An Echo in the Mafia (Echo Reid, Reid Family Book #1)

Part 2

"Alright, what do we got?" Luke asked, lighting a cigarette as he spoke. It was late and they'd been going over everything for hours. He knew his men were tired, knew they hadn't gotten much sleep but, they knew he was demanding and had zero tolerance for errors.

Of course, everyone knew Luke Farina and everyone understood what it meant to work for him. He was a man who pursued perfection, down to the very last detail. He was meticulous and painstakingly vigilant, and he expected... demanded this of everyone who worked for him. He was not a forgiving man either- he was cold, calculating, and as ruthless in his business as he was in any pursuit. He was not the sort of man who ever took no for an answer, even if that meant sometimes people got hurt.

"A cold and heartless bastard."

That was one way that many people would put it and hey, he didn't argue. It was true and Luke appreciated people knowing the truth. If they knew who he was and how he was then they would be more careful about upsetting him in the future.

"It's what you thought. The Russo brothers have been spotted selling just south of 27th and Pepper Hill." Marco said.

"Pepper Hill? Past the prep school?" Luke asked, surprised but Marco shook his head.

"In front of it." He replied, and this time, Luke frowned. Luke was a spineless son of a bitch but even he had standards. There were rules and one of those rules what that you didn't mess with children. Anywhere. Now usually, Luke didn't bother with what other people did. If another man wanted to run his business that way, it was certainly not something Luke was going to be involved in, even if that did make him an even bigger son of a bitch. Luke was no hero, no benevolent leader, and most certainly, Luke was not the type of man to step in for the greater good. To him, the greater good was what brought him greater good. He was concerned first and foremost for himself and his own. That was it.

Of course, it was known that the city was inside Luke's territory and Luke, being a man who was very concerned about his own good, was very concerned about what was going on in his territory.

"You talk to them?" Luke asked.

"No, but their man- Denny- says they are willing to talk to you." Marco replied.

"What the fuck about? Those two know that the city belongs to us. God fucking damn it. This was my concern with letting those two pieces of shit move into Southtown." Luke said, referring to the very small town just about 50 miles outside the opposite end of the city.

26 years ago, when Luke was still a small boy, his father let the Russo family retire into obscurity after their father had failed to properly care for their people. It was the type of thing that Dons had been doing for years. They Russo family left with most of their people integrating well and accepting the Farina family's protection. There wasn't a man in the city's underworld who didn't know this. While Luke could look the other way to people selling or holding, he didn't take it well when they openly sold in areas of town that were strictly forbidden. The rule was you don't go near the school zones- even if he did know that those punk kids were getting it from the neighboring towns. That was not his problem. Luke and his men did not deal in drugs, there were other men around who did that and they had their understanding with them.

But the Russo boys were strictly forbidden from conducting any type of business inside the city, especially when it violated Luke's rules.

"What I got was their flat out refusal to discuss it with anyone but yourself." Marco said, making Luke raise his brow.

"Since when does a Don waste his time on a couple of nobodies? Get rid of 'em." Luke said angrily.

"If you're sure, I will." Marco said but Luke let out a groan of frustration. It was easy enough to say but not easy enough to do and Luke knew it. Just because most of the Russo family had integrated well, did not mean they would appreciate him so easily discarding of the Russo boys.