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"We have another student," the lady said, handing him the paperwork "Haven Antonelli"
"Pleasure toher hand "Let me show you to your place"
He situated her at the last empty station and instructed her to just explore today She sat there for aat the blank canvas when he walked away A s it into a container of red paint
She started off by drawing a simple heart in the center
For the first tiht She headed up the stairs to the sixth floor apart tucked under her ar room, stacks of freshly developed photos sprawled out around her She looked up when Haven walked in, her eyes darting straight to the wrapped canvas
"Hoas it?" she asked, her voice guarded
"It was good," Haven said "I liked it"
Dia took the painting fro the streaks of color and distorted hearts "It’s ahed "It was just practice"
"So?" Dia waded through her sets of photographs on the way to the closet to find a hammer and nails She ju the canvas in the center of the wall above it She leaped dohen she was finished and surveyed her handiwork "It’s your first painting! You should be proud"
Haven stared at it for aher lips "I really aht that week, after Haven arrived ho joined the first one on the wall Soon dozens of photographs surrounded them, new ones that Dia had taken over the few s, once stripped bare to avoid facing pain, were again alive with vibrant color and happy meo runs differently than the factions in the east In New York, the five families ing to a bigger organization as a whole The bosses, the coularly to discuss business and hash out solutions,It’s a co and drafting and governing with their guidelines
It’s a deal, but still a deo For decades, Chicago has been a strict dictatorship They often try to give the illusion of fairness within the ranks, and theto feel important, but nobody is truly fooled One man runs it all One man makes all the rules One man decides whether you live or die
Because of this, New York and Chicago have had a rocky relationship fro Sometimes they love each other, sometiering jealousy For the bosses in the east crave the independence the Chicago Don holds, while the men in the Windy City yearn for n, the cities maintained open communication, but that had since fallen apart They had taken to calling on each other for favors whenever one needed soer war, but the last tinored their pleas
And if you aren’t friends, you may as well be enemies
Bitter blood si between the cities under the bosses’ noses No one knew if they were fully aware of ent on, if they got a taste when all was said and done, but one thing was undeniable: the respect was dead
Because of that, everyone was fair gaainst each other They found themselves in tumultuous timesanother source of contention Corrado didn’t want to have to deal with
"Where are ith this casino deal?" Sal asked, swirling scotch around in his glass as he casually lounged in a chair in his den Men sat around quietly, so while others, like Corrado, were just biding tiled the room Nobody answered
"It’s like that?" Sal asked, bitterness lacing his voice "None of you have anything to say? You’re supposed to be the best, but none of you can talk? None of you can make this happen?"
"It’s impossible," a Capo muttered from the other side of the room "It can’t be done, Boss"
"Nonsense," Sal said "Nothing’s ianization, the Fed’s attention focused on their dealings close to ho business elsewhere But while they had been busywith the Russians while dealing with a long-standing Irish feud, their New York counterparts had spread throughout the country The problee, so all Sal faced were roadblocks and swift denials when trying to expand
Nobody wanted to do business with the Salarew up in Manhattan," the Capo explained "He’s under protection We can’t funnelit Not to you"
"Make them," Sal said "Don’t let them say no"
"Start another war? Over a casino?"
Sal shook his head, taking a slass "It’s principle"
"It’s suicide"
A dry, unh the room Corrado turned his head to where Carlo stood, casually leaning against the wall "Since when are ards? We don’t back down or ask for perlad soets it"
"Of course," Carlo said "And don’t worry about it, Boss You need their cooperation? I’ll get it I have ways You know these kind of deals are my specialty"
A sinister smile twisted Sal’s mouth "I know I can count on you"
Murh the roo until Sal dismissed the to the boss before heading out of thehis house dark and quiet There was no sign of Celia anywhere, and for once, Corrado was grateful to return to an e to turn on a light, and scribbled a quick note to his wife