Banking on Vendetta

Chapter 1

5:07 p.m., July 10, 1975, Primo Bari’s Office

Primo was deep in thought, staring at the ocean, as his three grandsons entered the room. After they exchanged the usual hugs and kisses, Primo instructed each of them to pour a glass of vintage brandy and take a seat on the comfortable chairs and couch that faced the gorgeous beachfront view. Their time to learn the truth about the family business had arrived.

John, Steven, and Edward Bari noticed a strange look in their grandfather’s piercing blue eyes. Primo waited until they were all comfortable before he began telling them the story of their family’s history. His even-tempered demeanor quickly became intense and focused.

"Boys, what I’m about to tell you tonight may come as quite a shock, but I want you all to pay close attention and fully digest this information before you pass any moral judgments on me or anyone else. Capite?"

John, Steven, and Edward glanced nervously at each other and all replied, "Capisco." They were all thinking, what in the hell’s up with Nonno tonight? They had never seen him this intense or serious before. Primo nodded his head, folded his arms, and began telling his incredible life story to his three wide-eyed grandsons.

Your great-grandfather, Joseph Santori, was not the man you thought he was. I actually created the Santori alias for him in the 1920s. Nonno Joe’s real name was Luciano Cagliari. You were too young to have any real memories of him, so all you really know about him is what I wanted you to know. Everyone has already told you that your nonno was a very wealthy and powerful businessman in New York. The truth is that Luciano Cagliari was the first and most powerful boss of the American Mafia. He ruled La Cosa Nostra with an iron hand until the day he died in 1959.

That did it! All three grandsons fidgeted in their seats and were visibly agitated. They started to speak, but Primo slammed his fist on the desk. His eyes suddenly narrowed, his lips pursed, and his face became slightly flushed. "Silenzio! Now, I’m going to tell you the true story about your family’s history. You need to pay close attention, because lives are at stake here, including your own. I want you to open your ears and keep your mouths shut until I’m finished. Capite?"

The three young men sheepishly nodded their heads. Primo took another sip of brandy and started to explain the very complicated and secret world they were about to enter. After hearing these incredible secrets tonight, they would all be sworn to uphold years of family honor and tradition. He began by telling them the story of their great-grandfather, Luciano Cagliari.

Luciano Cagliari’s grandfather, Giobatta, had been a small-time Mafia boss in Sicily before moving his family and his criminal operations to Rome. He wanted to break away from the other Sicilian families and create a more profitable crime family of his own, and he correctly figured that Rome, with its denser population and easier access to other large cities in Italy, would provide more opportunities and money.

Sicily was rapidly becoming inundated with the Mafia. The actual landmass of Sicily provided limited resources for the crime families because of its relatively stable population and the natural geographical limitations of the island itself. The restricted amount of revenue on this small island eventually created the need for criminals to branch out all over Italy and the rest of the world. The only other option was to remain on this island and continue to kill each other, which would result in the survival of the fittest. These brutal methods suited the criminals’ lifestyle perfectly, but it also depleted their valuable human resources.

The original concept of the Sicilian Mafia was to protect its own citizens from foreign invaders. The Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Normans, French, Spanish, and Austrians had all conquered the island of Sicily at one time or another throughout history. Native-born Sicilians had become slaves on the land of their forefathers. Thus, the Sicilian Mafia was born. It began as a fraternity of criminally inclined men who were prone to fighting and enjoyed violent criminal activities.

A Mafia family always formed its nucleus around a prominent local criminal family, like the Cagliaris. These secret family societies imposed a strict and violent code of honor upon their members. This code was founded on the values of honor, loyalty, trust, and omertà (silence—and deadly consequences if one broke that silence).

Mafia families initially provided the poor and oppressed Sicilians with protection, stability, and pride. Naturally, protection of this magnitude and bravado was not free, nor was it for the pure sake of righteousness. The Mafia’s real purpose was to expel any foreign invaders from its land so that it could exploit the resources and people for its own financial and territorial gains. Thus, they fought and killed any invaders on their soil for monetary gain.

Once the foreign invaders were expelled from Sicily, the Mafia turned to pure extortion and preyed full-time on its fellow countrymen. The Mafia families also turned on each other in a never-ending battle for power and money. Decades of embedded, organized criminal behavior provided a lucrative living for these uneducated thugs. These men were ruthless, fearless, and devoid of conscience.

