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Richie and Vito sat in Richie’s favorite booth at the back of the Leaning Tower Taverna on Columbus and Vallejo streets. Richie was digging into a plate of carbonara, and Vito had a meatball sandwich. They always met before Shay arrived since he never ate restaurant food. In fact, Richie almost never saw him eat. Period.
This was the first time he and Vito had eaten together since Richie had been rude to him last Saturday night. Richie still felt bad about that, especially since Vito and Shay had taken it upon themselves to solve his gambler client’s debt problem. They convinced him to give away shares of his company stock to the individual he owed as well as to the men who ran the floating game. It was collateral. He either worked hard and bought the stock back, or they could sell hi
