Luca could feel it in his gut—things were spiraling completely out of control.
When he first left, he thought propping up Francis, Antonio, and Felice to form a triumvirate would keep the family rock-solid.
Old-school Italians might not know the exact historical definition of a triumvirate, but every wiseguy knows a triangle is the most stable shape.
Except, a triangle is only stable until one of its corners rots from the inside out.
Back in the days of the Roman Republic, the military titan Pompey, the billionaire Crassus, and the rising political star Caesar split the power to crush the Senate. How did that end? A bloody civil war.
The Bonanno family was no different. Luca's razor-sharp instincts told him Antonio and Francis were secretly in bed together. That hidden connection was exactly what had tipped the scales of power.
He didn't have hard proof. But as a veteran of the life, Luca didn't need to see the paperwork. Evidence can be faked; the money trail never lies.
The problem was, Luca couldn't make a move against Antonio right now. If he did, the Bonannos would tear themselves apart.
Old Martin's life's work would be reduced to ashes. Luca would die before he let that happen.
Whatever it took, he had to protect the family's empire.
So, Luca stepped up and laid down the law.
"Since things are this bad, the Boss's wife will take the reins for now."
That didn't sit well with Felice. It cut right into his bottom line, and he instantly jumped ship.
"The fuck she will! She's never been involved in the family business. What makes her qualified to run the show?"
Luca shot Felice a death glare.
"Shut your mouth! Felice Russo, you want to burn down everything Mr. Bonanno and the rest of us built? Remember what it took to get us here! The family is hanging by a thread. We're one bad breeze away from falling apart. Right now, we need to stand united, not tear each other's throats out over a power grab!"
Luca's long-standing authority carried weight. Felice opened his mouth, then swallowed his words. Antonio kept quiet, too.
"Besides," Luca continued, "Mrs. Bonanno is the Boss's lawful wife. Her stepping up makes perfect sense. She can be our Queen Victoria—a symbol to rally the family around!"
Felice and Antonio weren't stupid. They read between the lines. Luca was setting her up as a figurehead. With that understood, neither pushed back.
Sofia, however, wasn't politically savvy enough to catch Luca's hidden meaning. For a brief second, she actually felt a rush of excitement at how easily she'd just been handed the keys to the kingdom.
But in this world, is power ever handed over that easily?
"Now, everybody get back to your own rackets. Surviving this storm is the only thing that matters right now!"
As he spoke, a wave of exhaustion hit Luca. The old man was tough, but the back-to-back crises were taking a heavy toll.
But he didn't have a choice. If he didn't hold the line, the Bonanno family wouldn't outlive Old Martin.
Felice turned to leave the villa, but Antonio stayed rooted to the floor.
Seeing Antonio stay put, Felice stopped in his tracks. He gave Antonio a weird look.
"Antonio, why the hell aren't you leaving?"
"I have some private business to discuss with Mrs. Bonanno."
"What business?"
"None of yours!"
"Antonio, what exactly can't you say in front of me and Luca?"
Luca eyed Antonio suspiciously. The man was definitely acting shady.
Stared down by both of them, Antonio had no choice but to lay his cards on the table.
"I had an investment go sideways recently. I need an advance on my dividends."
Sofia froze. Technically, she was the one holding the purse strings for the Bonannos now.
"How much of an advance?"
"Five million."
Sofia looked deeply uncomfortable.
"The family... might not have that kind of cash on hand."
Antonio instantly lost his cool.
"Bullshit! The family's cash flow has always been rock solid. How the hell are we out of money? Did somebody skim off the top?!"
He was one step away from directly accusing Sofia of embezzling. Her eyes narrowed.
"Antonio Costa, are you accusing me?"
Luca immediately stepped in to play peacemaker.
"Antonio, I know for a fact the lady of the house wouldn't do something like that. Ma'am, could you explain what happened?"
Sofia hesitated. Lawson had explicitly told her to keep this under wraps. Word getting out that the Mafia was broke would instantly kill family loyalty.
