The Last Don - Mario Puzo [78]
Gronevelt was studying him carefully. He was catching something that Pippi and Cross did not. Passionate grief so often led to weakness, but Gronevelt decided to take the risk. He said, “Walter, will you run for senator if the man is punished? Will you be the man you were?”
The governor seemed not to understand. His eyes rolled slightly toward Pippi and Cross, then stared into Gronevelt’s face. Gronevelt said to Pippi and Cross, “Wait for me in my office.”
Pippi and Cross quickly left. Gronevelt and Governor Wavven were alone. Gronevelt said to him gravely, “Walter, you and I must be very direct for the first time in our lives. We’ve known each other twenty years, have you ever found me to be indiscreet? So answer. It will be safe. Will you run again if that boy is dead?”
The governor went to the bar and poured whiskey. But he did not drink. He smiled. “I’ll file the day after I go to that boy’s funeral to show my forgiveness,” he said. “My voters will love that.”
Gronevelt relaxed. It was done. Out of relief, he indulged his temper. “First, go see your dentist,” he told the governor. “You have to get those fucking teeth cleaned.”
Pippi and Cross were waiting for Gronevelt back in his penthouse office suite. He led them into his living quarters so that they could be more comfortable, then told them what had been said.
“The governor is okay?” Pippi asked.
“The governor was not as drunk as he pretended,” Grone-velt said. “He gave me the message without really implicating himself.”
“I’ll fly East tonight,” Pippi said. “This must get the Cleri-cuzio OK.”
“Tell them I think the governor is a man who can go all the way,” Gronevelt said. “To the very top. He would be an invaluable friend.”
“Giorgio and the Don will understand that,” Pippi said. “I just have to lay everything out and get the OK.”
Gronevelt looked at Cross and smiled, then he turned to Pippi. He said gently, “Pippi, I think it’s time Cross joined the Family. I think he should fly East with you.”
But Giorgio Clericuzio decided to come West to Vegas for the meeting. He wanted to be briefed by Gronevelt himself, and Gronevelt had not traveled for the last ten years.
Giorgio and his bodyguards were established in one of the Villas, though he was not a high roller. Gronevelt was a man who knew how to make exceptions. He had refused the Villas to powerful politicians, financial giants, to some of the most famous movie stars in Hollywood, to beautiful women who had slept with him, to close personal friends. Even Pippi De Lena. But he gave a Villa to Giorgio Clericuzio, though he knew Giorgio had spartan tastes and did not really appre-ciate extraordinary luxuries. Every mark of respect counted, mounted up, and one breach, no matter how tiny, could be remembered someday.
They met in Giorgio’s Villa. Gronevelt, Pippi, and Giorgio . . .
Gronevelt explained the situation. “The governor can be an enormous asset to the Family,” Gronevelt said. “If he pulls himself together, he may go all the way. First, senator, then the presidency. That happens and you have a good shot at getting sports gambling legalized all over the country. That will be worth billions to the Family and those billions will not be black money. It will be white money. I say it’s something we have to do.”
White money was far more valuable than black money. But Giorgio’s great asset was that he was never stampeded into rash decisions. “Does the governor know you are with us?”
“Not for sure,” Gronevelt said. “But he must have heard rumors. And he’s not a dummy. I’ve done some things for him that he knows I couldn’t do if I were alone. And he’s clever. All he said was that he would run for office if the kid were dead. He didn’t ask me to do anything. He’s a great con, he wasn’t that drunk when he broke down. I think he figured the whole thing out. He was sincere, but he was faking it too. He couldn’t figure out his revenge but he had the idea I could do something. He is suffering, but he’s also scheming.” He paused for a moment. “If we come through, he’ll run for sena-tor and he will