Page 22 of Niccolo

“Dario,” I said softly, “any man who would do what you did… who would make the sacrifices you made for us… I would follow him into the mouth of Hell. And so would every one of our brothers. No matter how many mistakes he made along the way.”

Dario was visibly affected by that. He teared up the tiniest bit.

To save him embarrassment, I shifted gears into a jovial tone. “Icouldtell you to get over yourself – to keep a stiff upper lip when the others inevitably find out you don’t shit marble – but as yourconsigliere,I’d rather present you with a solution.”

“Which is…?” he asked. He seemed grateful to be spared any more sentimental mawkishness.

“I can be the villain of the tale.”

He frowned. “…what?”

“You’re the hero – you always have been. They look up to you.

“Me? I’m the annoying one. The know-it-all. The one they tolerate at best, and hate at worst.

“Letmetake on the unpopular decisions. Letmebe the focus for their irritation. I can take it. Having never beenanyone’shero, trust me, I don’t give a shit how much I piss them off.

“You’ll retain your aura of mystery and command, and they’ll never question you. Any decisions weknowthey’ll hate can come from me. That can be my gift to you, as my don.”

He sat there and pondered my words.

“You’re serious,” he said.

“Completely serious. Of course, I reserve the right to annoy thefuckout of you if I think you’re going down the wrong path.”

One corner of his mouth lifted the tiniest bit. “I wouldn’t expect any less, Machiavelli.”

“Good – then it’s settled. You play the king and conquering hero; I play the court jester and devil’s advocate. But… seriously… I need to say something.”

He frowned. “What?”

With complete and total earnestness, I said, “I want you to know that as yourconsigliere,I willalwayshave your back. I willalwaysspeak truth to you… and I willneverdo to you what Fausto did to us. When the time comes, I willabsolutelyfall on my own sword – for the good of you and the entire family.”

“…I know,” he said, and smiled sadly. “I’ve always known.”

“How?”

“As you said, I’m excellent at peering into other people’s hearts. Especially those of the people I love.”

With tears in both our eyes, we stood and hugged.

“Welcome home, big brother,” I murmured.

He just hugged me all the tighter.

10

And so we set to work.

There was a huge amount to be done to shore up what was left of our family’s empire –

And then everything went to shit.

Some of it turned out alright in the end.

Much of it remains to be determined.

Butnoneof it was on our radar.

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