Page 121 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

“Who was that?” I asked suspiciously, wondering if he was reporting back to Don Vicari.

“Just a girl,” he said, then shook his head. “You’re not making much of an effort to fit in, you know.”

“You saw that?”

“Enough to know you just made an enemy out of the wrong guy.”

“Yeah, well, he ‘fired’ me for the day, so let’s go home.”

Rocco turned and led the way down the street. “Just do me a favor: when you tell ‘em why we’re back early, make sure they know I had nothin’ to do with it.”

“Not a problem,” I said grimly.

38

Caterina

The next morning, Niccolo still hadn’t returned from Sicily. I knew better than to ask questions.

At 8:30, Alessandra knocked on my door. When I answered, she was grinning like a loon, her cell phone at her ear. “It’s him!”

I gasped because I thought she meant Valentino –

But then I realized she was talking about the person her grandmother knew. Her contact inside the Sicilian gangster’s operation.

“Hold on,” Alessandra said into the phone, “I’m putting you on speaker.”

When she did, I heard street sounds: voices calling in the distance, a car driving past.

“I can’t talk long,”the voice said impatiently.

It was a man, probably in his early 20s.

“This is Caterina, the person we’re doing this for,” Alessandra said. She motioned for me to speak.

“…hello,” I said hesitantly.

“Hello,”the voice said curtly.“What do you want to know?”

“We need to know if you can arrange a meeting with Valentino,” Alessandra replied.

“Yes.”

“How can you be sure?” Alessandra asked.

“Because I’m lookin’ at him right now.”

My heart leapt in my chest.

“Valentino’s there with you?!” I cried out.

“No, he’s across the street with some other people.”

“Can I talk to him?!”

“NO,”the man snapped.

I looked at Alessandra in a panic. She waved me off reassuringly.

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