Joey does understand, and he does not. Loss is like that. The world shimmers in and out of focus: one moment it is the place you live in, and the next it is utterly foreign, and you cannot even breathe the air.

“I think this loss will affect you, though,” continues Tommy. “I worry you won’t be able to think of me in the same way. If I’m being honest, I think Carlo’s disappearance will make it impossible for us to trust each other. Do you agree?”

Joey hears himself nodding, the whistle of air past his eardrums. He feels like he is floating above his body, but he knows that his fists are clenched, that his breath is ragged, that there is boiling within him a vicious thing like hate or fear and that it is directed at Tommy Fianzo.

“So here’s what I’d like to do,” Tommy says. “I’d like to give you the promotion I always intended to, but a little earlier than planned. And with some conditions.”

Then Tommy pulls a map of Brooklyn from his desk drawer, and he begins to outline a section, including Red Hook and Gowanus and a long rectangle up through Brooklyn Heights. “This,” he explains, “will be your area. Minus this office, of course.” The Fianzos, he explains, will let Joey operate relatively independently. He won’t have to go to meetings with them; they will not eat together each week; Joey can hire who he likes, as long as Tommy Fianzo gets a hefty percentage of Joey’s earnings each month. This, Tommy explains, is in the interest of keeping the peace. “War does not look good in a family,” he repeats. “Losing two strong young men, when it’s possible to lose only one, does not look good.” Looking good is something the Family needs to do in front of its enemies, and even, though Tommy does not admit it, in front of the Americans, who think the Family is nothing more than a bunch of petty, mewling gangsters, and who would love nothing more than to watch Tommy’s Family tear itself apart from the inside out. The Russo widow, Tommy says, will be left up to Joey. It’s traditional to care for her, Tommy says. To make things easier. Tommy Fianzo is not without honor. He will murder a parent, but he is not without honor. These things coexist.

“It’s up to you,” says Tommy, as he stands and ushers Joey out into the hallway. “If you’d prefer to move, to start over, you can try the Bronx. You can try Chicago. But it looks best when Family sticks together. And it’s hard, just starting out, all on your own. It would be hard.” Joey interprets this to mean Tommy would make it hard. He dons his hat. He turns to go.

“Hey, Colicchio,” calls Tommy from behind him. Joey turns. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”

—