Page 238 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

There wasn’t an elevator, so I only had one other option.

I strained to keep the suitcase semi-upright as the wheels dropped from stair to marble stair.

CLACK!

CLACK!

CLACK!

Luckily, only two people passed me on the stairs.

They gave me a glance but didn’t pause to talk.

Five minutes later, I exited the side door of the hotel, sweating profusely.

I rolled the suitcase to the street along the Mediterranean and scanned for pedestrians.

There were several strolling along the sidewalk –

Exactly where I needed to go.

FUCK.

I was definitely going to need that diversion from Cat.

I looked around.

There she was, one street over, just like I’d told her.

She gave me a worried smile and started walking towards me –

And then I heard Isabella’s voice.

“Valentino?”

I whirled around.

I was suddenly plunged into a nightmare:

Cat walking towards me from one side –

And Isabella and Ludavica approaching from the other direction.

Oh SHIT –

Cat’s going to blow a fucking GASKET!

Despite my stress, I realized how funny the situation was:

I was more worried about Cat and Isabella meeting than I was about the dead body I was carting around.

“What the fuck are youdoinghere?” I whispered at Isabella as she walked towards me.

“Val?” Cat said behind me, her voice trembling. “Who arethey?”

FUCK, FUCK, FUCK –

“You must be Cat,” my future wife said brightly as she walked up. “I’m Isabella. This is Ludavica, my – uh, my servant.”

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