Chapter 82 MICELI

The dividing wall between the interrogation room and the outer room of The Box is recessed to make room for all the capos and their seconds.

Everyone is silent. The occasion is too serious for idle talk. We are all here to witness Lorenzo Ricci get his just desserts for betraying la famiglia .

Sev wants to do this before he turns off Don Caruso's life support and our shift in positions happens.

After I provided Sev with the final evidence to prove Lorenzo's decades of betrayal, he issued an order to bring the capo in. But when me and my team went looking, the stronzo was gone.

Turns out our cousin Salvatore had his own reasons for putting the capo on ice, but he didn't kill him. Which saved his life. Sev wouldn't have forgiven that.

He couldn't, family or not.

Salvatore's wife and his head of security are here too. That stupid fuck, Lorenzo, tried to cover his own ass by lying about Bianca and damn near got her killed.

She deserves to see him die, if that's what she wants. Under the same circumstance, Róise would not want to be here. She is strong, but not blood thirsty. She wanted her dad's murderer killed, but didn't want to see him die.

I asked before we left on the mission to raze the AOG compound.

"You are here today to witness the punishment of a traitor." My brother's tone is harsh and condemning. "Lorenzo Ricci has stolen money from la famiglia both in tithe and what he owes his own men from the profits of their enterprises."

"It looks like he's already been punished," Stephano Bianchi says .

Of course it's one of the older capos that put pressure on Sev to marry and have a kid last year. Too bad he's mamma's cousin, or I would arrange a nice little accident.

He's also Domenico's uncle and Dom is family loyal. Technically, the old bastard is related to me too, I guess.

Family. What can you do?

Severu shrugs. "One session of torture is not enough for such an offense."

He's right about that. No matter how satisfying that session was for Salvatore and me.

"Damn right." Domenico makes it clear he doesn't share his uncle's views.

Good man.

Sev acknowledges Dom's comment with a slight dip of his chin. "Because his offense was against the entire family, you are all here not only as witnesses but to participate in his punishment as well."

I'm not surprised when Salvatore is the first to step forward and punch Lorenzo hard enough to break the disgraced capo's jaw. The next man who steps forward does surprise me. A little.

It's Lorenzo's own son. "You stole from our people, forcing good and loyal soldiers to work outside the mafia to provide for their families."

Dario spits in his father's face before slapping him like a little bitch and turning to dismiss the older man like he is nothing.

The impotent fury that burns in Lorenzo's eyes is a pleasure to see.

Every capo and his second takes their turn doling out a punishment blow to the condemned man after his son is finished.

I am not a capo, so I stand back and watch, satisfied.

When the capos and their seconds are done, my brother orders me and Angelo to put Lorenzo on his knees.

We're not gentle cutting the zip ties holding him to the chair. Oops, I might have nicked him. Angelo seems to be having the same problem.

When we throw the betrayer down to kneel before Sev, he has four more cuts leaching his life's blood from his body.

My brother steps behind him, grabs Lorenzo's head and breaks his neck. "Lorenzo Ricci will have no funeral and no gravestone to mark his burial. He will return to the nothing he chose to become by breaking his oath to the Cosa Nostra."

Angelo activates the cover mechanism in the floor and as soon as there's a big enough opening, Severu kicks the dead capo over the edge.

The splash of his body landing in the chemical soup that will obliterate the man from existence is the only sound in the room .

"We are Cosa Nostra," Sev shouts.

"We are Cosa Nostra," we all shout back.

"Betray la famiglia and that is your fate." He points to the still open floor.

Salvatore isn't the first to step forward this time. It's Dario Ricci.

He kneels before Severu without being told. "I pledge my loyalty and my life."

Sev puts his right hand out, the one he wears his don's ring on. Dario touches his lips to the ring and then his forehead, sealing his vow.

The rest of the capos follow suit. This time, both Angelo and I join them, as does Pietro.

Soon, Sev will participate in a similar scene, but with the other dons of the Cosa Nostra as he is accepted as our godfather.

And I will become don.

As it should be.

The End of An Era

Don Caruso lays on his bed, completely still. Tubes and wires are keeping him breathing and alive, but the time has come to release him from this mortal coil.

Dons from two of the other five families are here as well. We don't congregate like this, but this is an extenuating circumstance.

Sev has unanimous support to step into Don Caruso's shoes after his death.

