I don't believe that Carlo was anything above an associate at best. Vito even told Tom to "give him a living" and not to discuss Family business with him. Vito distrusted him because he wasn't full blooded Sicilian and he only consented to his marriage to Connie on the condition that they have a traditional Sicilian wedding. Nobody in the Family had any respect for him,and certainly could care less about Sonny beating his brains out. He ran a small gambling business for the Corleones and he even screwed that up.
Thank you for so much insight. I read that Carlo’s family was from northern Italy and that’s why Vito didn’t trust him. Sonny obviously did since he was the one who introduced Carlo to his sister Connie. Southern Italians really stuck together against the northern Italians at that time. Especially the southern 3rd of the country. Places like Sicily, the lower half of Calabria and Apulia. Naples too but some of their natives weren’t as close with some of the people from regions further south.
