East Los Angeles, St. Lucy's Church, 7:50 PM.
This Catholic church was only mid-sized, but for decades it had served as the primary gathering spot for the Bonanno family.
Partly because St. Lucy's was located deep in the heart of an Italian-American neighborhood, giving the Mafia an extremely strong community base here.
And partly because the Bonanno family originally rose to power right around this very church.
It wasn't even 8:00 PM yet, but St. Lucy's was already packed. Most of the made men in the Bonanno family had already arrived.
These made men were whispering among themselves about recent events, making the church sound exactly like a buzzing marketplace.
Obviously, the Bonanno family's current situation was highly precarious.
Ever since Old Martin was hospitalized with a stroke, the family's fortunes had nosedived. Recently, over a dozen capos had been murdered.
Other gangs weren't idiots. Seeing the Bonanno family in such chaos, they were definitely looking to tear off a few chunks of meat for themselves.
The Bonanno family had been bleeding profits lately. Continuing like this was clearly unsustainable, so tonight's sit-down was expected by everyone.
At 8:00 PM sharp, a grim-faced Felice and a widely smiling Antonio entered, followed last by Francis Ricci and Sofia Bonanno.
These four held the highest status in the Bonanno family. The moment they entered, St. Lucy's fell instantly silent.
Before speaking, Francis checked with Alberto.
" is everyone here?"
"Basically everyone, except for the guys out of town who couldn't make it back in time."
"Then let's begin!"
Francis had his men bring chairs for Felice, Antonio, and Sofia, and only started speaking once they were seated.
"Gentlemen, I am Francis Ricci. I called everyone here today because I have a highly critical matter to discuss with you all."
Everyone listened quietly to Francis, except for Sofia, who was completely zoned out.
"You all know what's been happening lately. The Bonanno family is currently facing its toughest challenge yet. The Irish and the Russians are eyeing us like prey. We absolutely must change this situation!"
This resonated with the made men. They definitely wanted to turn things around.
But right now, the Bonanno family didn't even have a boss, making it incredibly hard to organize an effective counterattack.
"I have the utmost respect for my Godfather—"
As he spoke, Francis bowed toward Sofia to demonstrate his stance.
"But given the current situation, we need someone to reunite the family! Therefore, we must elect a new boss immediately. An official boss!"
This was Francis's true objective.
After hearing Francis, Felice made a snide remark.
"Are you trying to say that person should be you?"
Clearly, Felice had already guessed who was behind the recent events, even if he lacked hard evidence.
You just had to look at who benefited the most to narrow down the suspect list.
After those dozen or so capos died, the guys who replaced them were basically all Francis's people. The answer was painfully obvious.
Francis glanced back at Felice.
"Mr. Marino, I hope that person is me. I grew up by the Godfather's side, watching him build this family from the ground up. I do not want to see his hard work go to waste. So, if someone needs to shoulder this responsibility, I absolutely will not refuse!"
Francis wore a tragic expression as he led the made men down memory lane, reminiscing about the struggles and triumphs of the past. Some of the older soldiers even started tearing up.
Honestly, Francis was an excellent actor. His delivery, his facial expressions—everything was handled perfectly.
He was better than most professional actors because Francis didn't get a second take. He had to nail the entire performance in one continuous shot.
Seeing Francis winning over the made men with his act, Felice looked like he'd swallowed a fly.
"However, in the interest of fairness, I suggest we determine the new boss by vote. And I nominate myself as a candidate!"
Felice glared at Francis, then raised his hand.
"I also nominate myself!"
Although he was highly dissatisfied with Francis, Felice believed his reputation within the family far exceeded Francis's, so he had no objection to a vote.
However, Felice completely failed to realize that democratic elections are a lie.
There are way too many ways to rig a so-called democratic election—from the initial candidate selection to the voting process, all the way to the final count.
If you want a specific result, there's always a way to get it.
And if all else fails, you can just take out the competition.
Just like during the Mexican midterms, where 37 politicians were murdered back-to-back, leaving a Jewish female politician as the only viable option.
Antonio, usually the most aggressive one, was strangely quiet today. After Francis and Felice stated their positions, he finally spoke up.
"I won't be running. But I can serve as the overseer and handle the vote count for everyone."
Antonio's uncharacteristic attitude struck Felice as odd, but with one less powerful rival, he certainly wasn't going to object.
Plus, Antonio's status made him perfectly suited to be the overseer.
Of course, if Luca were here, this role would definitely have gone to him.
Francis shot a subtle glance at Antonio, then continued.
"Alright then. Every made man here can pick up a card. Write either my name or Mr. Marino's name on it. Only one name. Writing two names counts as an abstention! Alberto, go get the ballot box."
"Yes, Mr. Ricci."
Soon, the voting began in an orderly fashion.
As the Bonanno family made men cast their votes, Antonio, as the overseer, began counting them aloud.
"One vote for Ricci!"
"One vote for Marino!"
"One vote for Marino!"
...
At first, Felice was very calm. But as Antonio read out the votes one by one, he started getting restless.
Felice realized Francis's vote count was neck and neck with his own, which was completely unexpected.
Clearly, Francis's earlier performance had been highly effective. Launching the vote immediately after that speech naturally triggered a lot of emotional voting.
But now they were already in the counting phase. Even if Felice wanted to campaign, it was too late. He could only sit on pins and needles, waiting for the result.
"Final result: Marino, 284 votes. Ricci, 295 votes. Ricci wins!"
Felice looked at Antonio in disbelief.
"That's impossible!"
Francis ignored Felice and looked out at the voting members.
"It seems I am the new boss the people want. Does anyone object?"
At that moment, a man's voice rang out from the church entrance.
"I object!"
(Sofia Bonanno)