Page 30 of Made of Steele
Drew needed a game plan.
He turned to leave.
No, stop. Betty knows you came back here.
She would say something to the brothers. They’d wonder where he went. Would start them questioning him. He had no choice. He had to go in and play things by ear. Worse yet, he couldn’t be caught eavesdropping. That could be the end right there.
He silently backed up, then stomped toward the door and pretended to be on a phone call to warn the brothers he was coming. Near the door, he said a fake goodbye into his phone and shoved it into his pocket before entering the office.
The place was set up with a desk for each brother, Sal’s being the largest and nearest the door. His desk was neat and tidy as was Aldo’s, but Vito’s held piles of papers, and Sal was constantly on his brother’s case to clean up. Drew figured that after he arrested the brothers, Vito would be the one to crack and flip on the others, and Drew planned to exploit the guy’s weakness.
“Yo, Conti bros!” Drew called out, while he tried to figure out how to get the cash the men needed and might expect. “What’s up?”
Sal’s expression held a healthy measure of relief, but he quickly controlled it and faked boredom. “Wondered if you would show your ugly mug today.”
Ah, so he wanted to play it cool. Drew could do the same thing. “Why would I come by to see your sorry face?”
Sal chuckled. “Pull up a seat.”
Drew dropped into a large leather chair by Sal’s desk and nodded at Aldo and Vito, who sat behind their own desks.
“How was the game last night?” Sal asked.
Drew forced a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin. “Dinner went long, and we didn’t make it to the game.”
“You got along, huh?” Sal tilted his head. “Wouldn’t have predicted that.”
Drew looked Sal in the eyes. “Never know what might happen.”
“I suppose you’re gonna see her again.”
“Actually, just had breakfast with her. Not only is she a looker but she can cook.” He patted his stomach. “Might have to change up my workout routine if I keep seeing her.”
“I don’t know why you waste time working out.” Sal leaned back and stretched his arms overhead. “Find a woman who can put up with you, and you can forget all that junk and spend more time making money.”
“You could be right. As I told you, I’m all about making the bucks.” Drew leaned back too, mirroring Sal’s relaxed vibe, to wait for the man to make his request.
Sal snapped his chair forward and pressed hands covered with dark age spots on the table. “I talked to my associate last night. We’re in. We want to start off big.”
“How big?”
“A mil a week.”
Drew sat up. “Not happening, man. Monty doesn’t know you from Adam. He won’t trust you with that much cash. Not at first. I say we do twenty grand. Work up from there.”
Sal swung his head side-to-side, his jowls shaking. “Doesn’t work for me.”
“Why not? It’s not like you’re hurting for cash, right? I mean you’ll make a cool five grand for doing a couple of wire transfers. Can’t ask for a better result than that.”
Sal frowned. “I hate to disappoint my associate.”
Vito snorted.
Sal fired a testy look at his youngest brother. “Don’t you have something better to do besides sit here and backseat quarterback me?”
Vito shook his head. “Not when you’re a riot to watch. You really should be on TikTok. You’d rake in the followers.”
Sal glared until his brother wilted, then Sal turned back to Drew. “We’ll start your way, but only if we have a rapid escalation of numbers.”
