Page 57 of Niccolo (Mafia Kings #7)

Niccolo

S ofia was hot as hell.

My brothers probably wouldn’t have thought so…

But those glasses?

The tight pencil skirt?

The silk blouse unbuttoned just enough to show a hint of cleavage?

Like the sexy librarian of my dreams.

Her mind, though, was even sexier.

The repartee… her quick comebacks… that knowing little smirk of hers…

A real challenge to sink my teeth into.

Not to mention she was dangerous.

Not physically, of course, unless she had a gun stashed away someplace.

But this was the woman who had unleashed the Turk on us, and then Mezzasalma.

The woman who had brought my family to the brink of ruin with nothing but her intellect.

I reminded myself never to forget that.

Of all the things about her… of all the things I found attractive…

I think I liked the ‘dangerous’ part most of all.

However, I was beyond relieved that she hadn’t planned my father’s murder.

When she looked me in the eye and told me his death had happened months before she went to work for Fausto, I believed her. And it tracked with everything I knew so far.

That was the one thing I was immensely grateful for…

Because it would have broken my heart to have to kill her.

I knew it would be the smart thing to do, to remove Fausto’s mastermind from the equation.

But when you find a jewel so rare that you’ve never seen its like before, the urge isn’t to destroy it…

But to possess it.

And that was exactly what I wanted with Sofia:

To possess her…

Even if it was only for one night.

But that would have to wait.

First…

Poker.

After speaking with a casino floor manager, I paid five thousand euros for a private table and a dealer just for the two of us. Then I got 10,000 in chips – 5000 for her, 5000 for me.

I ordinarily would have gotten more – at least 100,000 – but after Fausto stole all our money, I was on a tight budget.

When we sat down at the table, I asked the dealer in Italian, “Parli qualcos’altro oltre all’inglese e al cinese?”

Do you speak anything other than English or Chinese?

He gave me a blank look and replied in English, “I’m sorry, sir – what was that?”

With that reaction, I was fairly sure Sofia and I were safe speaking Italian.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it,” I said in English, then asked Sofia, “Texas Hold ‘Em?”

“Why not. Ante 100?”

“Why not,” I replied as I threw a chip into the center of the table.

The first few hands were nothing interesting. We circled each other like wolves, sniffing out each other’s weaknesses.

While we played, we chatted.

Well… more accurately… I asked her questions, and she rarely answered.

“How do you like being a consigliere?” I asked in Italian.

“I don’t – ”

“Know what I mean,” I interrupted. “Yes, yes, I’ve heard that one before. How do you like working for Fausto, then? You’ve already admitted to that.”

“It has its pros and cons.”

“What’s he paying you?”

She didn’t say anything.

“I forgot, he hasn’t paid you yet. What’s he promising you?”

She just looked at me in silence.

“It must be a significant amount of money to take such a huge risk,” I said.

“Raise 500,” she said as she tossed in a handful of chips.

She was very confident. No sign of doubt.

I had a handful of shit, so I folded.

“He killed his own brother and is trying to kill his nephews,” I pointed out. “What in the world makes you think he won’t kill you when the time comes?”

“Are you going to play or just talk incessantly?”

“Why can’t I do both?”

“Is this part of your strategy? To bore me into a stupor?”

“Why, is it working?”

“It’s boring me, definitely. Not quite into a stupor, though.”

“Yet,” I replied playfully.

She gave me the tiniest hint of a smile, then went back to staring at the cards on the table.

“Whatever possessed you to work for Fausto?” I asked. “Did you need the money for something? Maybe… a lawsuit against that chess federation that kicked you out?”

The tiniest flash of anger in her eyes.

Ah.

So I was right.

“I read the articles,” I said, then added sympathetically, “They screwed you over royally.”

She glared at me. “You don’t say.”

“I do say. Especially that number two guy, the Danish player. But you can’t take your revenge on them if you’re dead.”

She looked me square in the eyes and asked, “What would you suggest, then?”

“Walk away.”

“Not happening.”

“Alright, then – how about this: we’ll match Fausto’s offer if you come work for us.”

“You don’t have the money to match his offer,” she said coolly. “At least, not after yesterday.”

“So it’s a lot he’s offering you,” I realized. “Ten million? Twenty?”

She didn’t react.

“You’re right, I can’t match that,” I said. “Not right now. But I can assure you of one thing: you’ll live to spend whatever money we pay you.”

“Not if you lose.”

“With both of us on the same side, how could we lose? You’re the most brilliant person I’ve ever met.”

“Excluding yourself, of course,” she said sarcastically.

