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Lorenzo settled in the massive leather chair behind his desk. This would likely take up a bit of time, for Potenziana Marchetti to start with that.
"And that I'll be asking you to choose between one thing or the other after this call."
She was correct on both fronts, but since answering rhetorical questions was another unnecessary waste, Lorenzo didn't even bother saying a word this time.
"Have you nothing to say at all?"
"None."
The older woman harrumphed. "I was hoping you'd have changed by now. But you clearly haven't."
Not a question, Lorenzo observed, and so he held his silence.
"Well then, here is the gist of it. My granddaughter came to me yesterday. She's apparently been talking to Viktor Bianciardi. You know him?"
"Sì."
"And that's it?"
Lorenzo simply waited.
"Va bene, allora lasciami chiedere chiaramente." Fine, let me ask clearly then. "What exactly do you know of him?"
"What exactly are you asking?"
"Gazelle asked me to consider replacing you with Viktor," Potenziana said curtly.
"That is not a question."
"Oh, you..."
Lorenzo went back to waiting.
"Come mi metti alla prova così, giovane!" How you test me so, young man!
Lorenzo wasn't buying it. Her tone was of exasperation, not annoyance.
"I do not know if I wish to kill you or emulate you!"
Likely the latter, but since she was not asking, he did not bother answering.
"Do you do this to provoke me?" Potenziana demanded.
"No." To do so was to waste his time, and that the matriarch believed he could ever be guilty of such a thing showed how little she understood him.
"I thought you'd say that," the older woman grumbled, "and it is one of the few times that I am annoyed to be right."
A longer silence followed, enough to make him curious.
"You are very good at waiting, signore."
Her voice was taut this time, and this, too, made him curious.
"Did you learn it...back then?"
"Sì."
"I see."
