Chapter 22: The Sit-Down

Alessio's POV

I left my gun in the car.

Rocco noticed and said nothing, which is what makes him a good cousin.

Salerno's restaurant was empty except for the long table in the back room.

The man at the end of it sat with his napkin tucked into his collar.

"Alessio." Victor Salerno spread his arms. "You came. Sit, sit. The veal is excellent."

"I ate at the hospital."

"Then wine."

"No."

"You have changed." His smile stayed in place. "Last month you would have made me drink first."

I sat down across from him.

Rocco stood behind my chair with his hands folded.

Along the wall six of Salerno's men waited with their coats open.

"I have heard about your evening," Salerno said. "A scandal. A doctor arrested in front of cameras."

He smiled.

"And you at the head table, in the guest of honor's chair."

"I was invited."

"By people you pay."

"Yes."

"A shame, about Schultz." He lifted his glass. "He seemed a man of promise."

"He seemed a man you bought."

"I buy many things."

"I know." I took a folder from inside my jacket.

I set it on the white cloth.

"This is what I bought."

He did not touch it.

"Two men from this table walked into the ballroom tonight," I said. "They saw Schultz with the vial and left him there."

"So?"

"That was a mistake. A man with nothing left to lose will tell a detective where his money came from."

"He has no proof."

"He has your number in his phone. He has the garage on Fourth, and your man who handed a jug of oil to a cook."

I opened the folder with one finger.

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