Now it was time to stare down Genti. Prek knew that Genti’s comment was meant to rile him, but he decided to ignore it. “She’s a pretty girl, sure, but there are a lot of pretty girls.”

“I don’t see any others in the room,” Neri said. He was looking at Genti, hoping for support.

“You don’t want to be the reason for a blood feud. Trust me.”

“Unfortunately, he’s right,” Genti said. He got up from the couch and stepped over to Prek. He draped an arm around Prek’s shoulder and jostled him.

“We’re just screwing with you. If we get the all-clear, Neri gets his, okay? I might take a turn, why not?”

Genti stepped over to Pia’s body and with his forefinger lifted her skirt.

“Not bad, not bad at all. Whaddaya say?”

“I say we don’t touch her until we get the green light to whack her. When that happens, you two can do what you like. For the time being, help me put her on the bed to get her out of sight. You two are like teenagers.”

Prek went over to Pia and grabbed both ankles. “Come on! Give me a hand!”

With Genti and Neri taking an arm each, they carried Pia into the bedroom. There they tossed her onto the bed.

“Now leave her be,” Prek said, motioning his two colleagues to precede him back into the living room. As Prek followed them he wondered what the hell was keeping Buda.

Chapter 56.

56.

WEEHAWKEN, NEW JERSEY
MARCH 25, 2011, 8:48 P.M.

So, Berti, what about this Grazdani girl?” Buda asked. “Anybody in your organization might be related to her? I’ve been told she’s in her mid-to-late twenties and gorgeous. A real looker.”

Berti Ristani was sitting behind a desk in his office in a small industrial building in Weehawken. Berti’s office looked for all the world like the workplace of a reputable building contractor. Supply catalogs were piled on the desk, the room was ringed with file cabinets, and a storage chest for architectural plans stood in the back of the room. Ristani was a contractor, Buda knew, but not all his contracts involved construction.

Berti leaned back in his office chair, his huge body causing the frame to complain bitterly. Berti’s florid face, tracked with broken blood vessels, creased a little as he pondered Buda’s question.

“Ah, yes, the business you came for. But I never see you, Aleksander, do we need to talk business? How about a drink?”

“It’s a loose end, Berti. It’s something I need to take care of soon and I’m trying to do the right thing. I can’t leave the situation as it is for too long.”