Page 37 of Roberto

Instead, I took a freezing cold shower. I stayed under the icy water for a full 10 minutes. It was torture, but it cleared away the fuzziness in my head.

I toweled off, shaved, brushed my teeth, combed my hair, applied a dab of cologne, and dressed in the crisp white shirt and dark grey suit in my garment bag.

I hadn’t brought many clothes – I’d anticipated being in Hong Kong 48 hours at most – so I called the front desk and had the suit I’d worn yesterday picked up for dry-cleaning.

Then I called room service and ordered some food.

Twenty minutes later, breakfast was delivered on a white linen-covered table.

I wasn’t in the mood for a so-called ‘continental breakfast,’ so I went with a more American selection.

An order of toasted whole-grain bread with butter on the side…

Half a grapefruit…

Scrambled eggs…

And a carafe of espresso equivalent to four small cups.

I was used to Italian espresso. The hotel’s version was mediocre at best, but it did the job of jolting me awake.

At least the food was fairly good.

After I’d eaten and felt somewhat back to normal, I called Mr. Lau.

His secretary put me right through.

“Mr. Rosolini,”he said pleasantly.“I trust you had an entertaining evening with Mr. Han?”

“It was nice,” I lied.

Meeting Mei-ling had been extraordinary. The rest of my time with Han – dinner and gambling – had been dull. Certainly not ‘nice.’

“Excellent. Are your accommodations adequate?”

“Much more than adequate,” I said truthfully. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

“It’s my pleasure. What can I do for you?”

“I’d like to know what the other investors said about my request for a meeting.”

Lau chuckled.“I thought that might be why you were calling. I haven’t heard back from Mr. Gota or Mr. Xi yet. I’ll let you know when I do.”

Niccolo’s warning echoed in my memory:

I think Fausto might have already gotten to your so-called ‘friends’ in the Syndicate.

Lau was doing nothing to dispel my worries.

“Youdounderstand that the situation with my uncle is an emergency, yes?” I asked.

“I understand – but being in the same line of business as Mr. Gota and Mr. Xi, I hope YOU understand that they might not be able to drop everything to accommodate you as quickly as you would like.”

Translation: you’re a gangster. Surely you know thatothergangsters have gangster things to do.

“Patience, Mr. Rosolini,”Lau advised me gently.“While I wait on word from Gota and Xi, take the opportunity to enjoy all that Hong Kong has to offer. I’ll send Mr. Han to you this evening so he can take you out again.”

“That’s not necessary.”

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