Unless forced to, he never faced down an equal.
He loved to prey on the weak.
And most of all, he despised a fair fight.
In any and all cases, if he could gain an unfair advantage, he would take it.
I left the decision up to him…
But it really wasn’t a decision at all. More of his default mode.
Cesare’s smile reappeared. “Call him.”
I pressed dial on the number Vollaro had given me, which I’d preprogrammed into my phone.
It rang several times…
And a gruff voice answered,“Da.”
“Is this Mikhail Agapov?” I asked in English.
“Da. Is this Lucrezia Caproni?”he replied in heavily accented English.
“It is. Thank you for taking my call.”
“I hear you have proposition.”
“Yes. I understand there was an incident this summer, in Venice, where members of the Italian mafia killed a number of your men.”
There was a long pause.
When Agapov answered, he sounded pissed.“Da.”
“How would you like the opportunity for revenge… and to be well-paid for it?”
Another long pause.
When Agopov spoke again, he sounded far more agreeable.
“…I am listening.”
PART X
October 27 – Morning
Florence, Italy
73
Giorgio
If you didn’t count the disastrous trip to see my family, then life was great.
Things with Emilia couldn’t have been better. For the first time in my life, I was in love –reallyin love.
When I went to sleep next to her, I drifted off incredibly happy…
And I woke up every morning with a smile on my face.
