Page 383 of Niccolo

But it wasn’t enough to blot out the roar of gunfire that erupted.

Fausto’s body jerked as two dozen bullets ripped through his chest.

His face contorted in agony –

And then he collapsed backwards onto the floor.

Only then did the men stop firing.

Though my ears rang as I took away my hands, I could hear the tinkleof brass shell casings as they fell to the floor…

And the slow, wet gurgle of Fausto struggling to breathe.

Adriano walked away from the rest of us, stood over Fausto’s body, and aimed his gun directly at his uncle’s head.

BLAM!

“That’s for Papa,” Adriano snarled, “you son of a bitch.”

168

Niccolo

Unlike with Lazaro’s death, I felt no hollow numbness…

Just a savage joy that the man who had killed our father and tormented us was finally dead.

Perhaps there was a hint of sadness.

When I remembered the man who had trained me since I was a boy…

The man I had once loved like a second father.

But I reminded myselfthatman had died a long time ago.

If not years ago, then certainly when he ordered the death of our father.

I pushed any lingering pain out of my mind, though.

We still had work to do.

I kissed Sofia hard, then broke it off to look into her eyes.

“Thank you,” I said earnestly.

“Yes, thank you,” Dario agreed. “You’ve delivered our family from a tremendous amount of suffering and pain.”

She cast her eyes down at first, then looked up, abashed. “You… you can overlook how much I was involved in everything Fausto did?”

“Niccolo told me that you had nothing to do with our father’s death,” Dario said. “Is that true?”

“Yes,” she said vehemently. “Nothing.”

“Then the rest I can forgive… especially seeing how much you gave us here today. Again – thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Sofia murmured…

And her face turned slightly pink.

---