It was for all these reasons that Giobatta Cagliari and his son, Paolo, broke away from the endless cycle of violence in Sicily. Upon leaving Sicily, the Cagliari family grew into a powerful and far-reaching organization that eventually branched out all over northern Italy. Giobatta became the capo di tutti capi (boss of all bosses) for the Italian Mafia in Rome in 1869, and Paolo took over the Cagliari family from his father in 1880 when Giobatta presided over a secret ceremony that installed Paolo as the capo di tutti capi of Rome.

Paolo Cagliari was a very savvy and resourceful family boss. He became very wealthy because of his ability to expand his criminal empire, and he took extortion, kidnapping, prostitution, burglary, gambling, and hijacking to unprecedented levels.

By January 1901, the Sicilians perceived the Cagliari family as a threat to take over all Mafia operations in Italy. The more powerful Sicilian crime families banded together in a rare form of unity and decided to eliminate the Cagliaris. They were determined to expand their own territory and to capitalize on the Cagliari family’s lucrative operations in the north.

Paolo received word of the plot to kill his family through a Sicilian informant, one of several reliable men Paolo maintained within the Sicilian families in order to prevent a hostile takeover. The hit was supposed to take place at a meeting with the other family bosses in Sicily. He determined the threat was credible and decided to send his youngest son, Luciano, and Luciano’s wife and children to America for their own safety. Paolo wanted to end this vicious war before it started. He knew it could have terrible consequences for the outmanned Cagliari, Bari, and Ragusa families.

Paolo was convinced that he had accurate information; therefore, he planned to counterattack the Sicilian families. Basilo Bari, his longtime friend, protector, and underboss, was less convinced of their ultimate survival. He talked Paolo into sending his youngest son, Carlo, to America as well to protect Luciano and his family.

Luciano Cagliari, Carlo Bari, and both men’s wives and children boarded a ship for America on February 1, 1901. They left with all of their personal possessions and a steamer trunk full of cash. Paolo sent Carlo with Luciano as Luciano’s personal protector and to help guard the trunk that contained 90 percent of both families’ liquid assets, worth several million dollars. Paolo instructed Luciano to send him a telegram when they were all settled in America and also told his son that he and Basilo would join them as soon as they finished their business with the Sicilians.

Luciano and Carlo were both the youngest men in their families and had grown up like brothers since Basilo had been Paolo’s underboss and protector for the past thirty years. The two families were inseparable and had created indelible bonds of loyalty, honor, and trust to each other. The men fought side by side to ensure a future for their families in the only occupation they had ever known.

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April 2, 1901, Palermo, Sicily

Prospero Ceconi entered the home of Don Cirelli, the capo di tutti capi of all Sicilian dons, with critical information on the Cagliari family. The don was sitting in his home office surrounded by security guards, who permitted Prospero to enter. He genuflected to kiss the don’s hand in a show of respect before speaking. He was ready to murder and replace Paolo Cagliari, his trusted friend of many years, for his own individual greed.

The devious Prospero had deceived Don Cirelli months ago in a meeting concerning the Cagliari family’s true intentions. He led him to believe they were planning to murder him and take over all Mafia operations, including Sicily. The Sicilian boss was very concerned about the obvious success of the Cagliari family and considered the threat valid. Prospero was ready to pitch his scheme to fulfill his own selfish agenda.

Ciao, Don Cirelli, said Prospero. I hope you're doing well.

Bene, Prospero, and you?

I have the information you requested about la famiglia di Cagliari. Prospero still kneeled to show respect.

Please sit down and tell me every detail. The don pointed to a chair directly in front of him.

As you have instructed me, Don Cirelli, I told Paolo you planned to ambush and kill the Cagliari family on May 16, at the scheduled meeting of the dons here in Palermo.

How did he react to such bad news?

He swallowed the bait just as you said he would, Don Cirelli.

What is he planning?

He is planning to attack you in two weeks.

Where?

Here at your home.

That son of a bitch will never make it. I know Paolo. He will hold a meeting with his entire army to plan every detail. When will this meeting be held?

He has scheduled a meeting on April 16 in his warehouse with all members, including Basilo Bari and Salvatore Ragusa. They will have lunch while making their final plans before leaving for Sicily.

The time has come for you to prove your absolute loyalty to me, Prospero. Are you prepared to follow my orders, no questions asked?

Sì, Don Cirelli.

I will send you to that meeting with the fifty men you requested to attack and kill every last man, capisci?

