Page 115 of Niccolo (Mafia Kings #7)

Sofia

M inutes crept by as Fausto wept on the floor.

Eventually, though, he lifted his head.

When he did, his eyes shone with the same madness I had seen in Massimo when he saw what Aurelio had done to Lucia.

Without getting up from the floor, Fausto dialed on his cell…

Lifted the phone to his ear…

And snarled, “Lau… keep the 50 million, and I’ll pay you 10 million more if you fucking kill him right now.”

Him being Roberto.

My heart froze in my chest.

I couldn’t hear what Lau said –

But from Fausto’s response, it was clear he didn’t get the answer he wanted.

“It’s NOT impossible!” he shouted. “Just fucking KILL him!”

Another bit of silence…

Then Fausto raged, “LISTEN TO ME – ”

Someone must have interrupted him.

From the pure hatred on Fausto’s face, I was guessing it was Roberto taunting him.

Maybe he already knew that Aurelio was dead.

Maybe he’d gotten a text.

However he knew, and whatever he said, Roberto’s words made Fausto nearly lose his mind.

“You’re dead, you little piece of shit – and your fucking halfwit brothers with you,” he rasped. “I’ll send you all to hell myself.”

Then he hung up the phone.

I stood there, terrified.

Fausto looked utterly demented as he crouched there on all fours.

Rage, grief, anguish, horror – they all twisted his features in a maelstrom of emotion.

I stayed silent for a long, long moment…

And then I felt I had to say something. Anything to try to comfort him.

“It wasn’t your fault,” I whispered.

Fausto’s eye twitched as he looked up at me.

“It was – it was bad luck,” I continued. “You couldn’t have known – ”

“SHUT UP!” he shrieked at me, his voice howling like a soul in Hell.

I stepped back in shock. “I’m – I’m sorry – ”

“YOU MOCK ME?!” he raged, his entire body shaking. “‘JUST BAD LUCK’?! I LOSE MY FUCKING SON, AND YOU HAVE TO SAY ‘I TOLD YOU SO’?!”

“No,” I said in horror. “No, I didn’t mean – ”

“You told me not to do it,” he hissed. “You said it over and over – ‘Just kill Massimo. Take the easy win.’ Is that why you’re rubbing it in my face? You think you’re BETTER than me?! You think you’re SMARTER than me?!”

“No, I – ”

He staggered to his feet and screamed in my face, “SHUT UP, YOU STUPID CUNT!”

I stood there, frozen still as a statue.

I was terrified –

Terrified that he would pull out a gun and shoot me dead.

He looked absolutely insane, with flecks of spittle on his lips and beard, as his burning eyes stared deep into mine.

And then he must have decided I wasn’t worth the effort…

Because he turned and lumbered out of the room like a mortally wounded animal.

I stood there for a long moment, unable to breathe or move –

And suddenly I started shaking. Just trembling all over.

I started to cry.

I hated Fausto – HATED him –

But I hated myself even more.

I hated that, in the face of a man’s asshole behavior, once again I felt weak and helpless.

My father…

The Dane and his cronies in the Chess Federation…

And now Fausto.

I thought of Lucia, who had screamed in her captor’s face –

And when he punched her, she screamed back twice as hard.

I wanted that strength for myself…

And I despised myself for my weakness.

Yet…

Underneath all my rage and self-loathing…

I had one other thought:

I’m glad your brothers won today, Niccolo.

I’m glad YOU won.