Page 342 of Niccolo

Then I remembered who I was dealing with.

Unfortunately, I knew most of the dons in the room actually believed him.

When Fausto made his false oath, Adriano could barely restrain his fury. My brother was visibly trembling in his chair.

However, Dario held up a hand to quiet him, which kept him in check – although he still glowered and gnashed his teeth.

Sofia dispatched all the other issues just as neatly.

The Turk?

That was just a business deal that went south. Hell, even the Genoans had been working with him!

Mezzasalma?

An ambitious Sicilian looking to spread out into new territory. Nothing more.Mezzasalmawas the one who had killed the Agrellas in Florence. Fausto had nothing to do with it.

All the money that was drained from our bank accounts?

“I have no idea who took it, but it wasn’tme,”Fausto said with an air of indignant innocence.

Ididn’t think he was convincing, but there was another danger:

If the other dons thought evensomeof the accusations were true, then Fausto looked INCREDIBLY clever.

To do all that and leave no proof of his involvement?!

Astounding!

Not every don in theCosa Nostrawas smart.

I knew some of them were thinking,How do I get him on MY side?!

They didn’t realize that a viper who was willing to strike at his own family was more than willing to betraythem.

Even if theydidthink Fausto was guilty, the stupidest dons thought so highly of themselves that they believed they could control him.

The truth was,no onecould control such a devious bastard.

Fausto would eat them alive before they even realized they were in danger.

Not only was she dismantling all my talking points, but Sofia was doing an excellent job of besmirching me and my brothers.

She painted us as greedy, conniving, disrespectful assholes who sought to slander and destroy the man who had helped raise them.

Again and again, she suggested (but never quite said outright) thatwewere the ones attacking our own family members –

Quite a reversal fromFaustobeing the one who had murdered Papa and tried to kill us!

Then Sofia came to the part that could do her the most damage.

And again, she handled it masterfully.

“It is not in dispute that Donna Fioretti, themafiosaof Venice, was attacked in her home by Russian mercenaries,” Sofia said to Fausto.

“It isalsonot in dispute that her granddaughter was kidnapped by a bounty hunter named Friedrich Zollner, who was hired by your son, Aurelio.

“Finally, it is not in dispute that Lucia Fioretti was held hostage by Zollner and Aurelio on the Isle of San Michele.”

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