Chapter 8
Andrew finally agreed to speak after Michael called him personally.
He refused to come to the club.
Rocco met him in the back room of a quiet restaurant in Queens.
No bodyguards at the table.
Andrew looked nervous anyway.
“I didn’t steal anything.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
“Grant said if I ever talked, I’d never work in New York again.”
Rocco’s expression tightened.
“He doesn’t speak for me.”
Andrew almost laughed.
“That’s what everybody thought he did.”
Rocco accepted the hit.
Andrew had worked the night shift when the secret meetings began.
He saw business owners entering through the garage after midnight.
Some came willingly.
Others looked terrified.
Grant introduced himself as the man who could provide “Bellandi protection.”
Bianca often sat in on the meetings.
“What did they pay for?”
“Security. Problems disappearing. Competitors backing off. I don’t know.”
“Did my people do any of that?”
Andrew shook his head.
“Not that I saw.”
That made no sense.
Why sell protection without providing it?
Andrew continued.
“Grant usually told them your approval was coming.”
Rocco understood.
They were collecting money before anyone inside the real Bellandi structure even knew the promises existed.
Eventually those people would demand what they had paid for.
And when they did, they would come to Rocco.
The scheme did more than steal money.
It created obligations in his name.
Andrew had resigned after one meeting became ugly.
A business owner demanded his money back.
Grant threatened him.
Bianca watched without stopping it.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Andrew stared at him.
“Because I saw what happened to people who embarrassed your family.”
Rocco had no answer.
Nine hours beside a concrete pillar.
Mia had just demonstrated Andrew’s point better than he ever could.
Before leaving, Andrew said:
“There was one thing I never understood.”
“What?”
“Grant always brought the people in.”
May you like
Andrew looked directly at Rocco.
“But Bianca decided what they paid.”
