Page 159 of Marcello

“So kill Don Amato, Luciano, and all the foot soldiers. But if you leave the women and children alive, it might buy us a little leeway when the hammer comes down.”

“What do you mean, ‘when the hammer comes down’?” Lucrezia snapped.

“The Cosa Nostra is going to come after us. You know that. If we leave the women and children alive, then maybe we can bargain with them. ‘It’s not personal – it’s strictly business,’” I said, quoting Michael Corleone from The Godfather. “But if we kill them, it looks personal… and then the rest of the Cosa Nostra will make it personal.”

“We’re making it personal by going after Dario Rosolini,” Lucrezia said.

“Yes – so you can kill the man who murdered your father. The Cosa Nostra will at least understand that. They won’t be so forgiving if we murder a bunch of women and children.”

Lucrezia stayed silent as she gave it some thought.

Cesare did not stay silent, nor did he give it any thought whatsoever.

“Fuck that!” he shouted. “They’re ALL dead!”

“…he’s right,” Lucrezia murmured.

Cesare smirked. “Goddamn straight, I’m right!”

“No – he’s right,” Lucrezia said as she pointed at me.

“…what?!” Cesare snarled.

“If we only kill the men, there’s a chance the Cosa Nostra will look at this as purely business,” she replied. “They might even be willing to come to some sort of an agreement. Probably not, but there’s at least a chance. However, if we kill the women and children, they’ll never negotiate. They’ll see it as us spitting in their faces.”

“But – ”

Lucrezia had had enough. “Just kill Amato and the rest of the men, and leave the women and kids alone.”

Cesare looked like he wanted to slap her senseless –

But he looked at me like he wanted to kill me. Slowly.

“You’ll get Dario Rosolini,” Lucrezia reassured her brother as she stood, “and we’ll get rid of the Cosa Nostra in Naples. After that, the sky is the limit.”

Cesare still looked like he wanted to cut the skin off my body, piece by piece.

“If Luciano doesn’t visit his mistress tonight, then we wait for the next opportunity,” Lucrezia announced to us all. “But if he does visit her, it’s on. Get some rest, because it’s going to be a long night.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Lucrezia left the room.

Cesare mad-dogged me as he followed her out.

There was a collective exhale as soon as they were gone.

Ciro looked at me and shook his head in disgust. “‘Don’t kill the women and children’ – you’re a real fuckin’ idiot, you know that?”

“At least my lips aren’t glued to Cesare’s ass,” I replied.

It took Ciro a second to figure out the insult. As soon as he did, his face contorted in rage.

I knew he was going to come at me –

And I was ready.

This is the part where the hero refuses to be intimidated.

Before he could move, I whipped out my Glock from my shoulder holster and pointed it at Ciro’s head.