Son Of Broken Things - Chapter 7 The First Business Lesson

Its been three days and Leo still had not found a way to get competent people to fill important spots in the family. With the way things were headed it would take too long to get and train any reasonable person, so, he planned to consider only those with experience in the fields he was looking for.

‘I guess I have to do that’. He thought and quickly called for Antonio.

“Antonio, get uncle Benedetto in here I have some things to ask him”

After Antonio had left to complete his task he sat back slumped in his seat thinking; ‘I hope I can actually find useful people with this method cause this is my last hope of something useful’.

Knock knock

After the knock the door to the study was slowly open and he could see a beaming Benedetto walk in. His uncle has been quite happy with the family progress recently, especially the current liquor project. With his knowledge and experience he was able to easily see the value of the liquor to the family’s future, that was why he began to look at this nephew of his in a brand new way. He now saw his nephew as someone capable of achieving great things for the family.

“You look rather well this afternoon, I heard you needed me for something”, after stepping in, Benedetto proceeded to find out why he was summoned. The boy before him would only call upon him when the matter concerned the future progress of the family.

“I just wanted to find out if our family had any available contacts in the law and enforcement departments”, said Leo as he smiled at his uncle.

Benedetto thought for a while before answering, “We did have business with a certain DA and he currently owes the family a big favor for helping out with his gambling problems with the Bambino family. Why do you ask?”.

“I want to get in contact with him immediately, he might be able to solve our man power problem”, said Leo.

“Oh, then I’ll give him a call and set up a meeting for you”, said Benedetto.

“And what about the progress on the liquor project?” Asked Leo.

“Its going smoothly with no problems so far. The equipment have already been bought and Mr Allen is with the manufacturers about the custom equipment and it seems that too will soon be ready. Work has started on the brew and the construction of the underground storage and warehouse for ingredients to be completed soon as well. Ingredients have also been purchased and stocked in our other warehouses as well”, replied Benedetto smugly with a hint of pride at his work.

“Thank you for your hard work, I only wonder what I could do without your help. Immediately inform me when the meet is ready”, replied Leo as he watched Benedetto reply “OK” before taking his leave. Slumping back into his seat he sank deep in thought.

It only took a few minutes for the second knock to arrive and the figure of Antonio stepping into the office study, to informed Leo of an important guest with the family card that requested to meet with him. Leo was all smiles as he asked them to lead him in, this was a guest he had been expecting and the only talent worth his time he had managed to find this few days.

……..

As Marco first visited the Fanucci household he was quite surprised cause, for a family like the Fanucci which was said to be declining, they were doing pretty well for themselves. There were maids taking care of the house and guards at various positions for security. He could only wonder what someone like Leonardo Fanucci would want with him and what type of job he was going to be offered for coming here today.

As he stepped into the well furnished office of the Fanucci young master, he was greeted by an excited face that stared at him with all smiles, and before he could greet the person before him the person had already spoken

“Don’t dwell too much on the formalities, your not yet a member of the family so you don’t have to show me too much respect”, he said before going on, “Its truly a pleasure to see you here today. Have you thought about my offer?”

“Yes, and I accept what ever job you have for me and promise to serve you and the family as loyal as I can”

Leo’s could not contain the smile on his face as he said, “Good, your ceremony for joining the family will be held later today, but for now what I plan to give you is the position of my right hand man. Your job is to protect me from all harm; so you would need to work really hard to get stronger than you presently are, and you would also be needed to execute certain missions or jobs and possibly run some business deals in my stead, so you need to also be smart and a quick learner. But before your ready for the real work we’ll start with your first lesson once Benedetto gets back to me”

Immediately Antonio came back to inform him that Benedetto had set up the meeting and also informed him on the location that was agreed upon. Leo quickly stood up, grabbed his coat and gestured to Antonio to prepare the car and Marco to follow him.

“The person we’re about to meet is someone you would have to take note of very much. He might be able to solve a certain problem for me, and I would like you to pick up a few pointers to use during various occasions in my stead and maybe further arrangements”, said Leo to Marco as they got into the car and left the mansion to the location Benedetto told him while he looked through the information on this DA who owes his family.

……

Andres Payne was the present district attorney for the south district of Allabo. He was 37, married to a beautiful wife and son. His life was good at first but he had a major problem which various problems to the family; he couldn’t quit his gambling addiction. This was the reason he acquired a huge gambling debt with the Bambino family and was save by the Fanucci’s, now he owed the family a debt which the family had called to inform that their new head was going to collect.

As he sat on a bench in a public park waiting for Leo to arrive, he couldn’t help but course his habits for landing him in so many problems associating him crime families. He understood very much the possibility that if he was ever connected to a crime family he could lose his job.

