Page 43 of Niccolo (Mafia Kings #7)

Sofia

N othing had happened by the time we arrived at Fausto’s compound.

As the car came to a halt in front of the McMansion, Fausto rapped on the screen and the driver rolled it down again.

“Go get our guest and bring her to the main house,” Fausto ordered, then got out of the Rolls.

We followed him into the house, listening intently for any sound from the phone.

Nothing came.

Five minutes later, a foot soldier knocked on the door of the library. When Fausto said to enter, he poked his head in. “The woman’s out front, boss.”

Fausto looked at me. “Let me know the instant you get confirmation.”

I nodded and went back to the phone as Fausto left the room.

Suddenly, the microphone picked up the sound of a door opening.

A second later, voices overlapped each other frantically.

A deep, commanding male voice cut through them all. “Silence. Massimo, shut the doors. Everyone else, have a seat.”

From the authority in his voice, I guessed it was Dario.

The same voice continued. “Bianca believes that the mystery man we’ve been searching for is Aurelio. She recognized him when he came up to her at the reception.”

Gasps and murmurs from the others.

Called it, I thought.

I shot a look of triumph at Aurelio, who was staring at the phone in wide-eyed shock.

A voice I recognized spoke up – but he was no longer playful and mischievous.

“Are you sure Aurelio was the same man you saw with Bautiste Agrella?” Niccolo asked.

A woman’s voice answered, “I’m positive. I could never forget his eyes.”

“Still think she didn’t see you?” I asked Aurelio sarcastically.

He flushed bright red and fixed me with an even more hateful look than he’d given Fausto.

“Keep listening,” I ordered as I stood up. “I have to tell your father.”

I quickly walked out of the library.

As I approached the front door, I could hear Fausto talking. “Once the job is done, you cannot come back here. It’s also a bad idea to go to Florence. I suggest you drive to Rome and book a flight from there. We’ll provide you with cash to make the purchase.”

I walked into the foyer, where both Fausto and Rachel looked over at me.

“I just confirmed it – the bride recognized him from Florence,” I said.

“Thank you,” Fausto said, then turned back to our assassin. “Tomorrow morning it is.”

“Does it have to be completed by a specific time?” Rachel asked.

“No,” Fausto said with a sinister smile. “Just as long as it gets done.”

Fausto and I returned to the library.

“What’s going on?” he asked his son.

Aurelio looked up warily like he was afraid his father might kill the messenger. “Niccolo figured out you’re behind it all.”

“…shit,” Fausto grunted. “Of course he did.”

“Should we confront Fausto and Aurelio?” an extremely deep voice asked.

Niccolo laughed bitterly. “Why – so they can deny it? All they’ll say is, ‘No, that’s absurd, it’s all a big misunderstanding!’ And if we tell them what we know, we give away our one advantage: the fact that we’ve figured it out, and they don’t realize it yet.”

“Yes we do, FUCKER,” Aurelio sneered at the phone.

Fausto shot him an ugly look, and Aurelio retreated back into silence.

“Perhaps we should call a meeting of the Council,” Dario suggested.

I gave Fausto a quizzical look.

“A meeting of all the families of the Cosa Nostra,” he said dourly.

From the look on Fausto’s face, Dario’s suggestion was not good news.

The Rosolinis talked for another minute or two when an angry voice – I was guessing Adriano –snarled, “We should move against Fausto TONIGHT.”

I glanced over at Fausto, who looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack.

“We need to bring in Wagner, NOW!” Aurelio shouted at his father –

But Fausto held up a hand to quiet him.

“And how is THAT going to look to the Council?” Niccolo asked, then said in a theatrical voice, “‘We knew we had no proof, but we decided to kill our uncle and cousin anyways because we SUSPECTED them.’”

Fausto breathed a sigh of relief.

I thought, Too bad, Niccolo. You might have won the game tonight if you’d just pressed your advantage.

I didn’t want to give Aurelio the satisfaction of my opinion, though, so I kept it to myself.

The brothers squabbled amongst themselves some more, but Niccolo won out in the end.

“The Council would say we’re savages,” he argued. “We would become pariahs. Every single family in the Cosa Nostra would band against us to wipe us out.

“That’s why Fausto is doing all this from the shadows.

Don’t you see? He can’t have everyone realize he’s the kind of monster who would kill his own family just for money and power.

It would disgust and infuriate the Council – it would be an infamia.

At best, Fausto would be ostracized and cut off completely.

At worst, it would bring down the Cosa Nostra’s collective wrath on his head. ”

Fausto looked at me. “You see why I hired you? He knows exactly how I think.”

“No,” Niccolo continued, “he had to do it all through puppets like the Turk and Mezzasalma so he could cover his tracks. And he’s been very, very clever at doing so.

” He paused… then said in a thoughtful voice, “Like a chess grandmaster, planning it all out beforehand… an unseen hand manipulating the pieces on the board…”

A chill went down my spine.

It was almost as if he were looking directly at me as he said it.

I knew that was crazy, but it felt that way.

Then the conversation turned to what they would do. The answer surprised me.

“No, we need to secure allies. We have to go to the Five Families and present our case. If we win them to our side, then nothing Fausto can do will matter. And if he tries anything again, the Five Families will help us instead of shutting us out.”

It was decided that Venice would be the first point of contact.

Massimo was chosen to represent the family. He would leave the next morning.

When the discussion was over, everyone returned to the wedding.

The phone fell silent…

And Aurelio began his bitching.

“We have to use Wagner NOW!” he insisted. “Didn’t you hear what they said?!”

“Yes,” Fausto snarled, “I heard your cousin lay out the case perfectly why we shouldn’t use Wagner now. Even if we succeed, we’ll be ostracized by the rest of the Cosa Nostra . They might even decide to destroy us.”

“But Massimo’s about to go to Venice tomorrow and tell them EVERYTHING!” Aurelio raged.

“I’ve known the Widow since Don Fioretti died and she took over his territory,” Fausto said. “Without ironclad proof of my involvement, she’ll cut Massimo down with a few choice insults and send him on his way. We have nothing to fear from her.”

But Aurelio wouldn’t be silenced. “It’s like you’re TRYING to lose! This is the perfect opportunity to – ”

“STOP!” Fausto roared. “You’ve fucked us over enough for one night!”

Aurelio looked stunned. “What?! What the fuck did I do?!”

“You let that girl see you in Florence with Bautiste Agrella! Your carelessness has endangered all our plans!”

“THAT WASN’T MY FAULT!”

“IT NEVER IS!” Fausto shouted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “No matter how grossly incompetent you are, it’s always someone else’s fault!”

Aurelio stared at his father with a look of hurt and anger.

When he spoke, his voice was quiet.

“Fuck you,” he said, then turned and headed for the door.

“I forbid you to do anything with the mercenaries until I explicitly order it!” Fausto shouted after him.

Aurelio answered by raising his middle finger and storming out of the library.

“Christ,” Fausto snarled, “I should have beat him when he was a child. Then he might not have turned out to be such a fucking pain in the ass.”

He went over and poured a double scotch.

I kept my voice carefully neutral as I said, “We need to trigger the financial attack, too, while they’re unprepared.”

Fausto nodded. “I’ll make the call.”

“And we should probably leave and go somewhere else tonight. Just in case they change their minds about coming after us.”

Fausto sighed. “Not a bad idea.”