Page 20 of Niccolo

“It’s going to be nothing BUT problems! Plus the loss of valuable profits when we – ”

“Consigliere?”Dario said coldly. “Move on.”

Fausto might have been a bastard, but he was a clear-eyed bastard. He had constantly told me how awful humanity could be, which is why aconsiglierehad to always question, always doubt –

Always suspect others of betrayal.

Ironic, I know.

But serving as his apprentice had given me a clear-eyed view of the world and the dangers in it.

By contrast, Dario had always been a bit of an idealist. I’d just never realized howmuchof an idealist.

These decisions he wanted to make were going to come back to bite us in the ass, I just knew it…

But I was here to serve my don, not argue with him endlessly.

So I moved on from our ‘frenemies’ to those who hated our guts.

“Lars said you killed Aristide Caproni.”

“I did.”

“Does theCamorraknow that?”

“From the number of times their people tried to shiv me, I assume they suspected.”

“One of these days, theCamorra’sgoing to come for you.”

“Let’s worry about it when it happens.”

That was a recurring theme:

Let’s worry about it when it happens.

I just hoped we didn’t pile up so many future problems that they buried us when they finally arrived.

I ran through dozens of other problems we should be on the lookout for.

As an American politician once put it, the ‘known knowns’ – the things we knew…

The ‘known unknowns’ – the things we understood we didn’t know…

And the ‘unknown unknowns’ – the unforeseen things that could come out of nowhere and knock us on our asses.

Once I was finished with the briefing, Dario said, “I have a question, and I want you to answer it honestly.”

“As yourconsigliere,I will alwaysgive you my honest – ”

“Cut the bullshit, Niccolo. I need an answer without you prettying it up.”

“Alright,” I said, surprised. “Ask away.”

“The others. What do they think of me?”

My eyes widened. “You mean – Adriano and Massimo and – ?”

“Yes.”

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