Page 135 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

Even if hewasa mafia don, that didn’t make the rule go away.

I know, I know –

Most guys, if their woman got insulted by a mafia don, would just sit back and take it.

Because if theydidn’ttake it, they might wind up dead.

But other men would look at them with contempt or pity…

And their wives sure as hell wouldn’t respect them anymore.

But me?

I wasn’t the kind of guy to sit back and take it.

So if Don Vicari and me were gonna throw down –

Might as well get it over with.

At least none of his hired goat-fuckers with shotguns were in the room.

If it was an even fight, I might even killhimbefore he could killme.

But…

It didn’t come to that.

He backed down.

“Waste your time, then,” Vicari snarled. “See if I care.”

And he went back to eating his food.

I glanced over at Isabella.

Though she still looked like she’d crapped a brick, I saw something else in her eyes:

Awe.

I winked at her – with the eye opposite Don Vicari, so he couldn’t see (I wasn’tthatstupid). Then I went back to my food.

We ate the rest of the meal in silence.

At the end, Don Vicari got up and left without a word.

“Thank you,” Isabella whispered.

I nodded and smiled. “No problem.”

She got up and left…

And I was alone with the great-grandma.

She got up from her chair with great effort…

Walked over to me, her face blank…

And raised her hand towards my face.

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