Page 347 of Niccolo

“So… Aurelioisn’ttaking the fall for you this time, like Dario did before?”

“No!”

“I mean, Aurelio’s the perfect patsy. He’sdead,after all,” I said flippantly. “You can’t exactly testify when your head’s bashed in from a hundred-foot fall.”

“Niccolo!” Don Severino shouted angrily –

But it had the desired effect.

Fausto bolted up from his chair and pointed a finger at me. “Because your brother MURDERED HIM!”

“My brother Massimo murdered your son?” I asked.

“YES!”

“To paraphrase yourconsigliere’sspeech from earlier:don’t you mean Massimo appropriately judged theguiltyparty?

“The guilty party – yourson Aurelio– who hired Russian mercenaries to attack Donna Fioretti and try to abduct her granddaughter, Lucia Fioretti –

“The guilty party who paid the bounty hunter Friedrich Zollner to kidnap Lucia and take her to the Isle of San Michele, where Aurelio held her captive at the top of a bell tower –

“Until my brothers Massimo and Adriano and my family’s Enforcer Lars, plus 14 of our brave foot soldiers who gave their lives trying to rescue Lucia, attacked the island and stormed the bell tower –

“At which point my brother Massimo nearlydiedsecuring Lucia’s release –

“Bythrowing your son off the bell tower to his death?”I gloated.

I knew I was running an incredible risk.

My vicious behavior could turn the dons against me and make them sympathetic to Fausto.

But I took the risk because my performance was calibrated for one specific purpose –

And I achieved it.

Fausto lost control.

“YOU LITTLE FUCKING SHIT – HOW DARE YOU!” he screamed, nearly frothing at the mouth.

“NICCOLO!” Don Severino roared as he jumped up from his own seat.

“Or was your son just stupid?” I asked with a laugh. “So stupid he would hire a bunch of mercenaries and attack the most powerful woman in theCosa Nostra?So stupid he would hire someone tokidnapher granddaughter, prompting my brother to step in and try to save her? Sostupidthat he wouldn’t even – ”

“MY SON WAS NOT STUPID!” Fausto roared.

“Quite the contrary, because it was actually agoodplan, wasn’t it?” I shot back. “Audacious, yes – but brilliant!

“If he killed the Widow, Aurelio would control Venice!

“Failing that, if he took Lucia Fioretti as a hostage, he’d control the Widow!

“And through intelligence supplied by the man he hired, Friedrich Zollner, Aurelio knew that Massimo and Lucia were in love –

“So if Aurelio had Lucia, he coulddraw my brothers out in order to kill them!

“It was actually a BRILLIANT PLAN worthy of a geniusconsigliere– someone who had been aconsiglierefor DECADES – wasn’t it?!”

Fausto stopped, confused.

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