America: Starting with the Last Liberty

Chapter 107 The Big Three 4K

Luca increasingly felt that things were spiraling out of his control. Before he left, he had thought that by helping Francis to form a three-way power balance with Antonio and Felice, the family would be very stable.

Italians may not know what a three-legged stand is, but they do know that a triangle is the most stable.

However, while triangles are indeed stable, there's nothing that can be done if the three angles of a triangle are damaged.

In the late Roman Republic, the triumvirate of military commander Pompey, wealthy Crassus, and rising statesman Caesar divided state power and suppressed the Senate, but in the end, civil war broke out.

The Bonanno family was similar; Luca astutely sensed that Antonio might have some connection with Francis, and it was this connection that caused the power imbalance within the family.

Although there is no evidence, as a long-time member of the organization, Luca certainly wouldn't just look at the evidence.

After all, evidence can be fabricated, but interests don't lie.

Unfortunately, Luca cannot confront Antonio at this time, otherwise the Bonanno family might also be engulfed in a civil war.

In this way, old Martin's hard work could be completely destroyed, which is unacceptable to Luca.

Regardless, Luca must protect the Bonanno family's legacy.

So Luca took the initiative and settled the matter directly.

"In that case, let Madam take charge for now."

This was not in Felice's interest, and he immediately objected.

"How can this be allowed! She has never been involved in family affairs, what qualifications does she have to take charge?"

Luca glared at Felice.

"Shut up! Felice Russo, do you want to destroy Mr. Bonanno and everyone else's hard work? Think back to when we fought together! Our family is already in a precarious state, on the verge of falling apart at any moment! At a time like this, we should be united, not fighting for power!"

Luca's established prestige worked its magic; Felice opened his mouth but ultimately remained silent, as did Antonio.

"Moreover, Mrs. Bonanno is Mr. Bonanno's wife, and her position makes her perfectly suited to take charge; she can become the family's banner, just like Queen Victoria!"

Felice and Antonio both understood the meaning behind Luca's words, so they did not object further.

Sofia is not yet politically astute enough to grasp Luca's hidden meaning, and is even excited about her easy acquisition of power.

However, can power really be obtained so easily?

"Now, everyone should go back to their own business. Getting through this difficult time is the most important thing!"

As he spoke, Luca felt a wave of fatigue. The series of events had taken their toll on the already elderly man.

But there's no other way; if Luca doesn't hold on, the Bonanno family might not even outlive Martin.

Felice was about to leave the villa, but Antonio didn't move.

Since Antonio wasn't leaving, Felice naturally wouldn't leave either, and he looked at Antonio with a puzzled expression.

"Antonio, why aren't you leaving yet?"

"I have something to discuss with Mrs. Bonanno."

"What is it?"

"This is none of your business!"

"Antonio, what can't you say in front of Luca and me?"

Luca also looked at Antonio with suspicion; the other man's behavior was indeed somewhat strange.

With the two men staring at him like that, Antonio had no choice but to reveal his purpose.

"I recently suffered investment losses and would like to receive some dividends in advance."

These words stunned Sofia, who now indeed controlled the Bonanno family's cash.

"How much do you need to advance?"

Five million.

Sofia immediately looked troubled.

"The family may not be able to come up with that much cash."

These words made Antonio anxious.

"How is this possible! The family's cash flow has always been very healthy, how could we be broke? Has someone embezzled the money?!"

Antonio almost accused Sofia of embezzling the money, which greatly displeased Sofia.

"Antonio Costa, are you accusing me?"

Luca immediately stepped forward to smooth things over.

"Antonio, I believe Madam is not that kind of person. Madam, please explain what happened?"

Sophia hesitated for a moment. Rosen had told her not to tell anyone about this, since a family without money would definitely affect the family's cohesion.

Once cohesion drops, it's very difficult to get it back up.

History has shown that public sentiment only declines and is difficult to recover, so Rosen doesn't want cohesion to continue to drop. It would be best to announce this at the "appropriate" time so that Sofia can win back some of the public's support.

