Page 257 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

I couldn’t leave the property; I couldn’t contact Cat; and I was about to lose all my freedom in just a few days.

The only thing that was even halfway comforting was Isabella.

I saw her and Ludavica often. I would run across both of them in the gardens as I paced, trying to keep my worry and hatred at bay. They were always reading, every single time.

Isabella looked up from her book with a compassionate wince. “Things pretty bad?”

“You have no idea,” I muttered.

“I’m sorry,” she said kindly.

I sat down on the bench next to her and Ludavica.

Since the whole conversation with Don Vicari aboutYour daughter doesn’t want to marry me, I noticed he’d become a lot more lax about chaperones breathing down our necks.

Or maybe it was because the wedding was just 72 hours away.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

“Your face is looking a lot better,” Isabella said.

“Thanks,” I mumbled.

It was nice of her to lie.

The right side of my face looked like a bad Halloween mask. The bruises had started to turn green and purple, and all the little cuts were scabbed over.

Okay… in reality, I’d looked a lot worse in years past. I’d gotten in a couple of fights when I was a teenager and come out with two black eyes. (You should’ve seen the other guys, though.)

I knew it would all eventually heal…

But I still felt like shit every time I looked in the mirror.

Cat’s going to think I’m the ugliest thing she’s ever seen.

But I knew that wasn’t true.

If anything, she would tell me I was still the hottest guy she’d ever seen. She was a sweetheart that way.

Thinking of Cat made me think of losing her –

And suddenly I felt worse than before.

Isabella misinterpreted my expression.

“Are you and my father… okay?” she asked hesitantly.

“No.”

“…oh.”

I thought about telling her what her father had said about her –

I couldn’t give a shit about my daughter. She’s the means to an end to get what I want.

But what would be the point? To make Isabella as miserable as me?

She’d had Don Vicari for a father all her life. That was punishment enough.

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