Page 196 of Niccolo
Allof them happened a matter of hours after the wire transfers that had drained our accounts.
I stared at the screen and wondered,Sofia… what the fuck have you done?
However, it didn’t make sense.
Sofia had a certain ruthlessness to her –
But if she reallywasa monster, I was sure her mask would have slipped at some point.
I had a good radar for psychopaths and monsters, and she hadn’t triggered it.
You missed your uncle,a little voice reminded me.
But that was just it: these deaths were far more likely to be Fausto’s doing.
He actuallywasa monster; my father’s murder proved it.
And what was it she’d said at the casino about the bank transfers?
Actually, that one was more Fausto than me. He’s the one who arranged everything. I just suggested it.
So it was Fausto’s doing, not hers.
I had to wonder if my attraction for her was clouding my judgment…
But I didn’t think it was.
At least, I hoped it wasn’t.
Prayedit wasn’t.
Shortly after I finished my research, Roberto called.
After I informed him what was going on back home, he asked for a favor.
“I need you to overnight a case of our 2008 Brunello di Montalcino to the address I’m about to text you,”he said.
Our vineyard’s 2008 Brunello di Montalcino had won awards in European wine-tasting competitions.
It was also over a thousand euros a bottle…
And he wanted me to send somebody a dozen of them.
“What the fuck are you doing over there?!” I asked, incensed.
“Just have the winery overnight it, alright?”
Annoying little prick.
I went about the rest of my morning – although since Lars still had everyone on lockdown, I worked in one of the mansion’s studies.
Then, shortly before noon, I got a call.
It was a Rome area code. It wasn’t a number I recognized, and there was no caller ID. Thinking it might be theCosa Nostrafamily that ran Rome,I answered it. “Hello?”
“Ciao, bello,”Sofia replied.
Hi, handsome.
