Page 123 of Niccolo (Mafia Kings #7)

Adriano and Massimo were still recuperating in the hospital, so they were out.

I didn’t want Dario to go; it would put him in unnecessary danger.

And though Lars offered to come, he was still absolutely exhausted.

I assured everyone that it would be fine if I went alone and told them we would see them afterwards.

The foot soldiers took me by boat across the bay. From there, a trio of Rolls-Royces drove us to the airport, where we waited on the tarmac.

Shortly after 8PM, a small jet taxied into a hangar.

“Let’s go,” I announced as I got out of the car, followed by the foot soldiers.

A moment later, my heart leapt as I saw my twin brother walking towards me.

He’d just finished a 13-hour plane trip after a life-and-death adventure –

And yet he was still wearing a three-piece suit, with not one hair out of place.

In fact, the only odd thing was his red tie was rumpled.

Walking next to him, arm in arm, was an absolute smokeshow of an Asian woman.

I was intensely curious –

But my joy at seeing him alive outweighed everything else.

“Roberto!” I cried out, then added cheekily, “Savior of the family, provider of war funds!”

I hugged him tightly as he laughed.

When I pulled back, I looked at the Asian woman. In addition to her stunning good looks, she exuded style and class.

Assuming she might not speak Italian, I asked in English, “And who might this lovely lady be?”

“Mei-ling, this is my brother Niccolo,” Roberto said in English to the woman. “Niccolo, this is Mei-ling – my fiancée.”

“Pleased to meet you,” she said in a sultry British accent.

I didn’t really register what she’d said.

I was still stuck on the word ‘fiancée.’

I stared at Roberto and tried to say something –

But my mouth didn’t seem to be working.

“You’re witnessing an extremely rare occurrence, Mei-ling,” Roberto joked. “My brother lost for words.”

I looked at the woman, then back to my twin and switched to Italian. “What the fuck are you thinking?”

Roberto regarded me coolly as he said, “Speak in English.”

I wasn’t about to do an exact translation, so instead I said, “Given the circumstances, are you sure this is wise?”

He smiled. “As I told you once, I’m the most careful of us all.”

Well, I couldn’t really fucking argue with that.

“…true…” I grumbled.

“And I assure you of this: marrying her will be the wisest decision I ever make.”

The woman beamed at Roberto, and he grinned back at her.

As I stared back and forth between the two of them, I had to admit, it was the absolute happiest I’d ever seen him.

Roberto was normally unemotional and incredibly reserved. For him to be constantly smiling like that –

It was the equivalent of me doing cartwheels and handsprings.

I wasn’t about to ruin my twin brother’s homecoming, so I mustered up what enthusiasm I could as I air-kissed the Asian woman. “Well, then… welcome to the family.”

“Besides, you should be happy you can thank her in person,” Roberto added. “She’s the only reason I got our money back.”

“Oh!” I said and playfully smacked Roberto with the back of my hand. “Why didn’t you lead with THAT?!”

I turned on the charm and extended my arm to her. She took it with an amused smile. “Now that I know who you are, bella, you’re my favorite person in the world … and I have 50 million reasons for saying so. Where’s your ring, by the way?”

“We haven’t quite gotten around to that yet,” Roberto said.

I had to bust his balls –

I just had to. No other choice.

“HE DIDN’T GIVE YOU A RING?!” I yelled.

“We were a little bit busy not getting killed,” Roberto said drily.

“Well, that’s the first thing we’re going to have to remedy,” I said, acting offended on Mei-ling’s behalf.

She laughed, enjoying my little performance.

“Is Massimo alright?” Roberto asked as we walked towards the cars.

“Wonderful,” I said. “Banged up, yes, but the doctors assure us he’ll fully recover.”

“Thank God,” Roberto muttered.

“Interestingly enough, he has a fiancée of his own.”

Roberto looked stunned. “What?!”

“Lars, too. Brought her back with him from London.”

“…WHAT?!”

If Roberto’s smiles earlier were the equivalent of handsprings, his shock right now was like Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream.

Or 10-year-old Macaulay Culkin yelling with his hands around his mouth in Home Alone. One of the two.

“It seems it’s the fashion to show up unexpectedly with a fiancée,” I said as I gave Mei-ling a conspiratorial wink.

She laughed again.

I like a woman with good taste.

And by ‘good taste,’ I mean one who finds me amusing.

As we got in the back of one of the Rolls, Roberto said, “Tell me about these two mystery women.”

“Just wait until they hear about yours,” I said before I told him all about Rachel and Lucia.

While we rode on a speedboat back to Venice, Roberto informed me he had returned Lau’s $200 million in Bitcoin the second his plane had touched down safely.

“Are you trying to make me miserable?” I asked.

Mei-ling laughed. “I asked him if we could keep it. He said he preferred being alive.”

Roberto nodded. “I don’t want to fight a multi-front war against Fausto, the Yakuza, a bunch of Triad gangs, and Lau.”

“Well,” I grumbled, “at least Dario and I took screenshots. Something to fondly remember it all by.”

“And a future goal to aspire to,” Roberto pointed out.

Mei-ling kissed his cheek. “If I had a glass of wine, I’d drink to that.”

I snorted. “If I had a bottle of whiskey, I’d drink to kill the pain.”

Back at the Widow’s palazzo, Roberto introduced Mei-ling to everyone.

After Dario had made her acquaintance, I took him aside. “Roberto informed me he already returned the $200 million.”

Dario sighed. “Easy come, easy go. What’s our next move?”

“We should approach the Council as soon as possible. Fausto’s down. If we’re lucky, they’ll deliver the killing blow for us.”

He nodded. “Do it.”