Page 246 of Niccolo

“Sig Sauer P365. Ten rounds, micro-compact, designed for easy concealment. It’ll probably fit your hand better than anything else we’ve got. Try it.”

I held the gun. It fit snugly into my palm.

Although the sensation of metal against my skin felt foreign, I’d seen so many American movies with guns that it somehow also felt… right.

I turned towards Dante with the gun in my hand. “It’s – ”

“First lesson,” he said, pushing the barrel of the gun away from him.“Neverpoint a gun at anybody you don’t intend to kill.”

“But it’s empty,” I protested.

“Second lesson: don’t be careless.”

“…point taken,” I conceded.

“How does it feel?” he asked.

“Good.”

“Alright – I’ll take you out in the woods and we’ll fire a few rounds.”

“Thank you,” I said gratefully.

“Any reason in particular you need to know how to shoot?”

“To protect myself.”

“Anybody in particular you need to protect yourselffrom?”he asked, with just the barest hint of a smirk.

“A man,” I replied coolly.

“Those are generally the ones you have to watch out for,” Dante said as he grabbed the pistol’s magazine, the spare bullet, a box of ammo – and a black cylinder almost as long as the gun itself.

“Is that a silencer?” I asked.

“It’s a suppressor. They only call them silencers in the movies.”

“Is that a suppressor?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Why do we need that?”

“Considering unregistered guns areveryillegal, it’s probably a good idea not to advertise that we’re firing one off in the woods.” He gave me a smile. “Especially if you don’t want a ‘man’ to know that you’re learning to use it.”

I returned a grateful smile, and we began walking towards the woods.

100

Niccolo

Nothing new happened for more than a week.

No news from Massimo or Lars…

No progress on Roberto getting the money back…

And no word from Sofia, even though I texted her every day.

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