Page 56 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

We didn’t slip away to have sex, though.

Attempted assassinations were kind of a buzzkill –

And I didn’t need Niccolo giving me more shit.

A hell of a lot happened over the next few days.

Massimo got attacked when he went to see the old lady who ran Venice. Shortly after that, he went off the grid with the Widow’sgranddaughter. We didn’t hear from him at all, and there was no way to contact him.

For some fuckin’ reason, Niccolo and Roberto just up and left for Hong Kong. No explanation.

When I asked Dario about it, he said, “I’ll tell you when the time is right.”

Which was ‘mafia don’ forQuit asking questions.

Niccolo came back a couple days later without Roberto.

When I asked Nicwhat happened in Hong Kong, he said, “Business,” and walked away.

Which was‘consigliere’forShut the fuck up and quit asking questions.

At least Dario was nicer about it.

Then Lars left for London to chase down his ex.

We didn’t hear from him after that. He never answered his cell phone.

Things were getting downright dark. Dario and Niccolo were tense as hell, and Adriano walked around like he might explode any second.

Nobody said it out loud, buteverybodywas worried that Massimo and Lars might be dead.

And nobody would tell me what the fuck was going on with Roberto.

It felt like the whole world was crashing down around us in slow motion…

But at least I had Caterina.

22

Caterina

Things were going awful for Valentino. I could tell because he was distracted and worried, whichneverhappened.

I normally steered clear of asking himanythingabout his family – but he was so stressed out that I couldn’t help myself.

One night, after we’d had sex in my bedroom, I was lying in his arms with my head on his chest.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“It’s great,” he replied absentmindedly. “You were incredible, like always.”

I smiled. “So were you. But I was talking about everything else going on around the house.”

“…oh.”

Val was quiet for a few seconds, but he finally asked, “What do you know?”

“Well… I’d have to be blind not to notice that Signor Massimo and Signor Roberto are – ”

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