Toast to Victory (1)
The Lusso Family's surrender in exchange for Damar Lusso's release.
To iron out the finer details, the wolves headed into Lusso Family territory. They didn't send any high-ranking executives, taking a page from how we'd held Damar Lusso captive.
"The Fellini Family's demands are straightforward."
I relayed the conditions Elena and I had settled on to the Lusso side.
"...."
To summarize the key points:
- The Lusso Family will become a subsidiary of the Fellini Family. - In exchange for paying tribute to the Fellini Family and providing troops when needed, the Lusso Family will receive the Fellini Family's protection. - The Lusso Family will hand over Belcastro Granada to the Fellini Family. - The Fellini Family will supply the Lusso Family with a set quantity of drugs imported from Tirenia, in accordance with prior agreements made with the five families. - In return for the Fellini Family relinquishing the southern part of Haywood, the Lusso Family will secure the Englewood region south of Haywood on the Fellini Family's behalf.
Upon receiving these terms, the Lusso Family's reactions poured out in a flurry.
"What kind of tribute ratio are you people thinking?"
"It'll be less than what you used to pay the Godfather."
Arta Lusso was the first to zero in on the most sensitive issue.
Back in the Godfather's—Vito Fellini's—era, the five families had paid thirty percent of their profits as tribute.
Excluding the Carmen Family, of course.
The other five families had all been forced to their knees after fierce wars against the Godfather.
"...Then it'll be thirty percent or less this time, I suppose."
Darius ran a hand down his face, starting from his forehead.
"So now we'll be turned into cannon fodder in any war against the other five families."
"At least we'll be safe from the Poison Snakes."
"More importantly, why did they ask for Granada?"
"The bastard went wild smashing up North Woodlawn. This must be payback."
"If we get Haywood back and the drugs start flowing again, won't that ease the pressure?"
"Instead we'll have to crawl around in Englewood like dogs on their behalf."
The Lusso Family's caporegimes each chimed in with their own opinions. In the midst of it all, Besus Lusso and Hemart Lucellona insisted that these conditions were acceptable enough to swallow.
Arta found their attitude utterly distasteful, but the benefits of this surrender were clear.
Simply by redirecting the forces currently concentrated in Haywood, they could easily hold off the Poison Snakes.
On top of that, if they received the drugs from the Fellini Family, they could recover the losses they'd suffered so far.
"...."
The only thing that gnawed at him was the fact that his father would once again have to endure humiliation for all of this.
"Is Damar safe?"
"We're treating him with every courtesy."
The wolves had promised to hand him over immediately after Darius Lusso's surrender.
Darius confirmed that the family's executives and caporegimes didn't seem particularly opposed to the conditions presented by the Fellini Family.
"Very well. Then let's set a date."
Satisfied with Darius's positive response, the wolves took their leave.
"Father, are you really okay with this?"
"There's no other choice."
When he thought about it, even though he'd been given a second chance, Darius Lusso hadn't made proper use of it.
If he was going to target the Academy, he should have gone all in or not touched it at all.
He shouldn't have used Granada to provoke them or sent killers after the Academy.
At the very least, it would have been better if he'd made his move after receiving the first shipment of drugs.
There were many regrets, but it was too late to turn back time.
"...."
Still, since it was a mistake committed by the boss himself and no one else, it needed to be corrected.
Even if that meant kneeling before the children of his mortal enemy.
The Lusso Family's answer was relayed to Elena and me immediately.
"The decision came faster than I expected."
"Yeah. Much quicker than that hamster bastard."
At Giovanni's remark, I brought up the matter with Dom Solomon. It had taken that guy quite a long time to give us an answer about partnering up.
Not every caporegime was present.
A large number of them were managing their own territories or had assigned duties, so it couldn't be helped.
"Elena, where should we hold it?"
"There's no need to use the Rufus Carlton Hotel."
"Then I'll look for a suitable hotel in the city's central district."
Just as Elena said. There was nothing to gain by showing the Lusso Family the inside of the Rufus Carlton Hotel.
"Luke, I'll leave Granada to you."
"Thanks."
"Big brother, but what are you going to do with that guy? You're not handing him over to the Lumini side, right?"
"Of course not. He's far too valuable to throw as food to Lumini and his underlings."
Giovanni's expression suggested he'd more or less expected that answer.
"What about the tribute and the drug supply volume?"
"For the tribute... I'd like to keep it like it was under Father, but twenty percent should be enough."
It felt a bit low, but since the Lusso Family's earnings weren't exactly impressive to begin with, it probably wouldn't make much difference.
Of course, the tribute demanded from subsidiary organizations wasn't primarily about our profit. It was more about keeping those organizations in check.
"Since their situation isn't great, we'll start at twenty percent for now. Once things stabilize, we'll raise it to thirty or forty."
"Forty percent is too high."
"We're supplying them with drugs in return."
We supplied half of the drugs we imported to the five families. Excluding our ally Marinelli, each family received ten percent.
The Carmen Family wasn't included among the five families I'd mentioned, of course.
"...Alright. We'll raise it gradually."
Elena agreed to follow my opinion, and since the location was already decided, she set the exact date.
And so, four days later, we decided to celebrate our victory in the war against the Lusso Family and our advance into the city's central district at a suitable hotel in the central area.
"Elena, there's still one more thing we need to decide."
"...What is it?"
"The division of territories for the central district and the newly acquired lands."
"Ah, right. We do need to settle that."
