Page 12 of Rise of the Queen

“Trino took care of Sal’s son, Anthony, as well as Lorenzo and Massimo,” I said.

“Vitaliy, I don’t know if you know about Trino’s flair for the dramatic, but it’s fucking impressive,” Sephie said.

“Explain,” my father said.

Sephie glanced at Trino, grinning at him. Trino looked at Vitaliy and said, “I like the theater. I wanted their deaths to make a statement.”

Vitaliy looked to Sephie for clarification. “He lit Massimo on fire and threw him off a cliff. Then he chopped off Anthony’s and Lorenzo’s heads and delivered them to Sal.”

Vitaliy looked at Trino, almost in admiration. “That is impressive,” he said.

Trino laughed. “We do things a little differently in South America. That’s tame compared to what I have planned next.”

“Where is Sal now?” Vitaliy asked.

“He fled to Italy a couple days after he got Anthony and Lorenzo on his doorstep. He had tunnels under his house that he used to escape. My guys were watching him,” Trino said.

“He’s with Ricardo. We’re not completely sure, but we think Ricardo has been behind all of this, along with Lorenzo, from the beginning,” Viktor said.

“Ricardo De Luca?” Vitaliy asked.

“You know him?” I asked.

“Da. He was close associates with Giovanni, before Armando took over for him. They were in business together regularly. He pitched me a couple of ideas, but I never was interested. I never liked him, although he wasn’t in the illegal side of things,” he said.

“We think he’s been behind Armando the entire time. Armando isn’t who he says he is. He’s from a poor family in Italy. His mom was a crack whore, even. Very different story from the one he’s been giving everyone else. Ricardo and Giovanni are related, but distantly. He’s the connection between Armando and Giovanni. He likely placed him with Giovanni in the hopes that he would take over from Giovanni and he could control him,” Ivan said.

“Ricardo has also been in business with Lorenzo for years. Once you banished Lorenzo to Sicily, he set up extensive networks throughout Europe. He’s been rebuilding his fortune over there with Ricardo’s help,” Viktor said.

“Why would Ricardo care about controlling Armando if he’s not part of that side of the business?” Vitaliy asked.

“That’s the question we can’t figure out. Either he is and we just haven’t found it yet or there’s another reason. Armando said he’s basically obsessed with Boss. Ricardo has been trying to beat him in business for years, but has never been able to. Boss always has a bigger project going than Ricardo and is always more successful,” Ivan said.

Vitaliy looked at me, nodding his head once. “This is why I turned the business over to you so early. I knew you wouldn’t fuck it up.” I chuckled.

“Was Sal in the flesh trade when you were still running things?” Sephie asked Vitaliy.

“If he was, I didn’t know about it. That’s abhorrent. I wouldn’t allow it,” he said.

“That’s how Lorenzo rebuilt his fortune in Sicily. Those are his networks throughout Europe. According to Dario, Sal has been in it for years, too. That’s what caused me to find Sephie. I went to their meeting because I’d heard about Sal’s son trying to bring it to the city,” I said.

“What happened at the meeting?” Vitaliy asked.

“Um, it got a little derailed,” Sephie said. She looked at Vitaliy, almost like she was going to be in trouble. She said, “See, I have this problem with my mouth. I can’t not be a dick sometimes. It tends to get me in trouble.”

He looked amused, as he asked again what happened. She sighed. “The bosses knew he was coming and that they were in trouble. It wasn’t just about Anthony. The other bosses had raised taxes so they were all in for it. Anthony was supposed to create a diversion, which involved me and was mostly successful, but nobody expected your son to react the way he did when Anthony used me as a distraction. It kind of set off a chain of events that night.”

“What did he do to you?” Vitaliy asked, now starting to get angry.

Sephie looked at the floor. I could feel the light shaking start in her legs. “First he smacked her ass so hard that she fell over the table,” I said. “She quickly left the room, which gave me the opportunity to teach that kid some manners. Later, he caught her coming out of the kitchen and tried to touch her. She refused, so he choked her.”

“Boss knew something was wrong when she hadn’t returned and neither had he. Anthony had her off the floor by her neck when we found him. Viktor and I took him outside and almost beat him to death that night. He didn’t like that,” Andrei said.

“Was this before or after he told you his name?” Vitaliy asked Sephie.

“After,” she said.

“I’m surprised you didn’t kill him, then,” he said, nonchalantly.