The reason he chose a park for the meet was simply because, if there was a situation he couldn’t agree to the demands of the Fanucci family head, he could still walk away as they could not possibly do anything to him with so many people watching and as he continued waiting, a young Italian youth with crimson hair and eyes walked up to him.

He asked his name and told him to follow him to see Leo who was now waiting in a different location. He wanted to refuse but the stare from the youth before him was convincing enough to get him moving. They walked for sometime before they arrived at a car lot where a black car with tinted glasses was waiting.

He was invited into the back seat of the car and sat next to Leonardo Fanucci. He couldn’t believe the young man beside him was the new head of the Fanucci crime family. For Andres Payne the innocent smile on this person’s face didn’t look like that of a crime family boss, but an aspiring youth who just finished his education and was ready to face the world.

As he was still stunned the person beside him spoke first, “It would seem Mr Andres doesn’t hold much trust in my family seeing as how you chose a public park for our meeting. I just want to say Mr Andres, you have nothing to fear from us, we only need a little help from you to settle a minor problem of ours”, after speaking to this point, he stopped to watch the reaction of the man beside him and notice the tension the man felt loosen a little. Taking note of this he continued, “I would first like to ask if Mr Andres has any major connections in the police force and if this person is a little flexible in his activities”

“I do have connections with the current south district chief inspector of the APD, and he has helped me take care of a few things, why?”, replied Payne a little flustered as he tried to figure out the possible reason behind the question.

“Great, since that’s the case I would like you to help me acquire some talents through the legal system. As you may know, there are a lot of power holders who’s abilities don’t really amount to much so, they have to find other ways to make end meet and due to their special abilities might get involved in some matters prompting the police to act and pick them up.

This is a list of the fields I wish their talents to revolve around. I want the best you can find and you will be well compensated with $5000 a name provided for all slots on the list and as much as you friend needs to get things done on his end. Not only do I want you to help me recruit them I also need their criminal records to mistakenly disappear. I wonder if this is possibly for Mr Andres”.

Payne’s face quickly distorted after hearing what Leo just said and hurried to reply, “I’m truly sorry Mr Leonardo but what you ask is not so easy. Helping you find and recruit these people might not be a problem but to delete their records isn’t going to be possible, most of the people who fit your criteria have major charges against them. To simply make those charges disappear I don’t believe I have such ability”.

“That part is something you would have to negotiate with your friend in the department, for which I’m willing to pay any price, besides I am also willing to add in a sponsorship and recommendations for your son to attend that prestigious college he wanted, to help make things better between you and your wife. I believe this should motivate you in your negotiations”.

Payne still wanted to refuse but the benefits of the deal were too good for him to refused. It involved the solution for a better future for his family and he couldn’t just turn it down, and after contemplating for a while he made up his mind to accept and succeed in his negotiations with his friend for his family’s sake.

Leo saw the determined look in Andres Payne’s face and was satisfied he had not made the wrong choice in choosing him for this business agreement. All men with families would do all in their power to support and protect their family, this was common sense amongst men like Andres Payne who their family was everything to them. As Payne left, the car also began to leave the parking lot.

Marco who had watched all that had happened did not understand what Leo had just done, so he asked,

“Why did you ask for people who had been arrested by the police with criminal charges, wouldn’t simply recruiting from the young men on the streets who are clean be better? And besides why did you have to offer him soon much for just this?”

Leo only chuckled at this question before he answered, “Why do you think the devil is the most powerful being on the face of the earth only second to God? Well the answer is simply because the devil understands our nature and our desires. His ability to satisfy a desire for a price makes him the most powerful with millions under the control of his contracts. If you can grasp the hearts of people and their desires you could achieve almost the same results without much of a problem.

Andres Payne’s desire to fix his family problems and take care of their future is his weakness, using this I got him to connect us with the police for possible future cooperations, with no evidence connecting it back to us. We are practically gaining more than we are paying for, and secondly, those individuals the police have arrested are people they had paid serious attention to and who’s activities were worth cracking down on, unlike your former gang, these are people with experience and don’t require much training in those same fields anymore and if am able to not only save them but remove all hindrances and give them a better future, their loyalty towards me and the family will be more than those I could simply pick up on the streets, they would owe their lives to me”.

After listening to this Marco was no longer confused about the situation and also realized that Leo’s decision was not without meaning. As Leo saw he understood he continued, “You will have to be able to master how to perform such transactions on your own and also remember to research the identity and weakness of your opponents in every negotiation. This concludes your first lesson”, he then turned to the driving Antonio and said, ” You will be in charge of keeping me posted with our friend and update me regularly on the progress of our agreement”.

“Alright gentlemen let’s head home for some well deserved dinner and an initiation ceremony for our new member”.
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