Neil Dellacroce, Gotti's protector, had died. Paul was preparing to make Tommy Bilotti his second in command. The meeting at Sparks, at minimum, would have been to announce Gotti's demotion, which would almost certainly have led to his death. And, there was no guarantee that Paul would be convicted of the RICO rap. Time was running out on all of them, including Gravano and Loc. It was kill or be killed.