Third person
"Come on, share with me," begged the girl on Riccardo's lap. He just rolled his eyes in annoyance and decided to empty the cup in one go. The girl pulled her lips into a pout. "Oh Ricci, that was really naughty of you."
He wasn't interested anymore. Rather, he noticed how ridiculous she looked sitting there on his lap, acting all innocent. She seemed to notice his increasing rejection so she tried by moving her hips, but the battle had long since been lost. Annoyed, Riccardo let his head fall back and looked pleadingly at his brother.
He had to grin, but still took pity. "Sweetheart, on any day my brother here would definitely appreciate your... favor, but unfortunately today is not that day."
Claire got up with a huff and disappeared without another word, although no one was sad about that. At first Riccardo wanted to shout after her that she wasn't allowed to call him Ricci, but in the end it wasn't worth the effort. Instead, he sat up straight again and reached for the bottle. "Thanks Matteo."
Matteo waved his hand and took a sip from his cup. "No problem, but you should get over it at some point. You can't be mad about it forever!"
'That's rich coming from you.', thought Riccardo, but bit his tongue. Matteo really wasn't the right person to say something like that, no matter how right he might or might not be. "You can't seriously be okay with them letting a complete stranger into our house like that!"
"I don't know if you had another phone conversation or not, but I don't have to agree with it because it was decided long ago."
Riccardo loudly placed the bottle back on the table, so that the other bottles also began to wobble under the sudden force. "That's what it's all about! With such a big thing, how dare they two not ask us first what we think about it! It's still our home, hell!" Matteo sighed and had to agree with his brother. He too was anything but thrilled about suddenly having a sister who they knew nothing about except her name. On the other hand, neither Vito nor Domenico would make such a decision lightly, so there had to be an important reason for it. At least he hoped so, because otherwise it would be a really shitty move. "That's so typical of them! Just telling us to do things and then expecting us to do what they want. We're not dogs!" Riccardo continued. "I can't wait to finally come of age and then disappear. And you're coming with me. We'll sort it out with the authorities. It doesn't matter, as long as we're out of there." Riccardo grabbed Matteo's neck and pulled his head towards his. "Just you and me. Fuck the others."
Matteo looked his brother in the eyes. Riccardo was clearly drunk but he knew he would do anything for his brother. Just like Riccardo would do for him. "Fuck them."
_______________
Meanwhile, Vito sat at home in his office and asked himself again why he kept insisting on checking the numbers even though his employees were more than capable to do it themselves. It wasn't the '60s anymore; He and his father had increasingly brought a lot of what his family had done in the dark back then into a legalized form. The other matters that were better left in the dark were still active, but only to the extent that it was safe from the authorities. Money laundering, when done correctly, was a simple matter. Smaller sums could be laundered through nightclubs or casinos and required little planning. It was more difficult with large sums of money. (*1)
The first phase is the placement phase. The incriminated money must be brought into the legal economic cycle for the first time. This can be done by depositing large sums of cash at credit institutions, but also by purchasing real estate, company shares, etc. using cash. It
The concealment phase is more complex and often involves international financial transactions. The main goal of this phase is to separate the illegally acquired funds from their source, thereby obscuring the paper trail and severing any connection to the original crime. During the mostly cross-border transactions, the funds remain in motion to avoid detection. For this purpose, loopholes in the legal regulations of the respective countries are used.
The third and final phase is the integration phase. Here the money comes back to the owner from a seemingly legal source. The aim is to reunite the money with the owner without attracting attention and to give the money the appearance of legal origin.
And it was precisely this process that had to be supervised closly. It was ironic that the illegal drug trade had such a large impact on the US economy (*2) and that combating it was actually only strengthened. Vito didn't need to have studied to see the connection between a recession and rising drug use. If the government were to tackle this problem more effectively, they would also curb the drug trade. (*3) But who was he to complain about that?
There was a certain risk of being discovered at some point, but he and Domenico had minimized the risk as much as they could. Of course people talked about them, Josephine was the best proof of that, but talking about something didn't make it proof. And until then everything was just 'allegedly'. In addition, most of the companies in the city were run under the Marini name. If the family fell, they would take the city with them. A fact that the important people were well aware of. So they looked away when necessary and lay down in their fine, comfortable bed in the evening with an expensive gift on their arm.
Vito tiredly rubbed his eyes and put the papers in his hand aside. He needed glasses. There was no point in fooling himself any further. But until now he had always resisted it, after all, he wasn't yet thirty and his father was forty when he needed one. However, his father was also a stubborn goat and could have needed one much sooner.
A noise in his office startled him and he watched with amusement as the old painting of the vineyards in Italy swung forward. Behind it appeared Josephine, who swung through the small opening without any problems. She stood up proudly, drew something on a piece of paper before she looked around and spotted Vito. Startled, she staggered back a step. "Vito! I'm sorry, I didn't know where I was going to get here. I hope I didn't disturb you."
