Page 123 of Niccolo

“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 hisconsiglierehalfway 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’tknowwhy Niccolo’s going!” Fausto snapped. “What Idoknow 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 Ican’t go – I’m needed here.”

“Why can’tyoujust call Lau and do it over the phone?”

“Because I don’t know him,” Fausto said impatiently. “I knowofhim 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 tome?!”

“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 myconsigliere,and this ispreciselythe sort of thing aconsiglieredoes: 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 knewexactlywhy 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.

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