Page 43 of Niccolo

I considered for a second whether I wanted to get involved in something so obviously shady…

But my curiosity got the better of me.

I took the knife like I was shaking his hand and palmed it inside the sleeve of my warm-up jacket.

Casinos are kept cold to keep the gamblers awake. Ihatedbeing cold, hence the jacket.

“Show me the money,” I said.

He produced a wad of bills as thick around as my wrist.

Damn.

A haul of 57,000 euros sounded a lot better than just 47,000.

And for an extra 10 minutes, no less.

“Do you want to count it?” he asked.

“No,” I said as I took the money, too. “Alright, my room. Ten minutes. That’s it. Let’s go.”

20

We went to my hotel room. I let him in first and followed him with the stiletto gripped tightly in my hand.

Once I closed the door, I said, “Alright, ten minutes. Go.”

He chuckled. “Do you want to set a timer?”

“I’m counting it off in my head. Go.”

“Does that come from playing chess?” he asked. “I guess you learn to keep track when you play in so many tournaments.”

I froze.

He had obviously done his homework –

And he decided to show off.

“Sofia Toscani,” he said with a genial smile. “One of the highest-ranked Italian grandmasters in chess, and the highest-ranked Italianfemalegrandmaster – until you were banned from the International Chess Federation last year. I have to ask: did you actually cheat?”

“No, I didnot,”I seethed.

“What happened, then?”

“A narcissist couldn’t handle being beaten, especially by agirl.When he framed me and accused me falsely, the old boys’ club backed him up.”

The man in the suittsked. “That’s too bad.”

“What, that I was humiliated and blackballed for something I didn’t do?” I said acidly.

“That, obviously. But I meant the part about cheating.” He gave me a devilish smile. “You should try it sometime. I highly recommend it. In fact, it’s why I want to hire you. Because hiringyouwould bemyway of cheating.”

I stared at him for a moment, intensely curious.

“Alright,” I admitted. “You just bought yourself an extra ten minutes.”

“My name is Fausto Rosolini,” the man said as we sat down – him on the bed, me on the only chair in the room. “I work as an importer/exporter.”

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