Sì, Don Cirelli, capito.

You have had months to think about this. What is your plan?

I will use deception to gain entry to the warehouse and burn it to the ground with his entire army locked inside.

Are you sure your plan will work?

Sì, Don Cirelli. I have known Paolo for twenty years. He will never suspect me to turn against him. He thinks I’m delivering your plans of execution to this meeting. His security guards know and trust me. The timing is perfect.

This news pleased Don Cirelli greatly. He would use Prospero as his Trojan horse. He knew the only way to defeat the powerful Cagliari family was with the use of deception and overwhelming force. Because Prospero had earned Paolo’s trust over many years, he was the perfect rat to set up the Cagliari family for the fatal strike.

I thought about our last conversation, Prospero, and have agreed to allow you to take over the Cagliari operations in the north. You will pay me a 30 percent profit on all future income earned. In turn, you will receive my full support and blessing. Do you agree with my terms and conditions?

Sì, Don Cirelli.

The time has come for you to swear a blood oath to me and accept the Ten Commandments of the Mafia. Then we will go over your plan to make sure there are no survivors. Paolo is very dangerous, Prospero. Do not make any mistakes, capisci?

Capito, Don Cirelli. I will swear a blood oath on the lives of all my children to never fail you. Consider the Cagliari family as good as dead.

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12:15 p.m., April 16, 1901, Rome, Italy

The entire Cagliari crime family was eating lunch in their warehouse, discussing business and planning their preemptive attack on the Sicilians. Paolo was waiting for Prospero to arrive and deliver information on the hit the Sicilian families were planning for them at next month’s meeting in Sicily.

The door of the wooden warehouse was shut with two armed guards positioned in the front and the rear of the building. Prospero sent in assassins disguised as lost priests asking the guards for directions. The men approached and slit the guards’ throats before they could sound the alarm.

The Sicilians quietly circled the large wooden warehouse, pouring gallons of highly flammable kerosene all around the outside of the building. The Sicilians used only hand signals to avoid detection. Once the building was thoroughly doused, they set it afire. Outside of the only door to the building, Prospero instructed his men to pull a flatbed cart loaded with stones in front of the locked door just as the warehouse was set ablaze.

The warehouse went up in a holocaust of flames, trapping the Cagliari army inside. The men inside worked frantically to break down the barricaded door. The thick black smoke inside the building quickly overwhelmed Paolo’s men, and most of them died from smoke inhalation inside the warehouse. When a handful of survivors finally broke through the door, they were greeted with a hail of bullets and shotgun slugs from Prospero’s large Sicilian army waiting for the Cagliari soldiers to exit.

The ruthless Prospero wasn’t about to take any chances with a vendetta in the future. As soon as the warehouse strike was finished, he ordered the execution of all remaining Cagliari family members. The Sicilian executioners went from house to house and killed the families of Paolo Cagliari, Basilo Bari, and Salvatore Ragusa. They brutally murdered their parents, wives, sons, and daughters. Three entire families were nearly erased from the earth without remorse or a second thought. The Sicilian families’ quest for power and greed was fulfilled.

The rat bastard Prospero Ceconi had sold out his loyal friend of many years for pure profit. This vicious execution would become a Ceconi trademark, and Prospero’s future method of operation would be to murder and replace his more successful rivals in order to gain control of their operations. This went against centuries of Mafia honor and tradition, starting a devious precedent in which bosses were murdered and replaced by their own greedy underbosses and soldiers.

The only Cagliari family member permitted to survive in Rome was Luciano’s mother and Paolo’s wife, Santina. The Sicilians forced her to sail to America with her personal bodyguard, Guido Ragusa, and his wife and children. Guido was a cousin to Luciano and had been hired by Paolo to protect his wife. The Sicilians had left Santina alive to tell her remaining family of the consequences of returning to Rome and challenging Prospero Ceconi. They had spared the lives of Guido Ragusa and his family so that he could care for Santina and because he no longer posed a threat. The twisted Prospero wanted Guido to live out his life in shame.

Guido carried two handwritten letters from Paolo Cagliari and Basilo Bari with him to America. Paolo had given these letters to his wife in the event they were killed in the upcoming battle with the Sicilians. Santina had handed these letters to Guido on the voyage to America for safekeeping. They contained the last words the sons would ever read from their fathers. Guido also guarded the remainder of the family’s money on the trip across the Atlantic in his steamer trunk. Guido had packed his clothes over the money and was able to slip the cash past their Sicilian escorts.