This issue required calling in Anthony Salmo as well. It was important enough to warrant discussion between the boss, the underboss, and the consigliere.
"Giovanni, for now, keep handling field command with Sarina."
"Yes, big brother. Leave it to us."
With the Lusso Family's surrender, several caporegimes began pulling their forces out of Haywood.
Especially those like Armo, whose roles within the family were clearly defined—such as serving as Elena's bodyguard.
Afterward, Elena and I rode in an armored car back to the Rufus Carlton Hotel.
We took the elevator from the first floor, and when we reached the top floor, Felicia greeted us.
"Luke, welcome back."
"Felicia. I need to have a talk in a different room for a bit."
It wasn't just Elena and me—Salmo would be joining us too. You could call it an executive meeting to divide up the Fellini Family's territories.
"...It's fine. I can just come along."
However, Felicia boldly declared that she would attend as well.
*
Faced with Felicia's confident and resolute attitude, I first checked Elena's reaction.
"You won't need to voice any opinions."
"Doesn't matter. Today's my day to spend with Luke anyway."
"...."
Elena looked like she had plenty to say, but she didn't argue further with Felicia.
Instead, as soon as we entered the room, she called Anthony Salmo to join us. Upon receiving the boss's call, Salmo rushed straight from the central district to the eastern part of the city where the Rufus Carlton Hotel was located.
"Miss, Mr. Luke."
"Salmo, good to see you."
I warmly welcomed Salmo as he entered the room.
Elena and Felicia were still too busy keeping an eye on each other to react immediately to the new arrival.
"Elena, Salmo's here."
"Ah, welcome."
Elena greeted Salmo and gestured for him to take a nearby seat.
"Yes, miss. First, allow me to congratulate you on this victory. It's not a complete win yet... but it was still quite a significant triumph."
"Indeed. We've taken down the Lusso Family and reclaimed the central district."
"Not all of it, but we can sort that out gradually."
The shootout in the central district was already over. The real problem came afterward.
The police were using the chaos that had already passed as an excuse to poke around every corner of the central district under the pretext of maintaining public order.
"Salmo, the situation's a bit half-baked right now... but that's exactly why we need to clearly define the territories."
"Ah... I see."
It seemed Salmo had caught on to what Elena and I wanted to discuss.
Since the family's territory had expanded significantly, it was necessary to redistribute sectors to the caporegimes once again.
"For starters, I'm thinking of returning to the central district."
"You're not saying you'll stand on the front lines yourself, are you, miss?"
"Of course not. Besides, we need to return the original territory to Lumini anyway."
The moment I answered Salmo, Elena began mentioning what she had in mind.
"Don't worry. I'll station Varnella and Armo nearby."
"...If it's those two, I suppose I can feel at ease."
"Elena, then who are you giving the port to?"
"I'd like to hand everything over to Carso, but that would be too much of a burden for him. Who would be suitable for the northern port?"
"...What about Giovanni?"
Since Armo was scheduled to head to the central district anyway, Giovanni seemed the most appropriate. With Lumini from North Woodlawn returning to his original territory, Sarina would take over all of North Woodlawn.
"Yeah, that sounds good."
"How about giving Englewood to Viola?"
"It would be suitable for keeping an eye on the Lusso side. But it'll still take some time to clean that place up."
Englewood was a place the Lusso bastards were supposed to subdue on our behalf anyway.
Beverly and Hayden Park each had fitting candidates.
First, Beverly went to Antonio Alini, who had cooperated in eliminating Albert Cario and become the new boss. Hayden Park went to Jacob Dread, the boss of the dwarf gang.
"It looks like I'll need to have my own territory reassigned as well."
"Yeah, there's no need for three of us in the port."
After a brief discussion, Elena and I decided to give Salmo the River West territory.
We assigned the area originally under Fabio Carini to Salmo, while Carini would take the sector south of Salmo's. In other words, Salmo would handle northern River West, and Carini would manage southern River West.
"Elena, how about giving Granada a territory too?"
"That guy?"
"Granada's skills would certainly be helpful... but I'm not sure he's at the level to be appointed a caporegime."
"Since we've brought him in, we need to treat him with a certain level of respect if we're going to keep him."
Of course, Salmo had a point. So it would be better to offer him a territory that still needed major development.
"Elena, what about this area?"
"...Alright. Let's do that. But if the reaction isn't as good as expected, even I won't be able to do anything about it."
It was conditional, but that was fine. Salmo didn't argue any further with Elena's decision.
While Felicia simply watched our conversation in silence, if we were to mark the results of the territory distribution on a map, it would probably look something like this.
Somehow, it ended up with me and the wolves firmly gripping the eastern part of the city. The Greenbug area where Echelotti and Zakaya were remained completely unchanged.
"Miss, when do you plan to implement this?"
"In three days. That timing should be just right."
It seemed Elena intended to announce the new territory distribution at the same time Darius knelt before us.
In many ways, it felt like the perfect moment.
And those three days arrived sooner than I expected. The occasion to celebrate the Lusso Family's surrender and our victory.
Elena and I headed to a hotel in the central district earlier than scheduled, and Darius Lusso willingly appeared with his subordinates as well.
"...."
Damar Lusso, who had been held by us, also showed up under the escort of the wolves.
***
Elena Fellini's cover rough draft has finally arrived!
What I showed you last time was merely the character design rough.
Since it's still just a rough draft, the points to appreciate aren't entirely clear yet, but it's obvious that she's a tall beauty.