Ares took the sheet of paper and glanced over it, choking slightly (and sending the smoke in his lungs that he'd been about to exhale into his esophagus, making him choke all the harder).
"You worked three years for Carmine?" he said, laughing harder. "Carmine's my mother's brother in law. Hell, if your old man worked there as long as you say he did, I probably knew him. You're practically family." And that wasn't an admission Tony gave lightly. Family, for Tony, was one of the most important things in the world. In fact, it might be the only thing more important than money.
He could check the kid's reference with Carmine later, but he was sure it would pass. Anyone who knew Carmine was the owner of DaVinci's, actually knew him. And no one who knew Carmine would dare to lie in his name. Bad idea, that would be. Very, very bad. Carmine was old school.
Satisfied by that more than anything else, he took out a piece of paper and wrote a figure on it. A figure that he thought would be enough for the kid to live well enough on. He didn't know why, but for some reason he was moved to generosity with this one. The sum might even had been a bit excessive. But again, it felt right.
35K EUR
"Will that be an acceptable yearly salary, Mr. Mercer?" Tony asked, watching his face for a reaction.