Chapter 2

May 5, 1901, Home of Luciano Cagliari, Little Italy, New York City

Guido Ragusa brought a very brokenhearted and distraught Santina Cagliari to Luciano’s home in New York. Luciano was thrilled to see her but surprised to see Guido, Guido’s wife, and their three sons accompanying his mother, since neither Luciano nor Carlo had been informed of their departure from Italy. Carlo and his family were visiting with Luciano’s family from their red brick house next door when the newcomers arrived. Carlo’s family was equally excited to see Santina because it meant their family was on the way to America too.

After everyone exchanged hugs, kisses, and salutations, Luciano asked his mother, Mama, where’s Papa? Is he on his way over? Santina immediately broke down and started crying hysterically. She tried to regain her composure before speaking.

Luciano, your father won’t be able to join us today.

A lump the size of a baseball formed in Luciano’s throat. He felt weak in the knees. His stomach tossed as he asked, Why not, Mama? What’s wrong? What’s happened to Papa?

Santina cried uncontrollably. The three families in the room, who were also waiting anxiously for her response, consoled her. She cradled her son’s cheeks in her hands and finally said the words they all dreaded to hear.

Luciano, that bastard Prospero Ceconi and the Sicilians have murdered your father. Santina struggled to get the words out and began crying hysterically once again. She became inconsolable and was unable to speak. In her state of grief, she started to faint, collapsing to her knees. Luciano immediately bent down to catch his falling mother. He held her in his arms for a few moments while she recovered.

Luciano glanced nervously at Carlo, who suddenly wondered about the fate of his own father in Rome. They both looked directly into the eyes of the distraught and stone-faced Guido Ragusa. The news about his father enraged Luciano. He wanted answers that his mother couldn’t provide.

The three men helped Santina to the couch, where she sat while the other wives continued to comfort her. Santina had witnessed Mafia behavior all of her life and had grown accustomed to the men keeping these dark secrets to themselves. She knew that Guido had lost most of his family in the mass execution. The three men would need some time alone to console one another. This was simply the way a Mafia wife and mother reacted to such awful events.

Luciano excused himself to the kitchen, followed immediately by Carlo and Guido. He knew that Guido could fill in the blanks about his father’s murder. The three men made their way into the kitchen. Luciano poured three glasses of grappa and then sat down at the kitchen table to hear the rest of the story. He looked at Guido with menacing eyes. What in the hell happened to my father, Guido?

That rat bastard double-crossed our families along with the Sicilians. Prospero’s men ambushed them at the warehouse in Rome. They killed everyone in the building. After they were done in the warehouse, they went door-to-door and killed all of our remaining family members to end any vendetta by you, Luciano.

Carlo couldn’t wait for any more questions. He needed answers as well. Guido, were my father and mother murdered too?

Sì, Carlo. Those lousy bastards murdered all three of our fathers. They left me alive to escort Santina to America and to warn the two of you never to return to Italy. They know you’re both here in New York with your families. They told Santina they would murder you and your families if you ever return.

Luciano slammed his fist on the table and shouted the word vendetta over and over again. Those fucking bastards have to be killed right now!

Luciano looked at a distraught Carlo, who was still trying to accept the disturbing news. All three men swallowed their grappa and poured themselves another glass. The kitchen was deathly quiet as each man went over his own thoughts, sitting around the kitchen table and staring at each other in shock and grief. Luciano and Carlo suddenly realized Guido had also lost his father, mother, brothers, sisters, and cousins.

Guido reached into his suit jacket, pulled out the two letters from their fathers, and handed them to Luciano and Carlo. He said in a hollow voice, Your fathers wanted you to read these letters in the event they were killed. Luciano, your father also wanted the remaining money delivered to you. The money’s in the steamer trunk in your family room.

Thank you for taking care of my mother, Guido, said Luciano. I’m sorry about the loss of your family. Your father was a brave man and a loyal capo to my father.

He banged his fist on the table. I will never forgive or forget those ruthless bastards who killed our families. Never! They’ll pay with their lives. I can promise you that! Luciano’s face was beet red. I won’t rest for one second until I get revenge against every one of those bastards. Their families too. They’ll suffer a painful vendetta, just as they’ve made us suffer!

