Page 145 of Niccolo

However, therewasa silver lining.

The information he inadvertently gave away was invaluable.

One: judging by his reaction to the text, it wasn’t good news.

Which meant Mr. Lau had fulfilled his promise to stall Roberto in Hong Kong.

My mission had been successful. Fausto would be elated.

Two: Niccolo said ‘an associate’ was coming along with Roberto.

I didn’t think it would be Mr. Lau – I didn’t see the elderly man frequenting a casino – so that left the tall psychopath Mr. Han or some other unknown party.

I got the impression that Han was Lau’s hatchet man, so my money was on Han.

Which just reinforced the notion that Lau was going to fulfill his promise.

Not only would he stall Roberto, but he would also keep him on a leash.

All wonderful news.

If only it hadn’t come at the expense of my getting laid for the first time.

So when I walked back to my suite, I was horny and agitated as hell.

I thought about leaving and flying back to Modena just to convey my irritation –That’s what you get, asshole! –

But I wanted him too badly.

And I wasn’t about to walk away from the only man I’d ever met who actually got my motor running.

…even if hewasmy mortal enemy.

He’d said he’d be up within an hour…

So I decided to give him that, at least.

Then he’dbettercome through on thatCosa Nostrapromise of his to make it worth my while.

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Niccolo

Iwent down to the steakhouse and got a booth. The whole thing about dinner hadn’t just been a ruse; I was actually hungry. I hadn’t eaten for hours… and if everything went according to plan, I had a long night ahead of me.

Best to keep my strength up… along with other things.

I figured that if I was going to return to Sofia within an hour, I should eat before Roberto and Han arrived. After all, I had every intention of being inside her room in 60 minutes.

And then insidehershortly after that.

I scanned the wine list and found a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, an excellent red from Italy. Then I ordered a filet mignon rare.

When the wine came, I sipped at it and thought about Sofia.

She’d known that I was coming to Hong Kong. She hadn’t even bothered to pretend otherwise, which was smart on her part. I would’ve known immediately and doubted every word out of her mouth from that point on.

If she knew, that meant my family either had a mole in our organization or the house was bugged.

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