Page 193 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

“Really?!” Isabella sobbed.

She flew from her father’s side and ran towards me as though she was going to hug me –

Then she stopped short, like she knew she shouldn’t come any closer.

Still, she shifted from foot to foot like an excited child on Christmas morning.

“Thank you, Valentino! Thank you!”

The look on her face was sweet but heartbreaking.

Noone should be that happy about traveling 50 miles away from their house.

It should’ve been their God-given right. Something they’d done all their lives.

“What do you say, boy?” Don Vicari asked, his voice happy but tinged with dark warning.

I forced a smile. “…sure. You’re welcome.”

Isabella went back to her father and showered him with hugs.

The old lady looked over at me and beamed. “You a good boy,” she said, loud enough for the entire table to hear.

If she knew the truth aboutwhyI’d suggested I take Isabella to other towns, I doubt she would have felt the same.

As I gave the same forced, sickly smile to the great-grandmother, Don Vicari caught my eye.

When I looked at him, he smirked and stared me down.

I remembered his warning at the barn – both what he’d shown me and what he’d said:

DON’T BETRAY ME.

OR ELSE.

I looked down at my plate again and continued to push my food around my plate.

69

Back in my room, I considered exactly what the fuck I had gotten myself into.

Should I continue to see Cat?

The smart answer wasNo–

But I’d never been one for the smart answer.

The truth was, I had nothing else but her –

And the idea of never seeing her again was fucking torture.

Speaking of torture, the only things that blotted out the horror of what I’d seen in the barn were my memories of Cat’s face –

Her eyes –

Her smile.

She was the angel who saved me from visions of Hell.

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