I’m sorry for your loss, Guido, said Carlo, his voice choked with emotion. We’ll make those worthless pricks pay with their lives. Killing our families is unforgivable!

Thank you both for your sympathy, said Guido, but I think you should read those letters before you make any big decisions.

Luciano and Carlo sat next to each other as they read their fathers’ final words. Their feelings ranged from murderous rage to unbearable sadness; they cried openly. Their fathers had never told them how serious the threat of the Sicilian Mafia was or that they’d suspected Prospero Ceconi was a traitor.

Guilt suddenly replaced sadness. They would never have left for America if they had known the truth. They both felt as if they had let their families down and were partly responsible for the massacre, because they knew in their hearts that they should have stayed at home to help defend against the attack on their families. Luciano and Carlo would read their fathers’ final words over and over again, somehow hoping to change the terrible outcome.

Both Paolo Cagliari and Basilo Bari warned against returning to Italy for an instant vendetta because of the massive army that would be waiting for them. Both preached patience to their sons and instructed Luciano and Carlo to stay put, begin a new life in America, and form their own Mafia family as soon as possible for their own protection. They cautioned their sons that the Sicilian families would find their way to America in the future and stressed that the Sicilian families would target them in America after they had completely seized and controlled the former Cagliari operations in northern Italy.

Luciano and Carlo were sent to America by their fathers to build a newer and stronger criminal family in a prosperous land not yet subjected to organized crime. The Cagliari family would now have time to recruit hundreds of Italian American soldiers for their new crime family to prepare long and hard for the assault they knew would come from the heartless Sicilians. They would put a stranglehold on the Italian American community in New York. They had the money, years of criminal experience, and zero competition from rival Mafia families. Paolo and Basilo both advised their sons to prepare their new soldiers well during the next few years. This would put them in an excellent position to exact their vendetta against the Sicilians in America, on their own turf and on their own terms. Sicilian crime families, unfamiliar with America, its people, and the lay of the land, would be at a huge disadvantage.

Their fathers told them in the letters that they loved them, their wives, and their grandchildren. They promised to see them in heaven one day with the rest of their family.

The two fathers also issued a final warning to their sons: Never return to Italy, not for any reason, not for any purpose.

Luciano stood up at the table, picked up his glass of grappa, and held it in his hand. Carlo and Guido quickly followed his lead. The three men stood around the table, knowing that Luciano was now the family boss. With a heavy heart, Luciano finally said, I will respect our fathers’ final wishes. I’ll fight every urge in my body to travel back to Rome and personally slit Prospero Ceconi’s fucking throat to feel his warm blood run down my hands. I know you both feel the same way. We’ll follow our fathers’ instructions to the letter. Fortunately, we’re all together in a safe place. We have the time we need to build a large army to protect our families and ourselves. We’ll be patient and allow those ruthless sons of bitches to look for us in America. Then, and only then, will we be ready to teach them the true meaning of the word ‘vendetta’!

Bravo, Don Luciano! said Carlo. I swear my loyalty to you as the new family boss. I’ll count the days until we can wage our rightful vendetta on those worthless murderers.

Guido seconded the motion. Don Luciano, you have my full support and loyalty, as always. Give me your orders, and they will be done.

The new family boss was in charge of the survivors’ futures, and he was now ready to lay out the initial plans for his small family in America. First thing tomorrow, we’ll start looking for a house close by for Guido and get his family settled. Then we’ll plan our operations to make sure we’re in a position to exact our revenge when the time comes. For now, let’s rejoin our families in the living room and pray for their souls. Men, take heart. Our vendetta will be carried out soon!

A very bright four-year-old boy named Primo stood close to the kitchen door, listening in on the conversation. The unusual display of sadness by his father had heightened his natural curiosity. He walked into the kitchen as the three men were leaving.

Primo’s father, Carlo, picked him up and gave him a big hug and a kiss. Luciano also kissed him on the cheek and rubbed his head and said, Your son is very smart, Carlo. I think he understands exactly what’s happened today. We need to protect our children and our families at all costs from this day on.

Chapter 3

June 3, 1901, Little Italy, New York City

Luciano Cagliari was a handsome Italian man with dark brown eyes, a small dark mustache, and a thick head of wavy black hair, which was slowly receding. He always wore dark Italian business suits. Luciano and his wife, Delfina, had married when they were both young teenagers. Now at twenty-one years old, Delfina was an exceptionally attractive woman with piercing green eyes, black hair, and a smile that could melt the hardest heart. They had four young children.

