Page 387 of Niccolo

St. Peter’s Basilica…

The Vatican Museum, including the Gallery of Maps…

And the Sistine Chapel.

Holding the book open to a two-page spread of the Chapel’s ceiling, Massimo suspended it high above our heads.

As soon as she realized what he was doing, Sofia burst out laughing –

The most beautiful sound I’d ever heard.

“Your wish is my command,” I said as I slipped the ring on her finger.

She leaned over, smiling, to kiss me again –

When we heard a man’s voice, angry and cold, from the other side of the room.

“So glad I could make the engagement party.”

Don Severino.

170

Istood up rapidly as my brothers and Lars all formed a wall in front of their wives.

Don Severino stood at the far end of the parlor.

He looked as angry as the devil and as implacable as the Grim Reaper.

A quartet of his foot soldiers stood behind him like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

My only consolation was that they didn’t have their guns drawn.

Yet.

“Sir, I’m sorry,” Giorgio apologized to Dario as he ran up behind Severino’s foot soldiers. “They must have come in from a secret entrance – I had all the doors guarded.”

“It’s alright,” Dario said as he nodded reassuringly. “Go see to our departure.”

Giorgio looked at Severino distrustfully but turned and left the room.

“Why areyouhere, Don Severino?” I asked cheerfully.

Severino was in no mood to joke. He fixed me with a dead-eyed look and said, “Because it’smy fucking house.”

O-kaaaaaay…

He turned to Dario. “What the fuck have you done?”

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Dario replied calmly.

“Your clothes say otherwise,” Severino snarled as he pointed at our red-stained shirts. “My only question is, why aren’t the police swarming the place?”

“Because Captain Gallo of the Rome Police Department let everyone on the force know that an action movie would be filming in the Palatine Hills today,” I said. “One of those ‘found footage’ things. We even rented the body cameras from the police department. Today was the big finale, so the cops knew to stay away.”

“…really,” Severino said slowly, not quite knowing if I was bullshitting him or not.

To be accurate, he wasfullyaware we hadn’t been filming a movie.