But now, if Sofia doesn't tell the truth, it will definitely be difficult for her to get through this.

"Francis Rich transferred most of the liquid assets and gold to his own name some time ago, and now the family's cash reserves can only last until next month."

Luca and Felice both looked shocked, while Antonio practically flew into the air.

Antonio was clearly unaware of Francis's underhanded tactics.

"What did you say? Francis Rich has transferred all the money!"

"Madam, is this true?"

Sofia looked distressed when faced with Luca's questioning.

"I have Francis's transfer records and documents here. He didn't have time to destroy these documents when he was arrested, and they are all still in his study."

With things said to this point, Luca and the other two had no choice but to believe it.

Antonio couldn't sit still any longer and sprinted out of the villa at the speed of Usain Bolt, looking nothing like someone who was almost 60 years old.

This move left Luca and Felice somewhat bewildered.

"What is he trying to do?"

"Felice, you still have the mind to worry about this? Come on, let's go to the study and see what's going on!"

Upon leaving Bonanno Estate, Antonio immediately called Frank, but no one answered after several attempts.

I remember Antonio really did try to fly up and bite people.

Left with no other option, Antonio decided to take a car directly to the Irish territory to find Frank.

However, after inquiring with the peripheral members of Castro's gang, Antonio learned that Frank had gone out on business.

When doing business, Frank would use a different phone, the number of which Antonio did not know.

Therefore, the only thing Antonio could do was find a public phone booth and anonymously report to the FBI that someone wanted to kill Francis Ritchie.

Unfortunately, Antonio was a step too late, or perhaps Frank's men acted too quickly.

That evening, the shooting at Mercy Hospital made it onto the television news, and the fact that the deceased was Francis Ritchie was also brought to light.

Only then did Frank return Antonio's call.

"Antonio, why are you calling me so many times?"

"It's too late."

Rosen was completely unaware of this; he was released by Neil in the afternoon.

Afterwards, Rosen did not return to Bonanno Manor immediately, but instead contacted Dominic.

Duloto Cafe, where the Toledo gang gathers.

"Brother, long time no see!"

Dominic immediately gave Rosen a warm hug, followed by Vince and Jesse, who were also very friendly. It was just strange that Brian wasn't there.

Mia gave Rosen a tight hug and pinched him secretly, probably scolding him for not coming to see her for several days.

"Where's Brian?"

"I don't know. I tried to contact him, but I can't get through on the phone."

Rosen took out his phone and dialed Brian's number, but he couldn't get through.

"Never mind then, I'll talk to him separately later."

Dominic looked at Rosen with curiosity.

"Rosen, what's the matter that made you contact us in such a hurry?"

"No rush, let's talk about it after everyone arrives."

Vince was about to ask who else hadn't arrived when he heard a young man's voice.

"Is Lawson here?"

Rosen turned his head and saw Donnie, who had a small mustache, walk in.

"Donnie, you've finally arrived! Let me introduce you. This is Donnie Blasco, my friend. These are Dominic, Vince, Jesse, and this beautiful lady, Mia."

Everyone got to know each other.

Out of respect for Rosen, everyone treated Donnie fairly well.

"Donnie, has your baby been born yet?"

"Yes, it weighs 3 kilograms, and it's a girl."

Donnie smiled happily when he mentioned his daughter.

"That's wonderful!"

Rosen took out a card and handed it to Donnie. Donnie took it and saw that it was a bank card.

"What, Rosen, are you going to be my daughter's godfather?"

"Being a godfather is fine, but this card is because I need your help from now on. You may not be able to be with Maggie for a long time, so this money is for you to hire a maid to take care of Maggie."

Donnie was immediately displeased upon hearing this.

"Rosen, I owe you a favor, so I should help you out. How can I accept your money?"

"Ha! Donnie, don't overthink it! You do owe me a favor, but Maggie and your daughter don't owe me one, and I certainly can't let them suffer."

Donnie opened his mouth, a hint of emotion in his eyes, and accepted Rosen's bank card.

