Page 351 of Niccolo

“Are you alright?” I asked.

Fausto turned his head slowly to glare at me. “No. I’mnot.”

“You need to talk to me and tell me what you’re thinking. I can’t advise you unless you do.”

Fausto bared his teeth like a wolf. “Thanks to that son of a whore, my credibility in the eyes of the entireCosa Nostrahas been compromised.”

I frowned. I hadn’t thought it wasthatdamaging. “I don’t understand. So you lost control for a second – ”

“It wasn’tthat,”he snarled. “Everyone in that room knew that Dario took the fall for the family. It was ahugeembarrassment for me at the time, but it was forgotten… until now. Niccolo basically just shamed me in front of the entireCosa Nostraand called my integrity into question.”

And he was 100% correct,I wanted to say, but I bit my tongue.

“Not only that,” Fausto continued, “but he planted the idea that I was either a coward or a conniving weasel with Dario… then suggested it was the same with Aurelio. Now they’re all thinking I’m too much of a pussy to admitIwas the architect of the plan – or that I’m using my son as a cover-up in the most heartless way possible.”

“Aureliodidgo rogue,” I pointed out.

“THEYdon’t know that!” Fausto roared. “Or at least, they don’tbelieveit anymore! And if they don’t believe it, they’ll begin to think I reallydidorder the assassination on Dario and that I reallydidsteal their money!”

Again, 100% correct.

“It’s a minor setback,” I said, trying to be reassuring. “We can salvage this.”

“How?” he asked angrily. “Are you going to devise a time machine to take back the last 30 minutes?”

“Actually, that’s not what I meant. We can use this for the overall plan – to getthembefore they getus.”

Fausto looked over in confusion. “How?”

“Contact Don Severino and say you want to negotiate a settlement with your nephews.”

“What?!”

“Just trust me – but we have to meet them in a neutral area. Can you persuade Don Severino to get Dario and Niccolo to meet you?”

“Why?!”

“Because I need to get word to Niccolo that I’ll go along with his plan and betray you.”

A smile crept across Fausto’s face. “Ah. Are you planning to kill them at the meeting?”

“No.” I smiled in return. “Tomorrow.”

146

Niccolo

As bad as I thought my brothers might react –

It was worse than I expected.

However, at least nothing happened until we reached the house.

Dario, the Widow, Lucia, Massimo, and I rode in a separate limo on the way back.

Massimo was the most low-key of my brothers, so he did little more than give me some side-eye.

Dario just sat in stony silence.

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