Once loyalty drops, you can't just buy it back.
History shows that morale only spirals downward. Lawson wanted to hold this card and play it at the "right" moment so Sofia could use it to buy loyalty.
But right now, if she didn't give them something real, she wasn't getting past Antonio.
"A little while ago, Francis Ricci transferred the vast majority of our liquid assets and gold reserves into his own personal accounts. The cash we have left will only keep the family running until next month."
Luca and Felice looked utterly stunned. Antonio looked like he was about to launch into orbit.
Clearly, Antonio had no idea about Francis's little side hustle.
"What did you just say?! Francis Ricci took the money?!"
"Ma'am, is this true?" Luca demanded.
Sofia grimaced.
"I have the transfer records and documents right here. He didn't have time to destroy them before he got grabbed. They're all in the study."
With that on the table, Luca and the others had no choice but to believe her.
Antonio completely lost his mind. He bolted out of the villa with the speed of an Olympic sprinter, totally forgetting he was pushing sixty.
Luca and Felice watched him go, completely bewildered.
"What the hell is his problem?"
"Felice, who cares? Come on, let's get to the study and figure out exactly what happened!"
---
The second Antonio cleared the Bonanno estate, he started dialing Frank. Over and over. No answer.
Antonio was ready to bite someone's head off.
With no other options, he drove straight into Irish territory to find Frank in person.
After shaking down a few low-level Castro crew guys, Antonio found out Frank was "out on business."
When Frank was working, he used a burner. Antonio didn't have the number.
Desperate, Antonio's only play was to find a payphone and drop an anonymous tip to the FBI that there was a hit out on Francis Ricci.
Unfortunately, Antonio was a step too late. Or rather, Frank's crew was just that fast.
That night, the news broke on TV: a massive shootout at Mercy Hospital. The target, Francis Ricci, was confirmed dead.
That was when Frank finally called Antonio back.
"Antonio, why the fuck are you blowing up my phone?"
"It's... too late."
---
Lawson, completely oblivious to the chaos, had been cut loose by Neal that afternoon.
Instead of heading straight back to the Bonanno estate, he made a call to Dominic.
Toretto's Cafe. The whole crew was there.
"Brother! It's been a minute!"
Dominic walked up and gave Lawson a massive bear hug. Vince and Jesse followed up with genuine, friendly greetings. The only weird thing was Brian missing.
Mia gave him a tight hug, too—and pinched him quietly, probably pissed he hadn't come to see her in days.
"Where's Brian?" Lawson asked.
"No clue. I tried calling, but his phone's off," Dom said.
Lawson pulled out his phone and dialed Brian. Straight to voicemail.
"Whatever. I'll catch up with him later."
Dom gave Lawson a curious look.
"So, Lawson, what's so urgent you had to get us all together?"
"No rush. Let's wait till everyone's here."
Vince was about to ask who else was coming when a younger guy's voice cut through the cafe.
"Is Lawson here?"
Lawson turned and saw Donnie walking in, sporting a fresh mustache.
"Donnie! Finally made it! Guys, meet Donnie Brasco. He's a friend. Donnie, this is Dominic, Vince, Jesse, and the beautiful Mia."
Handshakes all around. Out of respect for Lawson, the crew treated Donnie well.
"Donnie, the baby come yet?"
"Yeah. Six and a half pounds. A little girl."
Donnie couldn't hide his goofy dad smile.
"That's incredible, man."
Lawson pulled out a card and tossed it to Donnie. Donnie looked down—it was a bank card.
"What is this, Lawson? You wanna be her godfather or something?"
"I'm down to be the godfather, but the card is because I'm gonna need your help. You might not be able to be there for Maggie for a while. Use this to hire a live-in nanny to take care of her."
Donnie frowned, clearly uncomfortable.
"Lawson, I owe you my life. I'm here to help. I can't take your money."
