He laughed and didn’t look up from what he was doing. His eyes looked tired and his hair looked like it had more gray in it, but he seemed exactly the same otherwise. His hands moved with a practiced precision, cutting the dough, kneading it, shaping it, and tossing it onto the pan. He didn’t slow down, even as he talked.
“Always busy,” he said. “It’s my life now. Get up early, bake bread, go to bed early. Not such a bad way to live, all things considering.” He glanced up at Dante then looked back down at the dough. “Compared to some people, it’s downright pleasant.”
“What have you heard?” Dante asked.
“Oh, just the usual. You got shot at, you ended up killing a few men.” He slammed a hunk of dough onto the table with a loud, slick slap, then took a deep breath. “And the Russians think you’re a fool.”
Dante laughed a little and shook his head. “Now why the hell would they think that?”
“Because you are.” Sergio hit the dough hard with his hands and began to shape it, putting his muscle into the motions. “They’re walking around with axes, and you keep sticking your neck out, begging them to come and cut off your head.”
Dante laughed again and shook his head. “That seems dramatic, Sergio.”
“Isn’t it?” He finished shaping the dough and slammed it onto the tray. The whole thing rattled. He sliced off another one, smashed it onto the flour in a big puff of white, and he began to shape it. “Tell me something, why are you here today, Dante? What do you want?”
“I want to talk,” he said. “About this, actually.”
Sergio stopped kneading and slapped the dough hard. “You want to talk about how you’re being a fool? Then I’ll gladly indulge you.”
“Sergio,” I said, frowning, starting to feel a little nervous.
He ignored me. “What are you thinking, starting a war with Vlas? And don’t tell me he’s the one that began all this. It was your associate that robbed him, and before that, it was your men that pushed against his territory. You’ve been nagging at him for years, undercutting him on the drug market, pushing his protection racket hard. Oh, it’s all been little things, but over time, in aggregate, you’ve been fucking him hard.”
I stared at Dante, surprised. I didn’t know any of that. From my perspective, this had all come out of nowhere, all because Vlas was a greedy bastard.
But now I realized there was a long history here that I didn’t know anything about.
“That’s all true,” Dante said. “But it’s also true that none of it is worth starting a war over. Even all together, even if I had done it all at once. Vlas has been doing that petty shit right back at me, and you don’t see me out there trying to murder him.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Sergio grunted. “You’ve been through a war before. You know how it goes. Why would you court that?”
Dante was quiet for a long moment then he shook his head. “I’m sorry, Sergio. I’m sorry for what happened to you and I’m sorry this is happening again. But I’m the Capo now, and you know what that means. You understand the responsibility I hold.”
“I do,” Sergio said, his voice calmer. He sliced a piece of dough off and began to shape it. “Vlas tried to kill you after you tried to make things right with him. You can’t just turn away from this.”
Date nodded once and leaned against the table. I looked around and found a stool. I pulled it out and sat, sipping the coffee.
“He did try to kill me last night,” Dante said. “And I’ve been thinking about that. I’m not sure that was a serious attempt, not really.”
Sergio frowned. “How’s that?”
“He sent three random thugs,” Dante said. “Three guys with no skills, three nobodies. If he really wanted me dead, he would’ve used his own guys. And I know, they never would’ve gotten into that club, but still. He’d already hired those guys, he didn’t know I’d be there that night. They were probably tailing me for days.”
I blinked in surprise. “Wait, really?”
He shrugged. “That’s my guess.”
“So what was that then?” Sergio asked.
“I think he’s trying to scare me. And sure, if they succeeded, that would’ve been good. But I think Vlas is trying to fuck with me.”
“That’s one hell of a way to fuck with you,” I said.
Sergio laughed. “I agree with her.”
“Of course you do,” Dante said, waving him off. “She’s smart and we all know it. But the point I’m making is I can’t let Vlas scare me. I can’t let him do whatever he wants and force me to go into hiding. That’ll only show weakness.”
“And so you’re here to show that you’re not afraid, and you brought her with you to underscore that point.” Sergio tossed the last bit of dough onto the pan and slid it over next to the other tray. He shook his head and laughed. “That’s a fucked-up thing to do.”