Page 11 of Dishonored

If only …

For now, business was waiting.

“And what did the boss have to say about this fucking Accardo problem?” Simone asked.

Aria, from the head of the table, barely even turned her head to peer down the way at the man. A favorite of her father’s, Simone Bruno, was sometimes like a stand-in son for the boy Jac never had. She figured that was part of the reason why the man was so goddamn mouthy a lot of the time, and tried to use more pull than he actually had.

“He’s not willing to bend to the Accardo organization,” Aria said, flicking a hand as if to dismiss any other notion that might come up about the topic. “He wants more streets—more territory to control. It’s about time we expanded. I see his point.”

Simone’s jaw tensed, and his wife—Giovanna—reached over to pet him like he was an angry puppy that needed stroked to be calm. It was almost amusing, if it wasn’t so fucking sickening, really.

“Did you explain to him that I lost four men in a month?” Simone asked.

“You, or him?” Aria countered, leaning forward a bit as she tipped her head to the side. “There is only one boss of this clan, Simone. You have nothing—it is all his. That’s how this works.”

The three other men at the table quieted in their conversation as Aria spoke. She didn’t need to raise her voice to cut someone down—she’d learned how to be as sharp as a knife without making a scene of herself.

It was a good talent to have.

An emotional woman, a man could handle.

A calm one?

She was frightening.

Simone’s jaw continued doing that thing it always did whenever he was pissed, and trying to hold it back. Aria wondered how long he would last before he exploded on her. It didn’t matter that he knew the rules of Camorra, and that her place above him was rightly done considering their current circumstances.

None of that factored to him.

She was a woman.

A daughter.

She had her place.

To him, this was not it.

“Fine,” Simone snapped, “then did you explain to him about the men that have been killed?”

She chose to ignore the way he phrased the question this time. Poking at that raw nerve of his wouldn’t get her anywhere good—at least not tonight.

He was probably going to have to go, though.

Eventually.

“I did,” Aria said.

“And?”

“Anyone in cielo scoperto are easily replaceable, Simone. They are our batterie. No one we can’t afford to lose, and frankly, we might find less trouble in the future considering how many from that side of our clan seem to step out to form their own organizations. Perhaps work on making those men loyal to you, and less loyal to the cash they’re making for you, and that might not be such an issue anymore.”

“That’s not even what the issue is!”

Red-faced, and with fists clenched, Simone raised from his seat at the table. Her table, actually, which just irked Aria even more. Disrespect was one thing, but disrespect in her territory was something else altogether.

Oh, yes.

He was certainly going to have to go in due time.