America: Starting with the Last Liberty

Alberto put away his phone and looked at Francis, who was sitting in the chair where old Martin used to sit, smoking a cigar.

"Mr. Richie, it's Dominic Toledo calling, looking for Mr. Pastore."

"Dominic Toledo? I remember that guy, isn't he the biker gang member who always hangs out with Martin? Never mind him!"

Francis paused for a moment, then looked at Alberto with a cold gaze.

Having only been in charge of the Bonanno family's affairs for a few days, Francis's aura has grown stronger and stronger, and he now really does resemble old Martin.

"Alberto, how's the thing I asked you to do going?"

Alberto wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Mr. Richie, I've found out who those two people are. They're both employees of Fox News, and the blonde woman is an anchor."

"They're TV anchors? Damn it! We absolutely can't let them into the TV station!"

"Mr. Richie, please rest assured, I have arranged for people to keep watch outside the TV station 24 hours a day, and they will absolutely not be allowed to enter!"

Francis nodded slightly, but then his brows furrowed again.

"That's not enough! We need to find them as soon as possible! Alberto, have you been to their house?"

"Yes, they didn't go home; they must have hidden themselves."

Francis tapped his finger on the desk, his expression gradually darkening.

Megan and Franklin are always a ticking time bomb, and Francis doesn't want to wait until he sees the bomb before defusing it.

"Alberto, I want you to mobilize all your resources to find them! As long as they're still in Los Angeles, you must find them! If necessary, you can contact your friends in Ireland!"

"This... Mr. Richie, isn't there a risk in contacting the Irish now?"

Alberto was clearly hesitant, after all, the Mafia and the Irish gang were being watched by a group of people, and he was not willing to go against the grain.

"I meant when necessary! Don't you understand English?"

Francis shouted at him, and Alberto quickly bowed his head and agreed.

"I understand! I understand!"

Taking a deep breath, Francis changed the subject.

"How's it going with the task I asked you to do—building relationships with the other team leaders?"

Alberto quickly reported the incident.

"Most of the team leaders ignored me; they didn't react to my hints at all."

"How could this happen? Where's Black Sonny?"

Francis was somewhat puzzled.

"Black Sonny has been arrested by the FBI."

"What did you say! Why wasn't I informed about this?"

Alberto hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Mr. Richie, this matter should have been handled by Mr. Pastore, but he had to leave, so no one took care of it."

"Pastore, damn Pastore!"

Francis angrily threw the ashtray off the table.

Although Francis is nominally the interim head of the Bonanno family, the real power is still in the hands of Luca Pastore, and many things can only be handled by Pastore.

Francis has now realized that Luca wants to use Francis's status as Martin's godson to unite the family.

This naturally made Francis very dissatisfied. He wanted to remove the word "temporary," but the middle-level managers in the family simply did not support him.

After venting his frustrations, Francis calmed down. He knew he had to speed things up, or he, the temporary leader, would definitely be swept into the trash heap.

"Alberto, do you have any ideas?"

Alberto was somewhat at a loss. He usually just followed Francis's orders and had never offered him any advice before.

"Mr. Richie, I..."

There was nothing else Francis could do. He had no ideas and no trustworthy advisors, so he could only ask Alberto for help in finding a way to break the deadlock.

"Alberto, think it over carefully! If I can secure this position, you'll be my Luca Pastore in the future! Don't you want to be Luca Pastore?"

That's definitely what they're thinking. Luca is the true second-in-command of the Bonanno family!

If the Bonanno family were a company, Martin Sr. would be the chairman, and Luca would definitely be the CEO.

Which employee wouldn't want to be the company's CEO?

Alberto was so eager to improve that his mind immediately became active.

Then, Alberto had a flash of inspiration, drawing on his own experience.

"Mr. Richie, trying to win over the team leader is useless; we should try a different approach!"

"Oh? Tell me more!"

"The family hasn't expanded in ten years. Everyone knows that no major changes are likely to occur in the family, so naturally, there's no desire to make any 'changes'!"

These words made Francis look thoughtful.

We should still compare the Bonanno family to a company. If a company has a lifetime employment system and a stable internal structure with narrow upward mobility, then employees will naturally not have much motivation to advance, and everyone will just follow the routine and accumulate seniority.

The Bonanno family is in this situation now. With seniority-based promotion, the team leader is not worried about being laid off, so who would care about Francis, the interim chairman?

"And what are your thoughts?"

"Why not try to win over those peripheral members? Many of them are eager to become official members of the family!"

Francis picked up his cigar and took a puff, his movements and expressions seemingly unconsciously mimicking old Martin.

"An interesting idea! But it doesn't seem to fit the family rules!"

Alberto knew that Francis was already interested, and all that was left was to say one more word.

"Mr. Richie, your desire to sit in this seat is against the rules!"

These words became the last straw that broke Francis's spirit, and his expression instantly turned ferocious.

"That's right! We have no way out but to make changes! Alberto, do you have any peripheral members worth recruiting?"

"Johnny Chen, they have some connections with the Korean gang, but they're relatively easy to control! And there's Dominic Toledo, who called me before, but he does business with Luca Pastore."

"Doing business with Pastore? That won't do! Where is Johnny Chen right now?"

"He was apparently arrested because of the underground tournament organized by Martin."

"Very well, I'll go bail him out myself! Oh, and Black Sonny too! Alberto, go and make preparations, we're leaving immediately."

"Yes, Mr. Richie!"

Alberto immediately left the study, and Francis watched his subordinate's departing figure and began to mutter to himself.

"We still need to prepare a way out..."

It is clear that Francis was not entirely confident either.

Just then, a slender figure passed by in the corridor, reigniting Francis's desire.

(Sofia Bonanno)