Capítulo 221: Chapter 221: Mafia Committee Confrontation
Hardy received several calls. The first was from the old godfather, informing him that Basini was convening a meeting of the Mafia families to discuss matters in San Francisco. Hardy and the old godfather talked on the phone for nearly an hour.
Next, Hardy took a few more calls—from the head of the Lucerce family in Miami, the head of the Bruno family in Philadelphia, the head of the Marcelo family in New Orleans, and others. They were all shareholders of "The Venetian Hotel" and were concerned about the developments.
Hardy explained with a smile, "It's not that the Los Angeles Gang wanted to annex the territory, but the Selton family had internal conflicts, leaving a vacuum. Some Hispanics tried to take advantage of the situation. Do you think I could just let that happen?"
"Even though the Los Angeles organization isn't part of the Mafia Committee, it was still born out of the Mafia. I've always considered us to be one family, don't you agree?" Hardy asked.
Hearing Hardy express his desire to be part of the Mafia family pleased these Mafia family leaders.
"But you know," Hardy continued, "the committee has always refused to accept anyone outside the Italian ethnicity. I understand that, but it's also a bit disheartening. I believe that for a business to grow, it should be open to all possibilities. If it's possible, the Los Angeles organization would like to become part of the committee."
It wasn't easy to convene a full committee meeting of the Mafia. After all, more than twenty leaders had to gather, and they planned to meet in New York a week later.
Vito Corleone entered the conference hall with Tom. When the other family leaders and their officers saw the old godfather, many stood up to greet him.
"Vito, how's your health lately?" someone asked with a smile.
"Very good. Cuneo often asks me to go hunting. I shot an elk a few days ago," the old godfather replied with a smile.
The head of the Cuneo family grinned and added, "That was the biggest deer on my farm. He killed it with a single shot. I bet that deer would have run far away if not for Vito."
The others laughed together.
Tom followed the old godfather, feeling only one thing—respect. These family leaders were more respectful toward the godfather than ever before.
At the last committee meeting, the godfather had been like a wounded lion, surrounded by a pack of hyenas. But now, they all wore friendly smiles.
Tom knew why this change had occurred. It was all because of Hardy.
Even though Hardy wasn't on the Mafia Committee and wasn't even a member of the Mafia, he had a significant influence over it. The Corleone family's restoration to its current state was entirely due to Hardy.
Emilio Basini, the head of the Basini family, Philip, head of the Tataquilia family, Colobo, head of the Strache family, and others entered the conference hall and noticed the old godfather and others chatting and laughing. Their expressions grew more serious.
Basini, the rotating chairman, took his seat at the head of the table, and the other family leaders settled in as the meeting began.
Basini glanced at the two dozen leaders present and finally at an empty chair. "Have you noticed that our committee is missing one leader?"
Everyone looked at the empty seat, understanding that Basini was referring to Lebselton from San Francisco, and they knew why the committee had been convened.
Basini's expression darkened. "Someone took over the Selton family's territory. You've all heard the news by now—it's the Los Angeles Gang. I convened this meeting to discuss taking back the San Francisco territory."
"The Selton family is a member of the committee. When we established the committee, we created a charter that clearly states that the committee resolves internal disputes within the families and forms an alliance to defend against external threats. If our interests are attacked, we must act together."
"The Selton family was attacked, and their territory was taken. I've called this meeting to discuss how to deal with this situation. I'm prepared to go to war with the Los Angeles Gang!"
After Basini finished speaking, he looked around the room.
The atmosphere was tense.
None of the leaders present were fools; they all knew who was involved in this matter. Was it really so easy to go to war with the Los Angeles Gang?
The Los Angeles Gang was Hardy's.
More than half of the people here had invested large sums of cash, millions of dollars, in the Venetian Casino. They weren't about to let a conflict between Selton and Hardy jeopardize their investment.
Many of them glanced at the old godfather, Vito Corleone, either consciously or unconsciously.
The old godfather looked at Basini and asked calmly, "Basini, why do you want to go to war with the Los Angeles Gang?"
"Because they attacked the Selton family and took over San Francisco," Basini responded coldly.
The old godfather shook his head slightly. "But what I've heard is that the Selton family had internal conflicts. Selton and his second-in-command, Troto, were fighting. After many were killed, the police arrested the rest. It doesn't seem like Los Angeles had anything to do with it."
The head of the Lucerce family nodded. "That's the news I received as well. It seems that Troto tried to usurp power, Selton tried to stop him, but failed, and then the two sides fought each other."
The head of the Lucerce family scoffed and added, "Selton really failed to manage his family."
Basini scowled. "I suspect that the whole thing was a conspiracy by the Los Angeles Gang."
"And why do you think that?" the old godfather asked.
