Page 192 of Niccolo

As it turned out, ignoring my objections was one of the worst mistakes Fausto ever made.

78

After that final irritating exchange with Fausto, I went outside to grab some fresh air.

When I walked out the back door, I found one of the foot soldiers on the porch, puffing on a cigarette.

Actually, he was way more than just a foot soldier; he was Fausto’s top lieutenant, the one who managedthe foot soldiers.

His name was Dante. He was in his mid-40s with salt-and-pepper hair and wore a perpetually grim expression.

“Hello,” I said.

“Hello,” he replied, then looked away as he took a drag on his cigarette.

We’d probably only exchanged two dozen words since I’d come to work for Fausto. Still, I was always polite to Dante – and to any other foot soldier I was around.

Fausto was arrogant and aloof with them, and his attitude annoyed me. Frankly, it was stupid.

These people are putting their lives on the line for you,I wanted to tell him.

You might want to be nice to them in case they decide to STOP putting their lives at risk.

I walked down the brick steps and towards the field, intent on being alone.

Suddenly, Dante spoke up. “Can I ask you something?”

I turned around to look at him. “Yes?”

He hesitated.

“What?” I prodded.

“Is it true we’re going after Dario and the others?”

Ah.

Fausto had been worried that his men might not be unquestioningly loyal. The foot soldiers had chosen to follow Fausto once he had become a don – but that didn’t mean they hated Fausto’s nephews. Quite the contrary. Most of them still had a great deal of fondness for Dario, Niccolo, and the others.

As a result, Fausto had revealed as little as possible about what was going on… but I could tell it was eating away at morale for the men to be left in the dark.

“That’s something you should probably ask your boss,” I said.

Dante gave me aCut the shitlook. “I’m askingyou.”

I glanced at the house.

I didn’t see Fausto anywhere near the windows.

“He didn’t tell you anything about what’s going on?” I asked.

“Fausto doesn’t tell meshit,”Dante said bitterly. “Which is why I’m askingyou.”

It was probably unwise to undermine my boss…

But my boss was an asshole.

And if Dante owed me a favor for being honest with him…

---