The Russian Roulette [The Mafia Chronicles #2]

Chapter XXXVI

Roberto Genovese, Sophie learned, is a man of tradition and very little morals. He was as cruel as Sebastian but far more sick in the mind. Rumors circled around about a psychiatric evaluation done on him, diagnosing him with antisocial personality disorder.

In other words, a sociopath.

The only information Alexi was willing to provide to Sophie about his involvement with Roberto was that he needed him to take care of someone for him. It made Sophie wonder why the Russian Don was incapable of doing so himself.

Turns out that it’s because the skills Alexi possessed in the art of torture were nowhere near enough to give Sebastian his fair share of the agony he very much deserved. Something Alexi failed to mention to Sophie, pushing her to search for the answers herself.

He also failed to mention that Roberto Genovese was the capo of the Genovese family; one of the five families of New York. The very people that strive to breakdown the union to take over the leading role in the Italian mafia, both in the Americas and Italy.

He wanted to rule over the Cosa Nostra; to become the capo di tutti capi. The boss of all bosses.

According to the files hidden deep in Alexi's office, before Leonidas Gambino's father decided to gain more power by forming alliances with other mafia leaders around the world, leading to the formation of the mafia union, the Genovese family were in the lead, with the Gambino family in tow, followed by the Lucchese, Colombo, and the Bernardo families.

Those families were almost like the nucleus of the Cosa Nostra in the United States during the nineteen hundreds and later years, till the Gambino family brought the end of thier rule by forming the Mafia union, ultimately ruling over them.

It was no secret that Roberto was the most active Capo in trying to bring back the Cosa Nostra's glory days, claiming that uniting with other mafias was allowing them to remain stagnant and not heighten thier power.

To quell the steadily increasing whispers of a revolt, an alliance was formed with the five families, making them a branch of Leonidas's mafia instead of bieng under Michael’s rule, officially becoming the enforcers of the Italian mafia, in order to quench his thirst for power.

But who knows when they no longer want to do Leonidas's dirty work? Who knows when the sips of this water are no longer enough, and Roberto starts craving nectars and ambrosia?

Alongside the reports Sophie found floating around on the internet, she managed to snoop around Alexi's office and find files upon files of reports entailing the exact measures Roberto Genovese took to ensure his victims wished for death. Until they started attempting self-harm in hopes of ending thier misery sooner.

The man was not the enforcer for trivial reasons. His belief in traditions also seeps into his torture methods, resorting to archaic ways of torture Barbaric was not enough to describe the mind tricks he uses on his victims before he tears them limb for limb.

If it weren't for the fact that all the criminal organizations around him were united, he would have usurped power years ago.

Out of all the mafia leaders, Alexi would be considered the closest to Roberto, supplying him with weapons in exchange for all sorts of favors. One may call them acquaintances, but he had been warned that this 'acquaintance' would come to stab him in the back one day.

Sophie continued reading through the reports Alexi's men had written about Roberto, until she reached the most recent one; dated to only the morning after the beach trip.

It entailed a transaction between Alexi and Roberto. She remembered the weapons Alexi spoke of at the beach party and immediately knew that Roberto did not only receive weaponry, but he also received Alexi's inconvenience.