals Antonio had identified.
A few days later, the situation in Hayden Park—where Armo and Lumini had gone—resolved far more easily than the Beverly operation I had personally overseen.
“So, how are things on your end?”
“Mr. Luke, they say they’re willing to surrender.”
“Without even fighting?”
The southern part of Hayden Park had been tightly controlled by a dwarf gang. I never expected them to offer surrender first. It was hard to tell whether they were wise or simply cowardly.
“It seems they heard what happened to Cario and got scared.”
They were both wise and cowardly. There were still some suspicious aspects, but the important thing was that both southern Beverly and southern Hayden Park had been cleaned up so quickly.
With two bridgeheads secured, we planned to support Giovanni, Viola, and Carini, who were already attacking the Lusso Family.
“Cambara.”
“Yes?”
“Tell the Alini Family and those dwarf bastards that we’re going to attack the Lusso Family, so gather their troops and assemble.”
I needed their forces tied down on the battlefield to feel at ease. Besides, once they watched the wolves in action up close, any thoughts of rebellion would surely vanish.
“Understood. I’ll contact them immediately.”
“And pass the word to the other caporegimes. We’re launching an immediate assault on the Lusso bastards.”
Giovanni’s side had already begun their offensive against the Lusso Family. Haywoods was our first target.
*
While I and the other caporegimes established bridgeheads in the northeast of the city, Giovanni and the other two caporegimes pressed their offensive toward Haywoods at a blistering pace.
“Open fire! Shoot them all!”
Car chases and gunfights broke out on roads all across Haywoods. Giovanni himself was racing through the streets in a car with several wolves, chasing down Lusso Family soldiers. Countless guns barked along the roads and sidewalks. Sparks flew as bullets rained down. The sharp crack of metal slicing through air and flesh. Under the sudden assault, the Lusso Family’s ranks—vampires and dwarves alike—left behind only corpses.
“Shouldn’t we wait for Mr. Luke at this point?”
“No. We need to take at least central Haywoods ourselves.”
Giovanni answered Viola’s cautious suggestion with a more aggressive attitude. If it were his older brother Luke Fellini, that much would be the bare minimum to satisfy him.
“The casualties won’t be light.”
“It’s a war. What did you expect?”
Giovanni grimaced at Carini’s words. Nearly three hundred men were on the move. Did they think this was some children’s game?
“Then let’s strike the weakest defensive points first.”
Viola wanted to make full use of every piece of information she had. Neither Giovanni nor Carini objected to that approach.
But the Lusso Family’s resistance was stronger than expected. Dwarf snipers positioned throughout Haywoods’ buildings. Vampires swooping down from the night sky during the darkest hours. Casualties began appearing not only among Carini and Viola’s men, but even among the wolves under Giovanni’s command.
“Let’s stop here for now.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying we should hold our current positions. It looks like Mr. Luke has finished securing Beverly and Hayden Park, so let’s wait just a little longer.”
“I think that would be best.”
Carini agreed with Viola. True to his background as a former boxer, Carini usually never backed down from a fight that came to him, but the situation had changed.
“...Damn it.”
Giovanni reluctantly accepted their opinion. Since Viola was strictly acting as an advisor, Giovanni still held decision-making authority among the three caporegimes. Of course, they weren’t without a chance of victory against the Lusso soldiers swarming Haywoods. The problem was that even if they won, the casualties would be devastating.
This situation in Haywoods was also reported to me.
I left Cambara and about ten gunmen in southern Beverly, and a portion of Lumini’s subordinates in southern Hayden Park. The defense of those districts would be handled by the Alini Family and the dwarf gang anyway. The men I left behind were there purely to keep watch over them.
I redirected every single soldier who had been used to establish the two bridgeheads straight into Haywoods. Sarina, Armo, Lumini, and I—four of us—joined up with Giovanni, Viola, and Carini. The meeting place was a tavern located in southern Haywoods.
“Big brother.”
“Giovanni, you’ve worked hard.”
The moment I saw him, I pulled Giovanni into a hug and thanked him for his efforts.
“Stopping where you did was the right call.”
“Yes. The other two felt the same way.”
Giovanni immediately gave credit to Viola and Carini. I had entrusted the battlefield of Haywoods to Giovanni and Sarina. I believed the two of them could properly command such a large force.
“Viola, keep doing what you’ve been doing. I’m counting on you.”
“Of course. I already have a plan for where to strike once the reinforcements arrive.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Fortunately, Viola seemed satisfied with her role.
“But if Giovanni and I are commanding, what will you be doing, Luke?”
“I have something else to take care of.”
My wolves and I were going to withdraw from the war against the Lusso Family. Even without us, the newly deployed forces were substantial, so our absence wouldn’t decide the outcome of this war. However, since there had been no progress in the city center, my wolves and I needed to open a path for Elena.
There was no need to explain this reason to every caporegime. Telling only Giovanni, Sarina, and Armo was enough.
“Ah, one last thing, Giovanni.”
“Yes?”
“Granada. Make sure you take that bastard alive.”
“That crazy bomb-loving dwarf?”
“He’s quite useful.”
When Sarina asked instead of Giovanni, I gave a reasonable explanation. But both of them looked at me as if to say, “Here we go again.” Yes, the real reason I wanted the dwarf vampire pyromaniac was my collector’s instinct. Or more precisely, my desire to collect talent.
“Of course, if the damage looks too heavy, just kill him.”
“Understood. I’ll try my best to bring him in alive.”
Since this wasn’t the first or second time something like this had happened, Giovanni and Sarina didn’t make a big deal of it.
By the time we continued north from Haywoods and appeared in the city center, a man from the Lusso Family had come looking for Giovanni and Sarina in person.
It was Darius Lusso’s younger brother—Damar Lusso.