Page 140 of Niccolo (Mafia Kings #7)

R oberto recounted everything that had happened in Hong Kong.

The discovery that someone had embezzled all our money at the same time as the attempt on Dario’s life…

The decision to go to Hong Kong to ask for our money back…

The pattern of stalling that Lau had used to put off Robert’s request…

Culminating in the phone call where Fausto offered to let Lau keep the 50 million euros if Lau killed Roberto.

I also asked about Mei-ling, who had secretly worked for Lau, and how she had kept Roberto distracted from getting the money back.

Having learned my lesson with Rachel’s testimony, I made sure to have Roberto tell everyone how he and Mei-ling fell in love – and that they had married at the same time Rachel and Lars had.

I thought I’d done pretty well…

Until Sofia got started.

“I would like to request we speak to a witness who can refute key portions of what Roberto Rosolini has just said,” she asked Don Severino.

“NO,” I protested. “She can ask Roberto whatever she wants, then call her witness later.”

“It would be valuable to immediately contradict Roberto Rosolini’s lies,” Sofia said.

“He did not lie!” I yelled.

“My witness will state that he did,” Sofia retorted. “Plus, there are no hard-and-fast rules on when witnesses can be called – only tradition.”

Which was correct.

She’d obviously been schooled by Fausto on how to bend the rules without breaking them.

“I’ll allow it,” Don Severino said.

Shit.

But I was intensely curious about who the witness was.

Imagine my surprise when she held up a telephone.

“I call Mr. Jing Lau to testify,” she said. “Hello, Mr. Lau.”

“Hello,” said an older man’s voice in a cultured British accent.

SHIT.

“Wait!” I yelled and turned to Don Severino. “She has to present the witness in person!”

“What, like you did with your sister-in-law?” Sofia asked snarkily.

“I was fully willing to have Rachel walk into the chamber – ”

“But her past work with MI6 precluded that,” Sofia interrupted, “so the Council allowed Niccolo to call her on a cell phone. Well, my witness’s physical presence in Hong Kong precludes his being here, so the Council should allow him to testify by phone call, too.”

SHIT.

She had turned my own ploy against me…

Almost like she’d anticipated how to use it to my detriment.

Fuck, she was good.

“I’ll allow it,” Don Severino said, giving me a pointed look.

I retreated back to my side of the gauntlet in silence.

“Sorry about that, Mr. Lau,” Sofia apologized. “Thank you so much for agreeing to speak with me today. Could you tell everyone what the nature of your business dealings with Roberto Rosolini were?”

She led him through the same details Roberto had given:

That our family had invested 50 million euros with his gambling syndicate…

That Roberto had arrived in Hong Kong to ask for it back…

And that, yes, Mei-ling had worked for him, and had specifically been stalling Roberto so Lau wouldn’t have to make a final decision on returning the funds.

Sofia went further, though.

She had Lau state that Roberto had stolen $250 million in Bitcoin from him by threatening him with plastic explosives.

All the dons looked over at my brother in shock.

After all, he seemed so mild-mannered.

“Does Roberto Rosolini refute this?” Sofia asked.

“I gave it all back,” Roberto said coldly. “Minus the 50 million euros he owed me.”

That didn’t exactly help our case.

Strangely enough, Sofia had Lau admit that he had spoken to Fausto –

Although it was supposedly on the grounds of Fausto investing with the Syndicate and nothing more.

Riiiiiiight.

But then…

In a devastating turn…

The old man outright lied.

“Did Fausto Rosolini ever ask you to kill Roberto Rosolini?” Sofia asked.

“No, he did not.”

“Objection!” I shouted. “Roberto was in the room with Mr. Lau when he put Fausto on speakerphone and Fausto asked him to kill Roberto!”

“Fausto Rosolini never called me that day.”

“This is bullshit!” I shouted. “The witness is lying!”

“Quiet!” Don Severino admonished me.

“Lau knows we can’t punish him for lying, so he can say whatever he wants!” I yelled.

“QUIET!” Severino roared.

I shut up and seethed in silence.

“Mr. Lau?” Sofia asked. “What is your response?”

“Believe what you want, but Fausto Rosolini was not on a phone call with me and Roberto that day. He certainly did not ask me to kill his nephew. Furthermore, I will not have my credibility questioned by a screaming lunatic. I bid you goodbye.”

“WAIT!” I screamed –

But the fucker hung up.

I realized I’d been had.

The entire exchange had been choreographed –

And Lau had ended the call exactly at the point Fausto wanted him to.

Once again, we’d had a sterling witness in Roberto, who could directly incriminate Fausto –

And they’d completely obliterated our case with a couple of lies.

I had no idea what Fausto had paid Lau –

But everything Roberto had said was now called into question.

And it wasn’t like we could extradite Lau from Hong Kong and charge him with perjury.

“The witness lied!” I snarled.

“That’s quite an accusation,” Sofia replied. “Prove it.”

“I did – with everything my brother said!”

“What’s to say he didn’t lie?”

“Don Severino!” I protested angrily. “I didn’t even get to question the witness!”

“Signorina Toscani, call the witness back,” Don Severino instructed her.

She did –

But the call went immediately to voicemail.

“I guess you shouldn’t have called him a liar,” Sofia told me with faux sweetness.

“Don Severino, this is unprecedented – and exactly why the witness should have never been allowed to call in in the first place!”

Severino threw up his hands. “What do you want me to do?”

I could have said Disallow the witness, but that was folly.

There was no way the mafia dons could unhear Lau’s testimony.

“Nothing,” I snarled. “Next witness.”

Sofia just smirked at me.

And well she should –

Because she knew she was winning.

She was cheating, yes –

And using lies to do it –

But in the end, she was still winning.