Page 295 of Niccolo

I turned on the charm and extended my arm to her. She took it with an amused smile. “Now that I know who you are,bella,you’re my favorite person in the world…and I have 50 million reasons for saying so. Where’s your ring, by the way?”

“We haven’t quite gotten around to that yet,” Roberto said.

I had to bust his balls –

I justhadto. No other choice.

“HE DIDN’T GIVE YOU ARING?!”I yelled.

“We were a little bit busy not gettingkilled,”Roberto said drily.

“Well, that’s thefirstthing we’re going to have to remedy,” I said, acting offended on Mei-ling’s behalf.

She laughed, enjoying my little performance.

“Is Massimo alright?” Roberto asked as we walked towards the cars.

“Wonderful,” I said. “Banged up, yes, but the doctors assure us he’ll fully recover.”

“Thank God,” Roberto muttered.

“Interestingly enough, he has a fiancée of his own.”

Roberto looked stunned. “What?!”

“Lars, too. Brought her back with him from London.”

“…WHAT?!”

If Roberto’s smiles earlier were the equivalent of handsprings, his shock right now was like Edvard Munch’s paintingThe Scream.

Or 10-year-old Macaulay Culkin yelling with his hands around his mouth inHome Alone.One of the two.

“It seems it’s the fashion to show up unexpectedly with a fiancée,” I said as I gave Mei-ling a conspiratorial wink.

She laughed again.

I like a woman with good taste.

And by ‘good taste,’ I mean one who finds me amusing.

As we got in the back of one of the Rolls, Roberto said, “Tell me about these two mystery women.”

“Just wait until they hear aboutyours,”I said before I told him all about Rachel and Lucia.

While we rode on a speedboat back to Venice, Roberto informed me he had returned Lau’s $200 million in Bitcoin the second his plane had touched down safely.

“Are youtryingto make me miserable?” I asked.

Mei-ling laughed. “I asked him if we could keep it. He said he preferred being alive.”

Roberto nodded. “I don’t want to fight a multi-front war against Fausto, the Yakuza, a bunch of Triad gangs,andLau.”

“Well,” I grumbled, “at least Dario and I took screenshots. Something to fondly remember it all by.”

“And a future goal to aspire to,” Roberto pointed out.

Mei-ling kissed his cheek. “If I had a glass of wine, I’d drink to that.”

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