Page 99 of Niccolo

“Perhaps we should call a meeting of the Council,”Dario suggested.

I gave Fausto a quizzical look.

“A meeting of all the families of theCosa Nostra,”he said dourly.

From the look on Fausto’s face, Dario’s suggestion was notgood news.

The Rosolinis talked for another minute or two when an angry voice – I was guessing Adriano –snarled,“We should move against Fausto TONIGHT.”

I glanced over at Fausto, who looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack.

“We need to bring in Wagner, NOW!” Aurelio shouted at his father –

But Fausto held up a hand to quiet him.

“And how is THAT going to look to the Council?”Niccolo asked, then said in a theatrical voice,“‘We knew we had no proof, but we decided to kill our uncle and cousin anyways because we SUSPECTED them.’”

Fausto breathed a sigh of relief.

I thought,Too bad, Niccolo. You might have won the game tonight if you’d just pressed your advantage.

I didn’t want to give Aurelio the satisfaction of my opinion, though, so I kept it to myself.

The brothers squabbled amongst themselves some more, but Niccolo won out in the end.

“The Council would say we’re savages,”he argued.“We would become pariahs. Every single family in the Cosa Nostra would band against us to wipe us out.

“That’s why Fausto is doing all this from the shadows. Don’t you see? He can’t have everyone realize he’s the kind of monster who would kill his own family just for money and power. It would disgust and infuriate the Council – it would be an infamia. At best, Fausto would be ostracized and cut off completely. At worst, it would bring down the Cosa Nostra’s collective wrath on his head.”

Fausto looked at me. “You see why I hired you? He knows exactlyhow I think.”

“No,”Niccolo continued,“he had to do it all through puppets like the Turk and Mezzasalma so he could cover his tracks. Andhe’s been very, very clever at doing so.”He paused… then said in a thoughtful voice,“Like a chess grandmaster, planning it all out beforehand… an unseen hand manipulating the pieces on the board…”

A chill went down my spine.

It was almost as if he were looking directly atmeas he said it.

I knew that was crazy, but it felt that way.

Then the conversation turned to what they would do. The answer surprised me.

“No, we need to secure allies. We have to go to the Five Families and present our case. If we win them to our side, then nothing Fausto can do will matter. And if he tries anything again, the Five Families will help us instead of shutting us out.”

It was decided that Venice would be the first point of contact.

Massimo was chosen to represent the family. He would leave the next morning.

When the discussion was over, everyone returned to the wedding.

The phone fell silent…

And Aurelio began his bitching.

“We haveto use Wagner NOW!” he insisted. “Didn’t you hear what theysaid?!”

“Yes,” Fausto snarled, “I heard your cousin lay out the case perfectly why weshouldn’tuse Wagner now.Even if we succeed, we’ll be ostracized by the rest of theCosa Nostra. They might even decide to destroy us.”

“But Massimo’s about to go to Venice tomorrow and tell them EVERYTHING!” Aurelio raged.

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