Page 340 of Niccolo

I walked over to Sofia and muttered in her ear, “You just had to go there, didn’t you?”

“Oh, I’m not finished yet,” she whispered back. Then she shouted to the rest of the room, “Isn’t itoddthat I’m the only one who’s slept with a Rosolini – andisn’ttestifying on their behalf.”

Other than Dario, every single male mafia don in the room laughed.

It was a fucking masterstroke.

Male mafiosos – especially those of the older generation – are notoriously misogynistic.

When Sofia admitted to having sex with me, she’d lost what little respect the mafia dons had for her.

She spread her legs for the enemy!

Whore!

But now that she’d made them laugh –

And at my family’s expense, no less –

She’d gotten them back on her side.

Ha – what a woman!

She’s got balls, I’ll give her that!

I’d underestimated her ability to think on her feet…

And I’d paid dearly for it.

I decided to play into the laughter rather than against it.

“If I can’t call my sexual partner to testify,” I said, to more chuckles from the room, “then I’d like to call my uncle, Fausto Rosolini.”

Sofia shook her head. “He is not under any compulsion to testify.”

Don Severino agreed. “That is true. He cannot be compelled to testify on charges made against him.”

Shit.

I’d known it was a longshot…

But it still stung.

I thought about who else I could call –

Massimo, or maybe Lucia –

But Sofia had already decimated my best witnesses.

The others would be no more than window dressing, and not particularlyeffectivewindow dressing.

“Then I rest my case,” I said unhappily.

Don Severino looked at Sofia. “Signorina Toscani, do you have any witnesses to call?”

“I do, Don Severino. I call Fausto Rosolini.”

“What!” I yelled as I threw my hands up in the air. “This is preposterous!”

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