"Ha! Donnie, don't overthink it. You owe me a favor, yeah. But Maggie and your baby girl don't owe me shit. I'm not gonna let them suffer."
Donnie opened his mouth, eyes flashing with real gratitude, and quietly pocketed the card.
"Thank you, Lawson."
"Pin's six eights. Buy my niece something nice from me!" Lawson winked.
Pleasantries over. Lawson turned to Mia.
"Mia, we're getting into the real business now. You mind stepping out?"
Mia crossed her arms, instantly annoyed.
"Excuse me? You boys planning some big heist and leaving me out?"
Lawson shot Dom a confused look. Mia never used to push back like this.
Dom smiled awkwardly.
"After what happened last time, I was worried she'd get grabbed again. So I put her through some... special training."
Right. She took a self-defense class and suddenly thought she was ready for war.
"Mia, I'm not joking. This job is highly dangerous. It's not a place for a woman."
"If you don't even tell us what it is, how do you know I can't handle it?"
Lawson rolled his eyes.
Dom finally stepped in.
"Lawson, just lay it out. If it's too hot, I won't let Mia anywhere near it."
"Fine. Mia, lock the front doors. What I'm about to say does not leave this room."
Dom's crew and Donnie all nodded grimly. Lawson finally laid out his play.
"I assume you guys have heard about the civil war in the Bonanno family?"
Dom and Mia nodded. The Mafia infighting was the hottest gossip in the LA underworld. The streets were talking.
Donnie was the only one in the dark, having just come from Texas.
Lawson gave a rapid-fire summary of the Bonanno situation.
"...I've been doing work for a major player in the family. But things just went sideways. The Consigliere, Francis Ricci, cleaned out the family's liquid assets and moved it all under his name into a place called St. Martin's Bank. Worse, the guy just got bagged by the FBI."
Lawson paused, letting the weight of it sink in.
Dom was the first to connect the dots.
"So the Bonanno family is flat broke?"
"Pretty much."
"Fuck!" Vince cursed. "Luca Pastore still owes us a final payment! That bastard better not stiff us!"
Holding back payments or demanding deposits was standard business practice, but Lawson hadn't expected the Mafia to play those games with street racers.
It proved the Bonannos still had solid street cred in LA. Dom certainly wouldn't have let the Russian mob string him along like that.
"It's not a total disaster yet," Lawson said. "I'm planning to get that money back from St. Martin's Bank."
Donnie caught his drift instantly.
"You mean..."
"Exactly," Lawson grinned. "I'm hitting St. Martin's Bank."
Dom and his boys stared at each other, stunned.
"Lawson, are you out of your mind? That's not a small-time gig!"
"Dom, I'll be straight with you. Donnie and I already pulled a major job together. We hit the Pacific Standard Bank."
Jesse's eyes bugged out.
"That was you guys?! Man, the LAPD is still running in circles looking for the mastermind!"
Technically, the "masterminds"—Phil and Dennis—were already in custody. Lawson had just crashed their party and hijacked the loot.
"Listen to me," Lawson leaned in. "Francis Ricci moved five tons of gold, plus tens of millions in bearer bonds and stock options. If you back my play, you get a cut of the score."
Vince's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Wait... that's over a hundred million dollars."
"Yes."
It was a ruthless move by Francis. He planned to choke the life out of the family by cutting off their cash, forcing them to bow to him.
But his whole plan fell apart the second Lawson exposed the tape of him murdering Little Martin.
The numbers were insane, but Dom stayed frosty.
"What's our exact cut?"
"I'm giving your crew twenty percent of the total take. That's at least twenty-five million dollars."
Vince and Jesse's breathing hitched. The Toretto crew had been hijacking DVD players and boosting cars for years, and they barely scraped a million.
Lawson was offering twenty-five million in one shot. Even splitting it four ways with Mia, that was over six million a head.
But Vince, always the cynic, narrowed his eyes.
"Wait. The four of us split twenty percent. Does that mean you keep the rest?"