Page 47 of Niccolo

“He was only Number Two,” I pointed out, then added bitterly, “And it was wiped off the record.”

“Well, he was still Number Two in the world – and you beat him, no matter what the record says.Withoutcheating.”

“But I’m not sure I could beat him a second time. Especially not in a regular match instead of speed chess.”

Fausto shrugged. “If I wanted him, I would have approached him instead.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Fausto’s smile reminded me of a crocodile’s. “Because I also need someone who’s… morally flexible.”

“He had me framed, disgraced, and thrown out of the International Chess Federation. I’d say that’s ‘morally flexible.’”

Fausto shook his head. “No, that’s being petulant and a whiner. He’sweak.”

I had to admit, he scored points with me on that answer.

Fausto continued. “More importantly, I need someone who doesn’t care about the flimsy trappings of reputation, because they have nothing left to lose.”

“Someone desperate,” I said, finally understanding.

Fausto smiled again. “Someone desperate.”

The truth stung my ego…

But the old man wasn’t wrong.

So I gave serious thought to what he was proposing.

I felt no moral pangs about potentially agreeing to Fausto’s deal.

If the world had a few less murdering, thievingmafiososin it… wasn’t that a good thing?

Yes, I knew that rationale was absolutely self-serving –

But as long as no innocent people got hurt, I didn’t care.

A voice in my head whispered,But what about their wives? What about their children?

I could have argued my way out of that moral conundrum if I wanted to –

But I wasn’t sure I could live with myself if I did.

“Are they married?” I asked. “Do they have children?”

“No, and no,” Fausto replied, to my relief. “They don’t even have significant others, so far as I know.”

Good.

I thought about it some more.

I knew that if I agreed to Fausto’s deal, I would be doing it as a sort of substitute revenge.

On an emotional level, I’d obviously found it abhorrent to seek revenge on my father…

And though I would have gladly destroyed the Danish grandmaster and his chess federation cronies, the odds were against it.

But aiding in the deaths of a bunch of thieves and murderers –

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