Page 177 of Niccolo
“Jesus, SOMEBODY went through the meat grinder,” I said in Italian.
I was actually quite happy. Roberto almost never cut loose; I was hoping he’d had a blow-out time last night…
As long as he didn’t give away any family secrets.
“It’s almost 11 AM – aren’t you out of bed yet?” I asked. “Or did you even GO to bed?”
He groaned.“Can you not speak so loudly?”
“I’m speaking in a normal voice, you little reprobate. How much did you drink last night?”
He paused, then answered,“Too much.”
“I’ll bet.”
I told him about flying back to Italy on a commercial flight, which alarmed him.
“Is that wise?”
“Flying OUT of Italy was the problem. I don’t think flying IN will be an issue.”
“It’ll certainly be cheaper…”
“Amen. Speaking of money we don’t have, what says Mr. Lau?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him today.”
“Of course not. You’re still in bed, recovering from an epic bender.”
“I’ll get the money,”he said crossly.
Here was the part I had to be circumspect.
“About that… be careful.”
“Of course I’ll be careful.”
“No – be CAREFUL,” I said, freighting my words with unspoken meaning. “Like you would if we were back home.”
He paused, and I could hear the frown in his voice.“Why do you say that?”
How to put it, exactly?
He didn’t know about Sofia – only Dario did –
And I couldn’t exactly sayI slept with Fausto’s consigliere last night.
“Look, I can’t tell you HOW I know, so don’t ask… but I have reason to believe that these Syndicate people aren’t going to cooperate with you.”
“Well, they certainly don’t want to – but I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”
Roberto wasn’t getting it.
Time to be a bit more forward.
“Don’t react to the next thing I’m about to tell you,” I warned him.
“Why?”
