Page 13 of Niccolo

“You can’t!” I exclaimed.

“Why not?”

I wanted to shout,Because you didn’t do anything!

But I knew that wasn’t a good enough answer, so I tried using logic instead. “You’re not high up enough!”

“Of course I am. In fact, it’s perfect. The oldest son of the suspected mob boss admits to being the villain of the story. The press will eat it up. It’s just plausible enough that the prosecutors will leave the rest of the family alone. And we all know that I’m the only one who has a chance of surviving San Vittore.”

I wanted to say,That’s not guaranteed!

But I didn’t want to argue for the likelihood of my brother’s death.

Papa got up from his desk and walked over to Dario with tears in his eyes.

Dario stood up, and Papa put his hands tenderly on either side of my brother’s face.

“Dario… if it could be any other way…” Papa said, his voice trembling.

Dario gave him a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll be out before you know it.”

Fausto stood, too. “Dario… thank you…”

Dario’s smile cooled noticeably. “You’re welcome, Uncle. Just get word to Rivera that he’s supposed to nameme.And make sure you get our best defense lawyers to cut the deal.”

“Of course,” Fausto said with a nod.

Finally, my brother turned to me, and his smile grew wistful. “If you can Machiavelli my way out ofthisone, I could use it.”

“You can’t do this,” I said desperately.

“I’m the only one whocando it, and you know it.”

He hugged me, and I held onto him fiercely.

“Don’t,” I whispered in his ear.

“I have to,” he said simply.

He pulled away and clapped my shoulder as though to reassure me. Then he turned to my father. “We should go tell the others.”

By ‘others,’ I knew he meant our brothers.

“Yes… we should,” Papa said, his eyes rimmed with red.

“Let’s go.” Dario put an arm around our father and walked with him towards the door.

Fausto started to follow them when I reached out and grabbed his arm.

“I’d like a word,” I snarled.

Fausto looked at me in surprise. “What is it?”

I waited until Dario and Papa had left the study, then cut loose.

“YOUwere supposed to take the fall!” I raged. “YOU’RE theconsigliere!”

“Dario graciously agreed to take my place.”

---