Page 139 of Niccolo

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 youCosa Nostratypes 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?”

“Ido. 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.”

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

“I’m not in theCosa Nostra.”

I chuckled. “You work for Fausto. Like it or not, you’re in theCosa Nostranow.”

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.

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