Page 216 of Niccolo

But I still felt absolutely fucking awful about Caterina.

88

Sofia

One morning, Fausto called me into the main room of the farmhouse. He’d just gotten word from the mole that Niccolo and Valentino were flying to a place called Taormina.

“What?” I asked, surprised. “Why?”

“To see Don Vicari, the boss who runs all of Sicily,” Fausto said darkly.

According to the mole, Niccolo and Val were going to negotiate a deal with Vicari, but Niccolo was afraid of being double-crossed. He’d sworn the mole to secrecy and asked if he would accompany Adriano to Sicily if they needed to be rescued.

“What kind of deal could they be negotiating?” I asked.

“Probably something where Vicari backs them at the Council,” Fausto said angrily. “Or maybe they’ll try to enlist the Sicilians against me, the same way we hired the Wagner group.”

“Is that really a problem?” I asked dubiously.

“It’s abigfucking problem.”

“Why?”

“Mercenaries might be better with guns, but none of them are going to willingly die for a paycheck. When push comes to shove, they’ll run.

“But if Vicari orders his men to knowingly go on a suicide mission, they’ll do it without a second thought. So, yes – my money’s on the Sicilians.”

“…oh.”

Thatdidsound bad.

“But I don’t understand whyVicari would do it,” Fausto muttered to himself as he paced back and forth. “Other than the Widow of Venice, he’s richer than anyone in theCosa Nostra– and my nephews don’t have the money to pay him off.

“Maybe he wants to expand to the mainland, the same way Mezzasalma did? Maybe he thinks he can succeed where Mezzasalma failed – by striking a bargain with my nephews instead of trying to kill them?”

Fausto stopped pacing and turned to me.

“I need you to go to Taormina to intercept Niccolo.”

“Why?!”

“You’ve been working on seducing him, haven’t you? See if you can get him to reveal what the hell he’s cooking up with Vicari.” Fausto grinned. “Tell him you’rethis closeto accepting his offer, but you need absolute assurance you’ll end up on the winning side.”

“But if I show up in Taormina unexpectedly, he’ll know for sure he has a mole.”

“He already knows that. Don’t worry about it.”

Something felt off, though.

“This guy you have on the inside – is he some kind of badass or something?” I asked.

Fausto frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Is he the mostcapable of all your nephews’ foot soldiers? Is he the kind of manyou’dsend in singlehandedly against a bunch of Sicilians to rescue somebody important?”

“No, but they don’t have Massimo or Lars, and Adriano will need backup,” Fausto said dismissively. “Niccolo mentioned all of that to the mole.”

“So you’re saying Niccolo justhappenedto mention a place to meet, a vague but compelling mission, and an excellent reason why your man was the only one chosen for the job.”

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