“So… married life not treating you too well?”
While Don Corleone, Tom, and Sonny are inside the office discussing casino business in Las Vegas, Frederico Corleone gets bored after spotting his little sister Connie, so he decides to chat with her for a while to kill time.
Faced with Fredo’s question, Connie doesn’t know how to answer.
Just like she doesn’t know how to deal with her husband’s problems, all she can do is keep hoping Carlo will eventually change.
But will he?
Maybe.
And if he never does?
Then maybe this is just how things are.
That’s what Connie thinks to herself.
Then suddenly, she feels like telling her second brother the truth.
Deep down, she already knows she can’t hide it forever.
And besides… would hiding it even help?
She gives a bitter little smile, takes a sip from her wine glass, then says with surprising honesty:
“Yeah.
It’s bad.
Exactly like what you told me before.”
Her straightforward admission catches Fredo a little off guard.
Is this really the same hopelessly lovestruck Connie?
Sure, she hasn’t yet become the capable woman who later helps Mikey as part of the new Godfather’s inner circle, but the foundation is already there.
After all, she’s still a Corleone.
Nobody in this family is truly simple.
Resting both hands against the balcony railing and staring into the dark night outside, Fredo asks:
“So what are you planning to do?”
Connie shrugs helplessly.
“I don’t know.
Maybe you can turn him into a good husband for me?”
Fredo laughs at himself.
“Turn somebody into a good husband?
Even Dad can’t pull that off.
I definitely can’t.
Honestly, it’d probably be easier to just find you a better husband.”
Connie understands exactly what he means.
That’s one of the reasons she never tells the family anything.
More importantly, Fredo already warned her before marriage what Carlo would be like, and she still chooses to marry him anyway.
Who can she blame?
Herself.
Love makes people blind.
Love makes people reckless.
Love makes people lose all common sense.
Fredo’s brain starts spinning at high speed.
Since his stubborn little sister refuses to wake up, then maybe it’s time for his brother-in-law Carlo to learn how to behave instead.
Turning around to face Connie, he speaks softly:
“I’ll help you once.
Wait for my call.
If that still doesn’t work… then wake up already, Connie.
At that point, go find yourself a real man.”
After saying that, he pats her lightly on the head before turning to leave for Don Corleone’s office.
“Thanks, Fredo …”
He doesn’t turn around, only waves a hand casually.
Watching his back disappear, Connie suddenly realizes something.
Her father carries authority.
But Fredo carries responsibility.
At that moment, she understands that even when romantic fantasies fall apart, family still remains.
No matter how battered she gets outside, home still loves her exactly the same.
Family.
Outside the office, Carlo sits alone on the sofa looking frustrated.
Because he isn’t invited into the office.
And nobody gives him any responsibility.
Fredo merely nods at him before pushing the office door open and walking inside.
The three men are still discussing how to establish themselves in Las Vegas, but none of them comes up with a particularly good solution.
Fredo, however, knows one thing for certain:
Anything tied to Las Vegas in the future prints money.
As long as you’re running casinos there, losing money is practically harder than making it.
Seeing Fredo enter, Don Corleone decides to ask for his opinion.
“What do you think?”
Fredo almost blurts out:
“I think this matter definitely—”
Then he catches himself immediately.
Wrong script.
He clears his throat awkwardly.
“I think… there’s no especially brilliant approach here.
Basically, it’s the usual carrot-and-stick strategy.”
Don Corleone, Sonny the hothead, and Tom the consigliere all look at him like they’re saying:
Go ahead.
The stage is yours.
Fredo sits down in a single sofa chair, pours himself a drink, takes a sip, then continues:
“Carrot first, stick second.
Isn’t that basically the our family playbook already?”
“On one side, we spend money, trade favors, buy influence with politicians and the Feds, secure permits for casinos, land rights, operating licenses, all that.”
“On the other side, we reach out to Moe Greene.
Guys like him, you start soft.
Negotiate first.”
“And if negotiations fail…”
Fredo shrugs.
“Then we move harder.
Give them an offer they can’t refuse.”
Truthfully, the three of them already understand all this.
The real problem is that Las Vegas isn’t New York.
They’re suddenly stepping into unfamiliar territory and don’t know where to begin.
After hearing Fredo’s explanation, Don Corleone and Tom immediately start dividing responsibilities and discussing specific personnel arrangements.
According to Fredo’s own thinking, though, the process is actually pretty simple.
Tom handles negotiations.
If negotiations fail, somebody else handles the “other methods.” Get faster updates on g.com.
Honestly, the Corleone family doesn’t exactly have many legitimate businessmen.
They’re mobsters.
You ask these guys to kill somebody, burn a building down, intimidate witnesses?
Easy.
But ask them to negotiate contracts or play political chess with career politicians?
At that point, you’re basically asking them to start a street war in a boardroom.
That’s what people in the 21st century call “being in the wrong profession.”
Which is why mobsters who never use their brains spend their whole lives as disposable muscle.
To play the business game, you need thinkers.
After that, Fredo mostly sits quietly listening while the meeting continues.
Sonny is basically doing the same thing, except Don Corleone occasionally asks for Sonny’s opinion because Sonny is still the intended heir to the family.
Mike, on the other hand, is never meant to inherit the family business.
In Don Corleone’s mind, Mike is supposed to become a senator… maybe even a governor someday.
The Corleone family exists to pave the road for him.
As for Fredo?
In the Don’s original plans, Fredo is basically just the family back-up if anything bad happen.
As long as he doesn’t cause trouble, doesn’t embarrass the family, and quietly spends money like a useless rich kid, that’s already good enough.
Honestly, Fredo himself is perfectly happy being a second-generation mafia heir living the easy life.
But recently, after seeing Fredo’s performance, Don Corleone’s opinion starts changing.
Maybe this son of his can actually serve as an advisor for the family.
And if that’s the case…
Why not use him?
[Physique: Lv3 (0/99)]
Earlier today, Fredo’s [Physique] officially reaches Level 3.
And now he genuinely has no idea how to explain this to normal people anymore.
At Level 2, he already feels like he’s reached the absolute limit of human capability.
Now that he’s leveled up again?
He honestly feels dodging bullets isn’t even that difficult anymore.
Even sneak attacks from behind barely matter.
At his current level, identifying direction purely from sound is effortless.
Straight-up inhuman.
Once the office discussion finally wraps up, Fredo informs Don Corleone about the intelligence gathered on the Tattaglia family.
The moment the three men see the surveillance reports Fredo produces, they feel both shocked… and uneasy.
Because the evidence makes one thing painfully clear:
Someone is preparing to make a move against Don Corleone.
Fredo immediately explains that he plans to assign two additional men to secretly protect the Don.
And this information stays strictly between the people in this room.
Because the Barzini side is already trying to buy off insiders, and nobody knows who the traitor is yet.
The fewer people who know, the better.
The three of them understand the seriousness of the situation and agree immediately.
“Then it’s settled,” Fredo says.
“Tomorrow I’ll have Rocco bring two more guys over.
Another layer of protection.”
“Pop, you just need to recognize their faces.
They’ll stay hidden and protect you from the shadows.”
Don Corleone nods calmly.
“I understand.”