"Dibdin, Michael - Aurelio Zen 02 - Vendetta UC - part 05" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dibdin Michael)

'I certainly have! I object to be tricked into appearing
to sanction illegal activities when I haven't even been
told what they are, much less asked whether I mind
being dragged in! Jesus Christ almighty, Gilberto, I don't
fucking well need this! Not any time, and especially not
now.'
Gilberto Nieddu gestured for calm, moving his hands
smoothly through the air as though stroking silk.
'This lunch has been arranged for weeks, Aurelio. I
didn't ask you to come along. On the contrary, you phoned
me at the last moment. I would normally have said I was
busy, but because you sounded so desperate I went out of
rny way to see you. But I had'to explain your presence to
Ochetto, otherwise he would have been suspicious. This
way, he'll just think I was trying to impress him with my
contacts at the Ministry. It worked beautifully. You were
very convincing. And don't worry about repercussions.
He's already forgotten you exist.'
Zen smiled wanly as he dug a Nazionale out of his
rapidly collapsing pack. 'You were very convincing.' Tania
had said the same thing the night before, and it had
apparently been Zen's 'convincing' performance in the
Miletti case which had recommended him to Palazzo Sisti.
Everyone who used him for their own purposes seemed
very satisfied with the results.
'So you're in the shit again, eh?' continued Nieddu,
lighting a cigar and settling back in his chair. 'What's it all
about this time?'
Zen pushed his glass about on the tablecloth stained
with traces of the various courses they had consumed. He
no longer had any desire to share his troubles with the
Sardinian.
'Oh, nothing. I'm probably just imagining it.'
Nieddu eyed his friend through a screen of richly fragrant
smoke.
'It's time you got out of the police, Aurelio. What's the
point of slogging away like this at your age, putting your
life on the line? Leave that to the young ambitious pricks
who still think they're immortal. Let's face it, it's a mug's
game. There's nothing in it unless you're bent, and even
then it's just small change really.'
He clicked his fingers to summon the bill.
'You know, I never had any idea what was going on in
the world until I went into business. I simply never
realized what life was about. I mean, they don't teach you
this stuff at school. What you have to grasp is, it's all there
for the taking. Somebody's going to get it. If it isn't you, it'll
be someone else.'
He sipped his whisky and drew at his cigar.
'All these cases you get so excited about, the Burolos