"Thank you, Rosen!"

"The password is six 8s. Remember to buy my niece a gift for me!"

Rosen blinked at Donnie.

Their reminiscing ended there, and Rosen turned to look at Mia.

"Mia, we need to get down to business. Why don't you leave?"

Mia was somewhat displeased by these words, and she crossed her arms and looked at Rosen.

"What, are you planning to do something big without me?"

Rosen looked at Dominic with some surprise; Mia wasn't like this before.

Dominic gave an awkward smile.

"Because of what happened last time, I was worried that Mia would be kidnapped again in the future, so I gave her some special training."

Good grief, so after all this special training, he thinks he's all set?

"Mia, I'm not joking. This operation is extremely dangerous; it's not something a woman should participate in!"

"How do you know I can't do it if you don't tell me?"

Rosen was speechless.

At this point, Dominic spoke up.

"Rosen, why don't you tell me first? If it's really dangerous, I won't let Mia participate."

"Mia, you should close the coffee shop now. What I'm about to say absolutely cannot be told to anyone!"

The Toledo gang and Donnie all nodded to indicate that they understood, and then Rosen began to explain the purpose of his gathering them.

"You must have heard about the internal strife within the Bonanno family, right?"

Dominic and Mia already knew pretty much everything. After all, the Bonanno family's internal strife was arguably the biggest scandal in the Los Angeles underworld recently, with countless rumors circulating.

Only Donnie, being far away in Texas, was unaware of the situation here.

Rosen quickly explained the current situation of the Bonanno family.

"—I'm currently working for a big shot in the Bonanno family, but recently a major incident has occurred. Francis Ritchie transferred most of the Bonanno family's liquid assets to his own name and then deposited them in a bank called San Martin. To make matters worse, he himself has been arrested by the FBI."

Rosen paused for a moment to allow the others time to process the information.

Dominic was the first to react.

"So the Bonanno family is broke now?"

"You could say that."

"Fuck! Luca Pastore still owes me a balance. He's not going to renege on his debt, is he?!"

Placing inventory or deposits is a common practice in business, but Rosen didn't expect the Bonanno family to do it this way.

This also shows that the Bonanno family has a fairly good reputation in the Los Angeles underworld; at least Dominic certainly wouldn't play along with the Russians like that.

"Things haven't gotten that bad yet. I want to get this money back from St. Martin's Bank."

Donnie immediately understood Rosen's meaning.

"You mean—"

"Yes, that's right, I'm going to rob the St. Martin's Bank!"

Dominic and his underlings looked at each other, both somewhat incredulous.

"Rosen, are you serious? This is no small matter!"

"Dominic, to be honest, Donnie and I have done a job together before, at Standard Pacific Bank."

These words made Jesse's eyes widen.

"That job was actually done by the two of you? I heard the Los Angeles Police Department still hasn't caught the mastermind!"

In fact, the masterminds have already been caught: Phil and Dennis. Rosen only joined the operation midway, but he has now taken over the reins.

"Gentlemen, Francis Rich has moved a total of 5 tons of gold, as well as bearer bonds and stock options worth tens of millions. I can give you a portion of the spoils from this operation as a reward."

Vince's eyes lit up immediately.

"That's over a hundred million?"

"Yes."

This is where Francis went the furthest; he definitely wanted to use cash to control the entire Bonanno family, thereby achieving his goal of taking control of the Bonanno family.

As a result, this tactic failed, and Rosen exposed the plan to kill Martin.

Although the numbers were very tempting, Dominic calmly inquired about the specific returns.

"How much exactly will we get?"

"I have decided to give you one-fifth of the profits from the operation, at least 25 million US dollars."

This number instantly made Vince and Jesse gasp for breath. Toledo had helped them for several years, and the earnings were barely over a million.

Rosen received 25 million at once, and even if Mia and the other three split it, each person would receive 6 million.

But soon, Vince had a different idea.

"We four will split one-fifth, so what about the rest? Are you going to get it all?"

(Mia Toledo)