However, Manager Romano, who had just been caught with his pants down for the third time in such a short period felt like he was losing it. Since when did people so brazenly walk into his office now?
That said, Manager Romano didn't recognize this young man before him. He was relatively sharply dressed, with a serious and only slightly above average face. Plus, he had very little of the usual playful glint Ci-ci Bell's eyes had.
This young man was Ci-ci, though. It was just that he had kept his appearance as Lucius Grant. As a result, he lost some of his innate charm, not due to his looks, but rather on purpose in order to not draw too many comparisons between him and his alter-ego.
Seeing that this young man had no intention of speaking, Manager Romano leaned back in chair, not caring that his member could be seen dangling between his legs as he snipped off the end of a cigar to smoke.
"Did you know that The Russians are encroaching on your territory?" Lucius lazily reclined, choosing the moment when Manager Romano was the most relaxed to throw this line out.
In an instant, his desired outcome came to fruition.
Manager Romano nearly choked on his cigar, leaning forward and coughing violently.
"Who are you?" He asked after he finally gained his voice.
Ci-ci shrugged. "Just a small-time lawyer."
"Lawyer?" Manager Romano's eyes narrowed. "You're from Patterson and Gravelle?"
Ci-ci inwardly smirked. He was aware that Jason came from a long line of Italians, he noted as much long ago and reaffirmed this when he met him for the first time. However, the oddity was that Gravelle wasn't an Italian name, it was an English name.
That said, it was pretty easy to explain away. Slapping the name of an Italian Royal's bloodline on the doors of a firm wasn't exactly good for business. It was better for them to work in the background like this Manager Romano did.
Plus, if Jason was as aware of his heritage as he should be, he would have reacted much differently to this situation… Especially after seeing the bear claw marks at the scene of the crime.
All of this aside… The last time Ci-ci met Manager Romano, he had exposed his connection to the Russians. So, what kind of help could Ci-ci be expecting from a traitor?
Simple. Ci-ci wanted to play a game of chicken.
"It can't be that The Italians have forgotten about their own families, can it?"
"Forgotten? The "Gravelles"," He spoke in a heavy disdainful tone, "Ran away from the battlefield. Who forgot about whom, again?"
Ci-ci found this angered response very interesting. It seemed that this traitorous fellow wasn't so simple after all. If he was, he wouldn't care for this matter so much.
"Regardless of whatever revisionist history you'd like to use, there's a chance to deal a blow to The Russians now. Will you help, or not?"
Manager Romano frowned. "How?"
"Not too big of a deal. Just killing a few top officials of the Algood Police."
Ci-ci's nonchalant response made Romano's pupils narrow into pinholes.
As a person who had once frequented The Ghettos, Romano was quite familiar with death and murder, but after so many years away, it had been a while since he heard someone treat killing another so lightly.
'Could it be that that family hasn't abandoned us? That's impossible… If they were really willing to remain, The Italians wouldn't have fallen so far behind and I wouldn't have to take part in such demeaning dealings…'
Romano still disdained to call the Gravelles by their true name. After what they did all those years ago, so cleanly cutting off ties with the rest of them, he couldn't forgive so easily.
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"You don't have to do much," Ci-ci continued in an almost bored tone, "Your only task is to spark a conflict and make sure that The Russians have no choice but to call for that Detective Constable to deal with the aftermath."
Manager Romano took another puff of his cigar. "What is all of this about?"
"Let's just say that The Russians are stretching their hands out a bit too far, interfering with our business a bit too much." Ci-ci stood, placing down his business card on the edge of Romano's desk. "Call me when it's arranged."
With those final words, Ci-ci turned to leave, a slight smile playing his face.
Long after Ci-ci had left, Manager Romano leaned back in his chair, having finally pulled his pants back up.
A contemplative look played his features as the light of day slowly dimmed.
In the end, he picked up his phone and dialed a particular number.
"h.e.l.lo… Yes… You were right, it turns out Lucius Grant is even more of a problem than we thought originally… Mhm… We can kill two birds with one stone… Mhm… We can cripple the reserves of The Italians and be rid of their rising star lawyer."
*Click.
After his call ended, Manager Romano's face turned cold as a dangerous aura erupted from him, turning his cigar to ash.
'Maybe if you were the lacky of some other family, I would consider turning back from this road. But, the 'Gravelle' family is one I'll never forgive.'