Chapter 20

Aron smirks. “—stoke his muttons and asked—”

“‘What are these then?’” Giuseppe laughs. “I nearly got my garrote out, I swear, but luckily I have built a reputation as a man who knows when he’s defeated.”

“Instead he chased me with a frying pan,” Aron says, struggling not to laugh. “He didn’t catch me, of course, but he tried his best for nearly half an hour. Anton stopped him by calling Dad.”

“There’s a boy who knows respect,” Giuseppe observes. “Too bad he doesn’t know fun.” He winks at Zach.

“He always knew he was going to lead us. I mean, I wasn’t going to do it, and he likes the politics of it,” Aron says in defense of his brother. “I used to worry about giving him headaches but that’s just his face.”

Giuseppe roars with laughter and Zach can see how hard the rest are struggling not to laugh at their future don.

“Anton’s your advocate, by the way,” Aron tells Zach. “He doesn’t practice much, too busy keeping an eye on things, so you might want to help.”