Page 53 of Niccolo (Mafia Kings #7)

Sofia

W e were monitoring the news out of Venice when a reporter appeared live at the Università Ca’ Foscari. A group of heavily armed attackers had killed several unidentified men, none of whom seemed to be students. Several of the attackers had been shot and killed as well.

Fausto whipped out his phone and dialed. When Aurelio didn’t answer, Fausto left a rage-filled voicemail.

“Massimo Rosolini had better be one of the dead men I’m hearing about on the news right now!” he roared, then hung up.

“You think he is?” I asked.

“No, I don’t,” Fausto fumed. “My son isn’t that competent.”

Half an hour later, Aurelio hadn’t called back –

But someone else did: the mole inside the Rosolini household.

Fausto put him on speakerphone.

“Roberto and Niccolo are driving to Nice, France, and will fly from there to Hong Kong,” the mystery man said in a hushed voice.

Hong Kong?! I thought in surprise.

I was supposed to fly there for the poker tournament in Macau…

“Why are they going to Hong Kong?” Fausto asked in confusion.

“I don’t know – no one’s said anything except they’re leaving. I have to go.”

After the mole hung up, Fausto got a distressed look on his face. “Shit!”

“What?”

“For years, Roberto’s been obsessed with investing in an online gambling operation out of Hong Kong, run by a man named Lau.

It’s a money laundering front, basically – a legal business whose primary investors are Southeast Asian organized crime groups.

The Yakuza, the Chinese Triad, that sort of thing.

“Roberto pitched it as a way to go fully legitimate within five years. But his father and I had no interest in getting out of the Cosa Nostra. Plus, the Hong Kong profit margins were smaller than everything else in our portfolio, so we never let him pull the trigger. But as soon as he became don, Dario gave Roberto permission to invest a sizable chunk of money.”

“How sizable a chunk?”

“Fifty million euros.”

“How long could 50 million euros keep them afloat?”

“Six months,” Fausto said grimly. “At the very least.”

“That would erase the one advantage we have over them.”

“I know that!” he snapped.

Shit.

The assassination attempt had failed, and Aurelio had botched Venice. Reducing them to paupers was the one huge thing we had going for us at this point.

If that was taken away –

“So you think they’re going to Hong Kong to get the money back?” I asked.

“That’s the only reason I can think of.”

“Why don’t they just call Lau and have him wire the money?”

“Maybe they’re afraid Lau won’t release the funds, so they’re going to try to persuade him in person.”

“But… why Niccolo?”

Fausto frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I can understand why Roberto’s going. He’s the money man – he made the investment, so it makes sense. But given everything that’s happening right now, why would Dario send his consigliere halfway across the world?”

Fausto shrugged. “Niccolo’s far more charming than Roberto. Maybe he’s going there to sweet talk them.”

“Why would he need to sweet talk them? Why wouldn’t Roberto just let Lau keep a portion of the 50 million?”

“I don’t know why Niccolo’s going!” Fausto snapped. “What I do know is that you need to fly to Hong Kong and talk to Lau before they do.”

I stared at him in shock. “What?! Why?!”

“Maybe we can pay Lau to kill Roberto and Niccolo for us. At the very least, we can bribe Lau not to release the funds. And I can’t go – I’m needed here.”

“Why can’t you just call Lau and do it over the phone?”

“Because I don’t know him,” Fausto said impatiently. “I know of him because of everything Roberto told me over the years, but I’ve never even talked to him before.”

“So why the hell would he listen to me?!”

“Because you’re going to show up with a million euros in a briefcase just for him to answer a phone call.”

“A phone call from whom?” I asked, confused.

“From me. As soon as you’re there with him face-to-face, call me, and I’ll seal the deal.”

“So you ARE planning to do this over the phone!” I nearly shouted. “Why send me halfway across the world just to get him to answer a phone call?!”

“If a complete stranger contacted me and offered to wire a million euros just for hearing him out, I would assume it was entrapment by the police,” Fausto explained.

“Either that or a scam. But if someone showed up with a million in cash and handed it over for five minutes of my time, I’d be far more willing to listen.

In fact, I’d be intrigued. The police wouldn’t waste that much money on a sting, and a small-time con man wouldn’t risk losing it.

A million in cash buys us instant credibility. ”

Everything he was saying made sense –

But it still pissed me off.

“You’re paying me to be a strategist, not a go-between,” I griped.

“I’m paying you to be my consigliere, and this is precisely the sort of thing a consigliere does: negotiate with third parties on the don’s behalf.”

“Actually, you haven’t paid me at all,” I snapped. “The only money I’ve made is playing poker – ”

And like a bolt of lightning, it struck me.

I knew exactly why Niccolo was going to Hong Kong.

He’d somehow figured out my identity…

He’d discovered I was a professional poker player…

And he knew there was a chance I’d be in Macau at the tournament.

The insight was more intuition than logic…

But I knew I was right. In fact, I was certain of it.

Fausto saw the look of stunned amazement on my face. It would have been impossible not to.

“What is it?” he demanded.

I thought about telling him –

But something stopped me.

Hell, several things stopped me.

Knowing that Niccolo was coming to Hong Kong expressly to see me …

And knowing that it would only happen if I allowed it to…

That gave me a certain amount of power.

Power I would give up if I told Fausto.

After all, he might say ‘no.’

Plus the fact that I could see Niccolo again and continue our pas de deux from the wedding –

It made me want to jump on a plane that very instant.

Add in Fausto’s miserly attitude about paying me, plus the fact I didn’t trust him…

It all led me to keep my cards close to my vest.

“Nothing,” I said, and forced myself to glare at him – which wasn’t difficult. “It just occurred to me that you’re willing to pay Lau a million euros for taking a phone call, but you won’t give me a goddamn cent for all the work I’ve already put in.”

Fausto smiled. “Patience, consigliere . Once this is all over, you’ll be making ten times what Lau will.”

“Yeah, for a thousand times the work.”

“I’ll pay you the same as Lau when you’re the head of a criminal organization who can kill my enemies with the snap of your finger,” Fausto said. “Until then, go talk to the man who can.”

“Fine,” I said coolly.

Although I’m going to talk to someone else while I’m there, too.