Don Bowed To Me Chapter 31
Ten o’clock in the morning.
The council chamber of the Marchetti estate.
Fifty-two chairs lined the long table.
Don Salvatore sat at the head.
Consigliere Enzo Bellandi sat at his left.
Sebastian sat at his right.
The seat that had belonged to the underboss was empty.
The remaining forty-nine chairs were all occupied.
Not a single capo was absent.
Ten o’clock sharp.
I pushed the door open.
Forty-nine pairs of eyes turned to me simultaneously.
I wore a charcoal Alexander McQueen suit.
Don Salvatore looked up.
“Dr. Vitale.”
“Come.”
He raised his hand.
And pointed to the empty chair at Sebastian’s right.
That was a formal leadership seat within the Marchetti family.
For over a hundred years.
Only core Marchetti family members had ever sat there.
I didn’t walk over immediately.
A capo in the front row raised his hand.
Gino Palermo.
Head of the Providence union line.
And the first signature on yesterday’s joint objection.
“Don Salvatore.”
“If Dr. Vitale sits there—”
“Does that mean the Marchetti family officially acknowledges her leadership position?”
Don Salvatore looked at me.
“Dr. Vitale, answer this one yourself.”
I turned to face Gino.
“Mr. Palermo.”
“That document you signed yesterday—I’ve read it.”
Gino’s expression shifted slightly.
“You oversee five associates and three soldiers in Providence.”
“One of them, your bookkeeper—Louie Marconi.”
“Over the past two years, your crew has appeared at least four times in the peripheral records of federal investigations.”
“Your associate Danny Russo.”
“2023—sentenced to seven years in connection with a federal case involving illegal cash transfers.”
Gino’s face began to go pale.
I continued.
“Last winter.”
“In a restaurant in Providence, you used a disposable phone to contact someone in New Haven.”
“That transaction was a hundred and seventy thousand dollars.”
“I don’t care whether you did it or not.”
“I only know that federal investigators are watching you.”
I looked around the entire council chamber.
“And over the past six months.”
“I’ve handled thirteen emergency cybersecurity incidents for Marchetti Defense.”
“At least three of those directly involved your communications systems.”
No one spoke.
I placed another document on the table.
“Now. Let’s talk about the Rizzos.”
Several capos’ expressions changed instantly.
I continued.
“Early this morning.”
“A Marchetti Defense transport vehicle was ambushed.”
“Tommy Gallo.”
“Nick Ferretti.”
“Two Marchetti family men, dead.”
Someone shot to his feet.
“Tommy was my brother-in-law!”
“Nick just became a father last month!”
I raised my hand.
The entire room went silent again.
“Over the past five years, the Rizzo family has registered seventeen companies along the Newport coast.”
“Three of them overlap directly with land Marchetti Defense plans to acquire in the coming year.”
“The prototype device they stole—”
I glanced at my watch.
“At 8:47 this morning.”
“It permanently locked down.”
“They got nothing.”
“But what they truly wanted was never that device.”
I looked at all forty-nine of them.
“They wanted us.”
“They wanted the Marchetti family to fracture over my bloodline.”
“They wanted Vincenzo to create conflict at today’s meeting.”
“They wanted you to split into two sides.”
“And while we fought over power, they’d buy up Newport.”
I paused for a second.
“Gentlemen, if I sit down today.”
“The Rizzos’ first move fails.”
“If I don’t sit, they’ll have those three parcels of land within forty-eight hours.”
“So.”
I looked at everyone.
“What you actually need to decide.”
“Isn’t whether I’m Italian.”
“It’s whether you’re willing to let a family that’s stood for over a hundred years be led by the nose by an enemy—over a question of blood.”
No one spoke.
I looked at that empty chair.
“The choice is yours.”