Chapter 22: The Higher-Ups Respond

Although the discussion between Nico and Marcel regarding what they assumed would be their membership to the Cosmopolitan happened over a span of a few hours, implementing their plan and making it a reality would take them at least a few months.

After all, this was the Cosmopolitan Club they were talking about, a secret organization said to be standing at the top of the criminal underworld. There were countless legends surrounding it, but it had forever remained shrouded by a veil of secrecy.

For the Rosetti Family to be able to indirectly come in contact with such a prestigious organization could be said to be their greatest fortune. That was why, henceforth, everything needed to be taken seriously by the higher-ups of the family. They couldn't afford to make a single mistake.

When Marcel brought the news to Angelo and Enzo Rosetti, they couldn't be any happier. What they were excited about wasn't that they would be able to one-up the Buccantis, but the sheer number of opportunities they'd get after joining the club.

Opportunities to expand, to strengthen their force... the list went on and on. Such was the allure of the Cosmopolitan. Enzo was ecstatic when he heard the news.

He would have gotten a membership sooner or later after his daughter got married and the alliance was formed, but getting the membership before the marriage meant that he had more room to bargain with the other family.

And more room to bargain could only mean one thing: more benefits to be gained. Thus, everyone began accordingly making plans and preparing for the day they approached the Cosmopolitan.

...

The Cosmopolitan stood tall like a towering behemoth in the center of Manhattan. To outsiders, it was a luxurious club-cum-hotel where its members could stay and socialize. However, the truth was far from what could be seen from the surface.

Suddenly, the door to the main entrance of the building was flung open and three figures dressed in lavish three-piece suits stomped out. The thing they all had in common was a look of frustration on their faces.

They had gone inside with great hopes, but when the people inside realized that they were actually related to David, they'd immediately been told to get out. After all, the last time David had gone there, he'd really annoyed quite a few people by acting cocky and arrogant.

At the time, he would have never been allowed to leave the establishment had it not been for a certain member of the club. David's actions had a domino effect that ended up negatively affecting the chances of the Rosetti Family getting a membership.

When Don Enzo realized the reason they were told to leave the place, he couldn't help but feel disappointed in David. Although he understood that the boy was still a teenager, he was still irked. Fortunately, there would be another chance for them to get a membership.

If it were anyone else, he would have surely killed them for such a mistake. However, it was David. Even the don of the Luciani Family, Antonio Luciani, valued the kid, much less Don Enzo, who was planning to nurture him properly. Thus, Enzo could forgive David for what he had done.

However, the same couldn't be said for the underboss, his son Angelo. He'd long since grown to detest David for how 'disrespectful' the brat had behaved the day when he was promoted, and today's incident was the final nail in the coffin. He had had enough of the kid.

The consigliere, on the other hand, was nervously sweating. It was he that had brought forth the plan, and now that it had royally failed, he didn't know what to do. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the don's disappointed face. Then, when he saw Angelo's contorted expression, his eyes suddenly lit up.

After walking down the stairs, Don Enzo patted Angelo's shoulder. "Fuhgeddaboudit. We'll have more opportunities."

When Angelo heard his father's words, he couldn't help but get even more angry at David. But in the end, he could only nod. "Yes, father."

Enzo, without casting a glance at Marcel, got inside his car and left the place. Angelo and Marcel remained standing on the sidewalk as they waited for their cars to arrive. An awkward silence lingered between the two, making the consigliere extremely nervous.

Angelo looked at him with narrowed eyes. "We need to talk."

'Bingo!' Marcel thought. On the surface, however, he solemnly nodded. He knew exactly what Angelo wanted to talk about, or rather who he wanted to talk about. He began to have this absurd notion in his heart that perhaps his previous plan to paint someone as a Buccanti spy could finally come to fruition.

...

That same day, David, who had just left the Mulligan for the day and was about to head home, received an unexpected phone call. After he hung up, he had a strange expression on his face. "So we're finally counterattacking the Buccantis, but he didn't tell me when…."

He thought for a long time and tried to make sense of it. He didn't understand why the person on the other end of the phone simply told him to prepare, but didn't mention the date of the attack.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he muttered, "Are they doing this to deal with the spy in our midst?" Withholding crucial intel until the final moment indeed seemed like a good tactic to him.

He hailed a cab and went to Bobby's butcher shop to stock up on guns and ammo. He was planning to take all the weapons back to his place so that, when the time finally came, he wouldn't have to rush to Bobby like the time the Buccantis had invaded.

After he loaded a duffle bag full of a bunch of firearms and various calibers of ammo into the cab's trunk, Bobby looked at him and solemnly said, "David, be careful and watch your back." Over time, he had developed a good relationship with the kid; naturally, he didn't want him to die.

David shut the trunk lid and looked at "the Rat" with a smirk. "Eh, I'm pretty hard to kill. But thanks, I appreciate it." He got into the back seat of the taxi and gave the driver the address of his apartment, all the while wondering just how many bastards he'd be able to kill this time.

[Countdown: 114 days…]