Santina moved in with them to help out with the children. The three adorable young girls and three-year-old Franco were just the type of therapy that Santina needed to stay sane. Santina was just forty-three years old, but for the rest of her life, she would wear only black to mourn the loss of her beloved family.

Carlo Bari was a tall man with olive skin and a full head of thick black hair. He had broad shoulders and piercing green eyes. Like his father, he dressed impeccably in the finest Italian clothing of the day. Carlo’s wife, Arata, was a twenty-year-old blonde from Milan, with deep blue eyes and gorgeous body that could render a man speechless. Arata was an exceptionally intelligent young woman, blessed with a quick wit to complement her movie-star looks. Her father was a doctor in Milan, and she had inherited his intellect as well as the family’s natural beauty.

Carlo and Arata had met in school in Rome. They fell madly in love with each other and married against her father’s wishes. Her father suspected Carlo was a mafioso, and he wanted a better life for his young daughter. Arata was happy to go to America to escape her clannish family’s hostility for her new husband.

Carlo and Arata had a four-year-old son named Primo, which means first in Italian. Arata had previous problems with childbirth and had lost two babies while living in Rome. She hoped that living in America would change her luck and she would see the arrival of additional children for her young family.

As promised, Luciano purchased a house close by for Guido Ragusa and his wife, Maria. Guido was a dark-haired, brown-eyed enforcer type. He had a massive neck, broad shoulders, and a barrel chest. Guido was twenty-one years old with a wife and three small boys to look after. Maria was twenty years old, and she had jet black hair, dark brown eyes, an olive-skinned complexion, and rounded curves.

Thanks to the money his father had provided, Luciano was able to meet all of his new family’s needs. The three men spent most of their time learning the lay of the land and the American way of life. They would soon control New York’s Italian neighborhood.

The three men bonded like natural brothers, and they would often discuss strategy about their takeover of Little Italy. Luciano was very street savvy, just like his father. Carlo had an inclination for organization, and Guido was the perfect enforcer. They were all seasoned veterans of organized crime. It was the birth of La Cosa Nostra in America.

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5:17 p.m., July 10, 1975, Primo Bari’s Office

Primo paused to take another sip of brandy before continuing the history lesson to his spellbound grandchildren. The true history of their family’s immigration to America had been a shocking revelation for them. Primo sat at his large wooden desk, looking at his three grandsons, trying to gauge their reactions to their family’s dark past. He had their undivided attention. Primo was concerned that the shock of learning the truth about their family’s past would overwhelm his pampered grandsons. But they were way beyond shock at this point. They were flat-out terrified. Primo had witnessed the same reactions when he told his sons these same chilling stories many years ago.

Like it or not, they all needed to understand that the lives of their entire family were at stake in this deadly business. They also needed to know that their fancy suits, free homes, and seven-digit trust funds were produced illegally. After a short break and a look into their souls, Primo decided to continue with his family history lesson. He needed his grandsons more than they could ever realize.

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1907, New York City

Luciano was running a huge criminal empire built on extortion, gambling, prostitution, and illegal alcohol distribution in New York City. He wouldn’t tolerate even the slightest amount of competition on his turf. Luciano had become the founder and first boss of the American Mafia.

He had already established numerous business relationships with government officials, politicians, policemen, and judges, thanks to his deep pockets and his ability to bribe the right people at the right time. He spent a small fortune keeping all of his snitches and prominent officials on the payroll.

He posted several of his men near the port of New York to closely examine the new Italian arrivals. He was always looking for Sicilian Mafia arrivals in these groups. He would have them trailed to their new hideouts so they could be quickly located, evaluated as to their level of threat, and eliminated.

Carlo and Luciano had both attended school in Rome and believed in the value of a good education. It had helped them to run a solid business, and they had learned to read and speak English while in school. Their schooling gave the two men a huge advantage when they moved their criminal empire to New York. Few Sicilian schools at that time taught English, and even fewer of the Sicilian family members had attended any formal schooling past the age of ten.

Primo’s mother, Arata, wanted her son to get a university education. She and Carlo made sure that Primo excelled in his studies and constantly nurtured and encouraged him. Arata was a brilliant woman in her own right, and could have been a doctor if she had been allowed to attend a university. Arata spent countless hours reading with Primo, providing him with the discipline necessary to succeed in life. She’d also taught him the importance of an education from the time he was old enough to understand her words. She wanted a better life—away from the Mafia—for her only son.