Laughing, Vito leaned into his chair and folded his hands together. "No need to apologize, after all, I told you to explore the house. To be honest, I didn't even think about this one because none of us fit through it anymore. It must have been years ago. How's your search going?" He motioned for her to sit on one of the chairs in front of him and Josephine hesitantly followed his request.
"Pretty good," she began hesitantly. "Valentino said I should draw a floor plan." She carefully placed the piece of paper in her hand on the table and pushed it towards Vito.
He reached for it and was surprised at how accurately Josephine had hit the rooms. She had good spatial imagination, that much was clear. "And what did you find?"
"That each floor has a kind of 'main' hallway and then small branches. Some doors seem to be blocked by something and I haven't been to the attic yet, but I ended up in the wine cellar once. I hope that's okay, Valentino had told me I'm not allowed there and it wasn't intentional." Vito shook his head briefly. He wasn't mad. Relieved, Josephine continued. "From there I ended up in a fitness room, but there was no other entrance as far as I could find. So I went back where I came from, then saw this narrow hallway and that's how I ended up here."
That was probably the most Vito had ever heard Josephine talk in one go and he was pleased by how enthusiastic she seemed. He smiled and handed the piece of paper back to her. "I see you're making good progress. Have you eaten anything yet?" Josephine shook her head. "Then get up, I'm hungry."
"Okay, shall we take the secret route?"
"Josephine, you may not have noticed, but I definitely won't fit in there anymore." Vito pointed down his body and Josephine blushed.
"Oh," she said simply and pulled the sleeves of the sweater back over her hands. She always did that when she felt uncomfortable, Vito had already learned that much.
"Exactly. So let's go, unfortunately we'll have to take the normal route. Is Valentino back yet?" he asked. Valentino had left a few hours ago and Vito would have thought he would have been back long ago.
"No, but what about Domenico. Shouldn't we call him too?"
"He's busy elsewhere at the moment. By the way, I called the school today about a teacher for you and they'll put together everything you need. They can't say exactly when they'll be ready, though, but we-" A ring interrupted Vito's story. "Who's calling now?"
Principal Storm
"I'm sorry Josephine, unfortunately I have to get to it. Can you go ahead? I'll follow later," said Vito and took a few steps back to his office. Once the door was closed he started the conversation. "Headmistress Storm, I thought we discussed everything this morning. Is there anything else you need to know?"
"Hello Mr. Marini, forgive me for disturbing you and unfortunately I'm not calling because of Miss Parker but because of your brothers," the voice answered carefully.
Vito closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "What did those two do again?"
"Riccardo Marini and Matteo Marini behaved inappropriately. You know that we have a strict policy regarding alcohol consumption and violence. Unfortunately, the two of them did not comply with this today."
"I asked what they did." Vito's voice had cooled significantly. Many of the students drank and even small fights were normal in his time. Nothing why you would get a call from the principal
The principal hesitated. She knew better than to upset Mr. Marini, but she wasn't sure how he would react to the news. "They drunkenly broke into a local church and desecrated the altar there. When they were expelled from the place, Mr. Riccardo Marini tried to hit one of the monks while Mr. Matteo Marini knocked over an old bust. I hope you understand why we can't tolerate this behavior."
It was quiet for a few moments and the principal wasn't sure if she had been heard. But Vito had heard her. He had heard her all too well. "Send my assistant to send the name of the church so that we can take care of a settlement. As for my brothers, I will of course take care of it. They should be sent home on the next plane. I apologize for their unreasonable behavior and assure you you that it won't happen again."
"Of course Mr. Marini, I'll arrange everything immediately. We'll stay in touch about everything else?" But Vito had already hung up and was already calling Domenico, ignoring the messages from his youngest brothers.
Matteo [14:03]
Vito, we messed up, but we'll sort it out!
Matteo [14:03]
That was just a misunderstanding.
Riccardo [14:04]
These idiots here are completely exaggerating.
Matteo [14:04]
Can you call us Vito?
Riccardo [14:06]
Of course not, the fine gentleman is too busy.
Vito [14:14]
Don't you worry, once your back you will have my undivided attention.
Hello there,
I'm sorry, but I probably will update less frequent than before. My target is one chapter a week.
Taking about a week: what the hell happened? Last time I proudly told you we hit the 2,5k mark and now we're hitten 3,7k! It's insane! Thank you so much!!!
I hope you all will have a wonderful weekend and see you soon (-:
Sources:
1. https://financialcrimeacademy.org/the-three-stages-of-money-laundering/#:~:text=It%20involves%20three%20distinct%20stages,to%20comply%20with%20these%20rules. (financial crime academy - The Three Stages of Money Laundering and How Money Laundering Works)
2. https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/how-does-illegal-drug-money-affect-the-economy/ (sensiseeds - How Does Illegal Drug Money Affect the Economy?)
3. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395917300877 (science direct - How economic recessions and unemployment affect illegal drug use: A systematic realist literature review)