Other dons are already calling him for advice and even permission to do certain things. Every Cosa Nostra don in the United States will cast his vote for Sev when the time comes.

There is one capo here, the man that our godfather has named as his successor as Don of the Lucchesi Family.

No one speaks. Everyone's eyes are on the still man in the bed. The doctor stands ready for Sev's nod.

But my brother steps up to the bed, lifts the near lifeless hand, and bends one final time to touch his forehead to the godfather's ring.

The other dons follow suit. Only then does Sev nod toward the doctors. There is utter silence in the room when the woosh-woosh of the ventilator stops. Then comes the flat beep indicating the stopped heart of a once great leader.

Sev walks out of the room without acknowledging anyone else. I follow watching his back.

The vote happens less than 24 hours later, and my brother is named Godfather of the American Cosa Nostra .

Don Caruso's funeral will be this Saturday, but the five days of viewing the body beforehand will be used as an opportunity for Cosa Nostra dons and their underbosses to come and kiss the ring.

Severu's ring. My brother, the godfather.

A New Don

We're in the back room of Nonna Agata's, a restaurant as old as the Genovese Famiglia in New York.

Painted stucco walls are adorned with paintings of Sicilian landscapes in traditional ornate wood frames. Dark wood molding runs along the floor and ceiling, just like it did a hundred years ago.

For that same span of time, this is the place where the Genovese have named their dons and capos. The history of all those who came before me sits heavy in the air.

My father was given his ring here after my grandfather's death, and Sev after his. Both Dario and Salvatore's official ceremony to become capos happened here too. Just like their fathers before them.

Sev announced Salvatore's succession to his father's position when he promoted Uncle Sal to consigliere during a lesson in loyalty with all the capos, their seconds and a traitor who had sat at our table. But there still had to be a formal ceremony here.

Uncle Sal, Sev and I sit at the head table with our wives. Mamma is here too, on the other side of Róise. Ours is the only rectangular table in the room and set against the back wall.

Four large round ones filled with capos and their seconds face us.

Róise, Catalina, my mother and my aunt are the only women in the room. Giulia wanted to be here when she learned they would be, but she's part of the Vegas Cosa Nostra now.

While it's not the first time women are here to witness a new don receiving his ring, it is the first time in over three generations. And there is no way it would go over well to have a member of another Cosa Nostra family here to witness the sacred rite.

Everyone has a glass of predinner wine when Sev stands and lifts his. "Saluti."

We all raise our glasses and yell saluti before taking a sip.

"Alla famiglia." He takes a second sip.

Everyone toasts to the Cosa Nostra family .

"As you all know, Don Caruso chose to be both don and godfather." Severu waits for affirmatives to pepper the air before going on. "I do not choose to split my time or attention between two such important roles."

There is no surprise on any of the capos or their second's faces. They know why they are here, but that won't stop my brother from having his say.

It's tradition. And…it's Sev.

"Both for the good of the Cosa Nostra and the good of this family, as my father did before me, I appoint my successor."

I rise to my feet to stand beside Severu.

He lays his right hand on my left shoulder. "Miceli has been my right arm since before I became don of this family. Deciding whether to keep our God of War as my right arm or to put him in charge of this family was not an easy decision for me."

This is news to me. I didn't know my brother even considered a different course of action.

"But this family deserves the best and my brother is that," Sev goes on.

My chest tightens with emotion at his approbation, but my expression remains stoic. A don does not show his feelings.

A man might, with those he can trust, but never the don.

"Our father raised me to be don, to be patient. To be a diplomat when necessary. He raised my brother to burn down the city if necessary to protect this family. He will not be as patient with you all as I have been."

Remembering back to the day Salvatore was named capo, I think my brother is overestimating his patience.

"Miceli will lead this family into the future with strength, wisdom, and the ruthlessness necessary to keep a syndicate strong and protect the family."

Our family first, but to protect them I must keep the Genovese strong. I move my gaze from one person to the next, meeting the eyes of every single man in the room. Every capo. Every second in command.

Only then do I nod. "I will stand for this family until my death."

Always with the morbid . I can hear Róise's voice in my head, but thankfully she does not say it aloud.

Severu fixes the assembled crowd with a gimlet glare. "Al nostro nuovo don."

His toast to the new don is different from the others.

This is how he puts me forward to replace him. Everyone who joins the toast is voting in my favor.

Anyone who does not will die. At my hand. This family is mine to lead and to protect.

No one abstains from the vote.