One of Arata and Primo’s favorite activities was to go to a bookstore and spend several hours browsing through the various sections. When they finally decided on a purchase, they would hurry home so Arata could read the story aloud to her son. Afterward, they would discuss every part of the story from memory. Primo always felt like the luckiest boy in the world to have such a wonderful mother.

Carlo instilled the Mafia code of honor, loyalty, trust, and omertà in Primo from the time he was only five years old. He explained this code of honor as the rightful duty of any man who wanted to protect his family from harm. He would always remind his son that the Bari family had been protecting the Cagliari family for decades. In return, the Cagliari family had generously shared its wealth with them.

Primo tragically lost his mother in 1907. Arata bled to death from complications during the birth of her twin sons when Primo was only ten years old. Like many Italian Americans, Carlo and Arata didn’t trust American doctors and used Italian midwives to help deliver their twins, but when complications arose during the difficult birth, the absence of a doctor resulted in tragedy. At the tender age of twenty-six, Arata was dead. Her last wishes as she bled to death in Carlo’s arms were: Promise me you’ll send my son to college, Carlo.

Primo would never forget the sight of the three coffins, especially the two small ones that held the lifeless bodies of his brothers. He remembered how beautiful his mother was, even in death, as he leaned into her coffin to kiss her cold cheeks for the very last time. Primo swore on that last kiss that he would graduate from college and make her proud of him one day.

Carlo made Luciano swear a blood oath on Arata’s grave that he would send Primo to the best college in the country if Carlo were suddenly killed. Luciano and Carlo believed that Primo would use his university education to help run the Cagliari family business and saw it as an excellent opportunity. Luciano had three daughters and only one son. Franco was next in line to run the family, but he had a limited intellect and below-average street acumen. Luciano’s daughters were never told about the family business and were never considered to succeed their father. Though the women in the family knew what was really happening, they never spoke about it to their fathers and husbands.

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1910, Port Area, New York City

The five Ceconi brothers from Rome and a small group of assassins secretly arrived in New York City on April 12, 1910. Prospero Ceconi was now the capo di tutti capi of the Mafia families in Rome. The Cagliari family’s surveillance of the port areas had become very sporadic by this time, due to the massive influx of Italians to America.

But word on the street soon got back to Luciano that the five eldest sons of Prospero Ceconi had arrived two days before, asking questions about his location and his operations in New York. The Ceconi brothers were in America to finish the job that their father had started nine years ago in Rome. Luciano assigned Guido Ragusa the task of finding their base of operations and planning a large-scale hit on their small army.

Before this could be done, Prospero Ceconi Jr. put out a hit on Luciano Cagliari as his first order of business in America. His father had made the bold decision to murder Luciano based on information he had received several months before from a spy. The Ceconi family wanted Carlo Bari and Guido Ragusa killed as well, and these ruthless assassins also planned to kill the Cagliari family’s wives and children to eliminate any future threat of a Cagliari vendetta in America. The hit was to take place at Luciano’s favorite restaurant in Little Italy seventy-two hours after the Ceconis arrived in New York. The devious Ceconi brothers were convinced that they could finish the job that had been started by their father in 1901 and surprise the Cagliari family on their own turf and steal their lucrative territory.

Luciano’s power had never been challenged during his nine-year criminal reign in America. The Cagliari family was well established and organized and had grown to three hundred members strong. They used the newly founded Cagliari Import/Export Company as the cover for their real source of employment and income.

Luciano was a smart and loyal leader who took excellent care of his soldiers. He was known as a man of his word to all of his soldiers. As underboss, Carlo Bari was second-in-command of the Cagliari family, and Guido Ragusa was the main capo in charge of Luciano’s huge army and execution squads. Guido possessed a very imposing physical presence and ruled his murderous army by intimidation and fear. He was a powerful man with a nasty, hair-trigger temper. He was also an expert marksman, skilled in the use of many weapons.

On April 15, 1910, Carlo and Guido were sitting on either side of Luciano at a large oak dinner table just inside the front window of Romano’s Restaurant in Little Italy. They sat there every evening around nine o’clock to eat a late dinner and plan the next day’s activities. Luciano was in the middle of his supper, enjoying a plate of spaghetti and a glass of Chianti with his friends. He’d chosen to eat a late dinner at this particular restaurant during the past nine