Page 115 of King Of Order

One of his crew, a blonde-haired youth, stumbled over.

I sighed, recognizing him as his eyes narrowed, his drunken haze lifting enough for suspicion to creep in. ‘Wait, your face is very familiar. You’re Valerio Cali-.’

‘Stanos, I interrupted, even as my limbs locked. ‘Come sei stato?’

The kid was a Calibrese famiglia acquaintance, and from the gleam in his eye, the little shit, who’d always been one, was about to out me.

‘Hey, join us, man—’ Aldo called out, slurring his words.

I lifted a hand, waving them off. ‘Too rowdy for me.’

‘No, Valerio, you need to come with us!’ Stanos insisted.

‘You know this guy?’ Aldo asked his mate.’

‘Si,Valerio. An old family friend.’

Aldo’s brow rose, eyes cunning. ‘Isn’t your name Visario, though?’

His companion shook his head. ‘No way. This mofo is Valerio. One hundred percent. Right,amica?’

I gritted my teeth at Stanos’ insistence.

Chiara’s brother caught my hesitation. ‘Seems you’ve much to share about Valerio, Stanos,’ he murmured, the expression on his face conniving.

I was done with this conversation. ‘Got places to be,bambini.Ciao.’

Eager to be out of proximity from the pair of them, Stano’s awkward man hug and alcohol-laden breath in particular, I strode off, also escaping their drunken inebriation.

Their raucous calls echoed after me, and I ignored them, powering hard toward the marina, knowing I’d be up for a challenging dialogue with my lover very soon.

As I picked up my pace, I reached for my phone to give Mauri a heads-up.

Bracing for what was to come.

Cazzo!

CHIARA

I was kneading dough, letting the rhythm of the work ease my nerves.

The smell of rising bread had always calmed me, the steady pulse of massaging giving me something to focus on when my mind was spinning.

The kitchen was warm, the evening light slanting through the window as I brushed a little flour off my fingers.

My eyes sliced to Mauri, who sat outside by my pool on his iPad, going through some documents while speaking to someone in low tones on the phone.

That’s when my device rang.

I glanced at the screen, expecting it to be Rio, my pulse quickening with anticipation.

But it wasn’t him. It was Aldo.

Frowning, I wiped my palms on a towel and picked up. ‘Aldo? What’s up?’

There was a strange pause on the other end of the line.

‘Chiara,come stai?’

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