Page 195 of Niccolo

“Why not let the men use it, then?”

He scoffed. “And have them tell their chatterbox wives where they are? Better to keep them in the dark.”

Wow.

I considered telling Fausto he had a serious morale problem brewing –

But something told me to keep that particular card close to my vest.

Instead, I asked, “Can I use this system of yours to make a call?”

“As long as you only callme,you don’t have to worry about your phone being traced.”

“I want to call Niccolo.”

Fausto frowned. “Why?”

“I’m trying to get him to fall in love with me, remember? I can’t do that if I’m incommunicado.”

Fausto glowered at me for a bit longer, then pulled a cheap cell phone out of a dresser drawer and tossed it to me. “Here, use this. It’s already set up on the network.”

I stared at the phone in my hand.

Fausto could have just as easily let his men use it to make a few calls and reassure their families –

But no.

That’s the kind of asshole I was working for.

“Don’tevercall Niccolo on your own phone,” Fausto instructed. “Only use the burner, and only when you’re here on the property.”

“Understood,” I said, then walked out of the room.

79

Niccolo

The morning after I returned home from Hong Kong, I started contacting the various banks where our accounts had been pilfered.

At the first number I called, I asked for the manager Roberto had named and was met with disturbing news:

Luca Stefanelli was dead.

The bank wouldn’t give me any more information than that, so I searched online and found a news story.

It seems he had ‘jumped’ from the roof of a ten-story building just a few hours after the wire transfer had gone through.

The article said that the authorities were considering it a suicide. They were either idiots or were being paid off. I was betting on the second option.

One by one, I Googled the people on Roberto’s list –

And found a series of terrible accidents or suicides.

One got hit by a bus.

Another committed suicide by running her car in her garage.

Another overdosed on sleeping pills.

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