“Shambles!”

“A complete, fuckin’ SHAMBLES!”

Being chewed up and spit back out wasn’t exactly a new experience for Tony Di Luca and Vincent Rinaldi, not when they had a boss with a notorious temper like Alceo Dentari, but it was very rare they were made to sit like naughty school children in front of the principle with their hands folded and their heads bowed.

It was more than likely Di Luca had a valid and reasonable response to everything Dentari was ranting and raving about, but he couldn’t vocalise them for fear of being fitted with a nice new pair of concrete shoes. As a result Tony looked more angry than anything else, but he seemed to operate better when angry, so maybe that was for the best.

On the other hand, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Rinaldi didn’t have an answer for anything Dentari screamed in his direction. Each and every one of Alceo’s words entered his ear and proceeded to swim around that big, balding, vacuous head, gathering guilt as it went. That would probably explain the look of shame on Rinaldi’s face and his reluctance to look up from his knees.

On this day ignorance was not bliss.

“We’re supposed to be the best team in DEFIANCE!” Dentari screamed, his face growing redder and redder with every syllable that fell from his lizard like lips. “We ain’t some two bit operation over here. We ain’t The Untouchables!”

“We’re better than that.”

“We are the DEFIANCE Trios champions!”

Tony Di Luca’s snort of derision didn’t go unnoticed by Dentari, “Sorry, Tony... Yous got a problem?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

“A problem?” Tony asked, unable to contain a laugh of disbelief, “Nah, I ain’t got a problem... I’m more like Jay-Z over here.”

Obviously Alceo wasn’t expecting any answer from Tony, let alone such a sarcastic one, so he was slightly taken aback, “Well by all means, Tony...” He said as he gestured for Di Luca to stand, “Tell me what’s on that mind a’ yours.”

Despite the slight hesitation to do so Di Luca rose to his feet and took a step towards his boss, “It weren’t six months ago that you was talkin’ about teamwork, tellin’ anyone who’d listen they weren’t gonna beat us seein’ as we was all on the same page.” Tony said as he slowly advanced on his boss. “Skip forward to today an’ it seems we ain’t even readin’ the same book no more.”

Di Luca came to within inches of Dentari, but Alceo stood his ground and refused to budge. His proximity to his boss didn’t prevent Tony from raising his voice though, well... in for a penny in for a pound as they say. “You’re off chasin’ the World title, gettin’ yourself into brawls, an’ expectin’ us to come an’ bail you out when that gets a little too real!” he said very loudly, “Even now, you’re more concerned with what happened at the end a’ last week than what we got comin’ up next.”

Alceo straightened his back to make himself as tall as he possibly could, it was very difficult for him to strike any sort of authoritative figure while Tony was looming over him like he was, “Yous  don’t need to be concerning yourself with what I’m concerned with, capiché?” he said, “You’s here to follow orders an’ do exactly what I say.”

That certainly didn’t sit well with Two Hands.

“An’ instead a’ followin’ orders last week, yous ended up bleedin’ like a stuck pig, an’ then this fuckin’ clown throws me into the hands a’ Bronson fuckin’ Box!” Dentari exclaimed as he pointed to the man that hung his head even lower, “On top a’ that yous got everythin’ with Dan Ryan an’ Python, so I’m sorry if my kneejerk reaction ain’t to sweep it under the rug, but I ain’t too fuckin’ happy ‘bout it!”

“Well I ain’t too happy playin’ second string to the World title hunt.” Di Luca said, calming down slightly. Sure his balls were as big as they’d ever been, but he knew if he were to keep poking at Dentari they would be busted just like that. “Vinny an’ me? We’re champs too, you know? An’ I’m sure I speak for both a’ us when I say we wanna keep it that way.”

Alceo was lost for words, but that didn’t matter as Di Luca wasn’t finished, “You can undersell ‘em as much as you want, God knows you done that enough in the past. But non a’ that ain’t gonna change the fact that Tres Brujas are a threat an’, ‘cause a’ your obsession with the World title, we ain’t prepared for ‘em.”

Whether Dentari’s initial shock at being spoken back to had faded or whether he’d managed to think up a comeback was unclear, but he replied with gritted teeth, “I ain’t obsessed with nothin’...” He protested, “An’ you are treddin’ very thin ground, Tony. So you either choose your next words real carefully or you sit back down an’ you keep your mouth shut.”

But Tony had said his piece, he’d set the nails up, but didn’t need to hammer them in, and so took his place beside Vincent Rinaldi, who had been, as always, silent throughout the entire exchange. Di Luca didn’t hang his head either, instead he sat upright and folded his arms across his chest, proud of what he’d just said.

Maybe that pride was about to dissipate.

Maybe.

“Get this through your head, I am in charge here. Not you.” Dentari said slowly and purposefully, “We don’t operate on the same page as each other, yous operate on the same page as me, capiché?”

No maybe about it.

“I have been nothin’ if not patient with yous, Tony.” Dentari continued, “But I’ve had just about enough a’ your pissin’ an’ moanin over these last few months. So, if yous wanna continue poutin’, I ain’t got no problem with findin’ me some more help.”

“But if yous wanna keep your job... If yous wanna keep your title...” Alceo said, subtly hinting that he was talking about something slightly more important than a paycheck or a belt, “Then you’ll start doin’ what I say, when I say it.”

Di Luca got the hint, but he wasn’t happy about it.

Oh no, far from it.

“Maybe I been too lenient with yous guys.” Alceo thought aloud, “Do I need to start babysittin’ yous? Do I need to start makin’ double sure yous boys are doin’ your jobs?”

There was only one answer to that question.

“No, Boss.” Tony said, albeit begrudgingly.

“Good.” Replied Alceo with a sickening grin, “So we’re in agreement, what I say goes.”

“Yes, Boss.” Answered Tony through tightly clenched teeth.

“An’ as far as preparation for this match with Tres Brujas goes, yous two only gotta do two things.” Dentari said as he raised one finger, “Do as I say.”

And a second.

“An’ don’t fuck up.”

“Think yous can manage that?”
 

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