Page 299 of Marcello

“There’s no room,” Niccolo said. “I’ll call you and patch you both into the conversation.”

The movie star looked miffed, but he and Roberto walked off to another car.

As we piled in, the woman looked at me and said, “Well, he’s still alive, so I’m assuming he agreed to help.”

Niccolo chuckled darkly. “Not only that, it turns out he’s in love with Don Amato’s daughter, who’s hiding in the castle from the rest of the Camorra.”

The woman stared at me. “Get the fuck outta here.”

“It’s true,” I said.

She stuck out her hand. “I’m Lucia.”

I shook it. “Marcello.”

“Although you can call him ‘Romeo,’” Niccolo said snarkily.

“What?” Lucia asked, confused.

Niccolo smirked. “It’s his nom de guerre.”

“Speak Italian, asshole.”

“His gang nickname,” Niccolo snapped.

“Oh.” She looked at me. “Well, it fits.”

“Hey,” Massimo said indignantly.

“Don’t worry, hunny-bunny,” she said as she snuggled up against him, “you’re the only one for me.”

I frowned.

Jesus, the Cosa Nostra was weird.

Once Roberto and Valentino were on the phone, Dario asked me, “How do we get inside the Amatos’ castle?”

“First we need to decide what to do about the stash houses,” I answered. “If you don’t let me go, Lucrezia will figure out you’ve captured me, and she’ll call in the rest of the Camorra.”

“The rest of the Camorra hate the Capronis,” Niccolo argued.

“Yeah, but they hate the Cosa Nostra even more. If it means getting you guys out of Naples forever, the other clans will definitely show up. I mean, they were willing to give away the Amalfi Coast and Capri in exchange for whacking the Amatos.”

Niccolo stared at me in shock. “They did what?”

“That was the deal Lucrezia cut with the rest of the Camorra,” I explained. “She wanted the Amalfi Coast and Capri if she and Cesare got rid of the Amatos, and the clans all agreed.”

“Why would the Camorra do that?”

“It was actually a good trade on their part. The Amalfi Coast is basically worthless. Too many tourists… not enough cover to run things like we do in Naples.”

“Then why would Lucrezia want the Amalfi Coast in the first place?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is, if Lucrezia calls the rest of the clans to come help kill you, they’ll show up in a heartbeat.”

“We’ll just have to take our chances.” Niccolo turned to Dario. “There’s no way we can trust him not to run for it.”

“Then prepare to face off against the entire fucking Camorra,” I snapped.