"Because they're the ones who benefited the most from it," Basini replied.
The old godfather shook his head. "Basini, that reason isn't convincing. After the Selton family's feud, the territory was vacant, and some Latinos tried to move in. The Los Angeles Gang saw this and stepped in to secure the area."
"It's better for the territory to be in the hands of Los Angeles than the Mexicans, don't you think?" the old godfather said.
Basini looked at the old godfather and said seriously, "Vito, are you willing to violate the rules set by the committee and support an outsider?! I know you have a good relationship with Jon Hardy."
Facing Basini's accusation, the old godfather remained calm.
"After the incident in San Francisco, I did call Hardy. He told me that he didn't want to see territory belonging to the Mafia fall into the hands of others. That's the only reason he sent people into the Selton family's territory."
"Is he really that altruistic?" Basini sneered.
"Why not? Los Angeles was born out of the Mafia. We could have been a family. Hardy told me that if the committee agreed, he would let Los Angeles join the committee," the old godfather said.
At this point, the head of the Lucerce family spoke up, "Los Angeles is now the largest gang on the West Coast. It's very powerful. If they can join, it would definitely strengthen our Mafia."
The head of the Bruno family from Philadelphia also nodded. "Yes, our strength on the West Coast is too weak; we have almost no presence there. The strength of Los Angeles is clear to everyone. If we want to expand our business on the West Coast in the future, we'll need a strong partner."
Several other leaders also voiced their support, believing that the Los Angeles Gang should be included. Basini's face grew dark. His purpose in convening this meeting was to address the situation in San Francisco and eliminate the Los Angeles Gang, but these men were actually discussing letting the Los Angeles Gang join the committee.
This infuriated Basini.
He stood up abruptly and declared, "I am firmly against it. All the families here are of Italian ethnicity, and the committee should only consist of Italian families. Others simply cannot be trusted."
The old godfather also stood up, looked at Basini, and said hoarsely, "Basini, I think it's time you reconsidered your thinking."
He scanned the room, looking at the other leaders, and said loudly, "The Mafia originated in Sicily, that's true. But we came to the United States to survive and grow our businesses. Back then, every city had large and small families. To ensure our success, we formed a committee."
"The original purpose of the committee was to resolve disputes and promote our growth, not to maintain some outdated sense of pride."
"In our families, there are now many non-Italians in high positions. Many of us were born in the United States. For example, Al Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York. What does that make him, an American?"
"If we're going to be restrictive, we'd have to exclude anyone who wasn't Sicilian. Basini, I remember you're of Neapolitan origin, right? And Tatagilia, you're from Calabria, correct? There are many others here who are in the same situation."
"Basini, times have changed. We need to adapt. Only by including more capable people can we continue to grow. Any rules that hinder our development and ability to make money must be reconsidered."
Basini looked at the old godfather, stunned.
These words from Vito sounded all too familiar. They reminded him of when he had forced Vito to use political connections to support the drug trade, saying something very similar.
Now Vito was using those same words against him.
Originally, this committee was convened to unite against the Los Angeles Gang and reclaim control of San Francisco
. But now, the entire committee had split into two factions: one faction led by Basini and the other led by the old godfather, Vito Corleone. With no clear winner, the meeting ended in deadlock.
Without the support of the committee, Basini knew he couldn't possibly confront Hardy alone. San Francisco was now lost to him.
After the meeting ended, the old godfather made a call to Hardy, recounting the events of the day.
"It seems that the Los Angeles Gang's membership in the committee will take some time to arrange," the old godfather said.
"Don't worry, we don't have to rush," Hardy replied. "Our goal is to work together and make money. We already have more than a dozen families supporting us."
"Mr. Vito, I'd like to ask you for a favor," Hardy continued.
"What do you need?"
"I want you to help me reach out to all the families, including those we've worked with before and those we haven't. I have an idea for a casino in Cuba and want to see if they're interested in investing."
"A casino in Cuba?"
"Yes. If we can involve more families, it will ease the process of getting the Los Angeles Gang accepted into the committee."
"Okay, I'll make some calls," the old godfather agreed.
After hanging up, Hardy allowed himself a sly smile.
He had misled the old godfather slightly.
His real goal wasn't to invest in Cuba, but to trap Basini.
Hardy didn't share this plan with the old godfather. He believed the less the godfather knew, the better the plan would work.
At that time, Cuba hadn't yet undergone a revolution. The country was still under U.S. influence, with Prime Minister Fulgencio Batista, who had ties to Basini. However, Hardy knew that in a few years, a young man named Fidel Castro would rise to power, leading to the loss of all U.S. investments in Cuba. Hardy's goal was to lure Basini into this quagmire.
After all, Hardy's philosophy was simple: there's no need to exert effort when a few words can do the job.
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