Page 293 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

Seeing him was a complete shock.

He descended the stairs like an old man, slowly and carefully, wincing with every step.

Once he reached the tarmac, he used a cane to hobble over to me.

I knew he’d been hurt badly in the gunfight –

But actuallyseeingit shook me to my core.

Massimo was the biggest and the strongest of all of us – a mountain.

If thiscould happen tohim…

Thenanythingcould happen toanyof us.

He smiled as he limped over. “I like your face. It’s an improvement.”

I laughed.

Same old Massimo.

I hugged him –

But I heard him suck in his breath in pain.

That’s when I knew it was really bad.

I immediately let go of him. “Are you okay?”

“Don’t worry,rimbambito,”he said, using his favorite insult for me:numb nuts.“Youlookworse than I feel.”

“Thanks,” I said sarcastically, but we both laughed.

Then I noticed someone was behind him –

A really beautiful but really short chick, barely five feet tall.

I stared at her in surprise. “Who’s this?”

“Ah,” Massimo said. “Lucia, meet my brother Valentino. Valentino, Lucia.”

“You probably know me as the Widow’s granddaughter,” the girl said with a smirk as she air-kissed me on the right and left sides of my face.

I laughed. If she was cool using her grandmother’s nickname like that, I figured she was all right.

“Lucia’s my fiancée,” Massimo added.

I stared at him in shock – then looked at her for confirmation.

“It’s true!” she laughed as she held out her left hand.

There were two rings on her finger:

A beautiful gold one with rubies and pearls…

And what looked like a cheap plastic imitation.

“I don’t understand,” I said, stunned.

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