Page 105 of Niccolo

Whoever had gone after her knew they didn’t have toproveanything –

They just had to turn her into a joke, like Niemann.

Which they did.

I actually grew angry on her behalf –

Until I remembered that,Oh, right, she tried to kill us.

Still, the injustice of it all was galling.

Most of all, the articles revealed some illuminating bits of information –

Like the fact she was a civilian.

Her father was a grandmaster and a university professor. Sofia had been a chess prodigy as a child and had been playing professionally since the age of 16.

Which meant that Fausto had recruited her from outside theCosa Nostra…

And that she hadn’t been raised in the mafia like my brothers and me.

That fact was suggestive of several things.

Number one: she might not truly understand just how much danger she had placed herself in.

I’m sure she knew Fausto wasCosa Nostra,and that were we, too…

But to her, it might all seem like a game.

It always did, until somebody got shot in the head.

Number two: Fausto had obviously hired her for her strategic brilliance, but also to throw me off.

HeknewI was familiar with his way of thinking, so he’d recruited an outsider to confuse me and cover his tracks.

Well played, old man.

I may have hated Fausto’s guts, but game respects game.

Number three: if Sofia had been disgraced and forced out of her profession, then financial desperation was another reason for her to take a job with my uncle.

My guess was that Fausto had dangled an obscene amount of money in front of her, and she had jumped at the chance without really understanding the risks she was taking.

Or…

If she trulydidunderstand what she’d gotten herself into and didn’t mind…

If desperation wasn’t the driving factor behind her choice, but ratheramusement…

Then she could be a terribly dangerous opponent indeed.

Which did nothing to lessen my attraction to her.

In fact, it only made me desire her more.

Beautiful, smart, and a rival player in the Great Game?

Yes, please, and more!

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