Hearing that, Rocco couldn't help but grit his teeth in anger at the moment. He really wanted to kill this kid right here and now. He probably would have given order to his people to do that too but didn't.
Right now, there was a lot of attention on him. The people would be looking forward to his next action. So if he did anything unsavory then that will be linked to his future character forever.
If he gave the order to kill the brat, then in the eyes of everyone Rocco would be a true thug. Of course, it wasn't that the people already knew he had ties to the gang called Snake Tails, but for them it was just some connections to put fear into people to not run away with his money.
Also he couldn't announce that he was one of the sub leaders of the gang as it will put the gang in jeopardy. The army really didn't like some gangs as his, meddling in politics much.