I grinned. “Well, I’ve known myself all my life, so I don’t think that counts. But let’s just say you’re giving me a serious run for my money.”

“Judging by the last 48 hours, I’d say I’ve done more than that,” she retorted.

“True.”

I looked at the three cards in the center of the table.

Two of clubs, seven of hearts, jack of spades.

They were more or less useless –

Unless you had the cards to make two pair or triples out of them.

I figured now was a good time to find out what she was made of.

“All in,” I said, pushing all my chips on the table.

She looked at me in shock – then narrowed her eyes.

“You don’t have anything,” she sneered.

“Then call me,” I said with a smile.

She sat there for a moment in silence, trying to read my face.

Which was a fool’s errand.

“This situation right here?” I said, pointing at my chips on the table.

“This is exactly what it’s going to come down to, sooner or later.

There will eventually be a final confrontation between our side and yours.

You won’t know what’s in my hand… but I’m going to go all in.

You’ll have to decide whether you want to risk everything – and I mean everything – on whether or not I’m bluffing.

And I can promise you this, Sofia: I’m the best goddamn bluffer you’ll ever meet. ”

“Which is what you’re doing right now.”

I shrugged. “So call me.”

“There are still two more cards to come,” she pointed out. “They could easily break in my favor, and that would be the end of you.”

“In our real-life struggle, there will always be more cards, so to speak. Some future events, unforeseeable now, will break in our favor… and others won’t. But in the end, it will come down to one question, and one question only: are you willing to put everything on the line?”

She sat there, looking at me.

“It’s just a simple card game,” I said with a smile. “No life and death situations here. Either I get on the plane and leave, or I get to ask you a question.”

“I don’t like to lose,” she said flatly.

“Neither do I. Of course, there’s always the third way.”

“Which is?”

“We stop playing this silly game and go do what we both really want to do.”

She narrowed her eyes. “And what’s that?”

“Go back to one of our rooms, get naked, and I make you come as many times as humanly possible.”

Her cheeks flushed bright red.

It was then that I knew I’d won…

Because she wanted what I wanted, and she’d just let me know it.

“That’s very forward of you,” she said.

“Audace, audace, toujours l’audace.”

“I’ll refrain from correcting you this time,” she said with the tiniest of smiles.

“Thank you.”

“We haven’t even kissed,” she pointed out.

“We can remedy that fairly quickly.”

“Once you get me up to your room, you might kill me.”

“I won’t,” I replied…

Though I still hadn’t completely ruled it out.

I didn’t want to.

In fact, everything inside me screamed out not to do it –

But I knew what Dario would ask when I returned home:

Did she turn?

Then why didn’t you kill her? You said you would kill her if you couldn’t turn her.

It wasn’t a question I wanted to answer.

Sofia cocked her head to one side. “Fausto said you Cosa Nostra types had a thing you do where you swear on something holy to you.”

I settled back in my chair. I sensed a trap coming.

“We do,” I admitted.

“Do you actually keep those promises?”

“I do. As do all my brothers.”

“Fausto doesn’t.”

“Imagine that,” I said sarcastically. “However, I’m not Fausto.”

“Alright, then – swear on something holy to you. Swear that you won’t kill me.”

“I can’t,” I said regretfully.

She stared at me in disbelief. “What?”

“What if you choose to continue working for Fausto? What if, a week from now, it comes down to your life or the lives of my brothers, and I’m the one with my finger on the trigger?” I shook my head. “I can’t make that promise.”

She sat there regarding me for a long moment. She finally said, “Then swear to me on something holy that you won’t kill me until we’re back in Italy.”

“That I can do,” I said with a smile. “As long as you swear the same oath.”

“I’m not in the Cosa Nostra.”

I chuckled. “You work for Fausto. Like it or not, you’re in the Cosa Nostra now.”

She gazed at me for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. You go first.”

“I swear on the lives of all my brothers that I won’t harm you in any way while we’re here on this side of the world. Macau, Hong Kong, and everywhere in between.”

“I promise I won’t harm you while we’re here on this side of the world, either.”

“And you won’t let harm come to me through inaction,” I added.

“Like Fausto plotting something, and my not letting you know?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Alright – I swear that, too,” she agreed.

“And what do you swear on?”

She thought for a second.

“On all my hopes and dreams for the future,” she said… and then her voice turned cold. “And on the revenge I want on the men who betrayed me.”

Damn.

“And you say you’re not in the Cosa Nostra,” I joked. “Alright, good enough for me. Shall we?”

“I’m going to need that kiss first,” she said coolly.

I grinned. “Like I said… easily remedied.”