Page 72 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

At least that way, I could hate Niccolo and blame him…

Instead of putting it all on myself.

But one other thought lingered in the back of my mind:

Maybe there was something I could do or say that would blow this whole thing up.

Maybe I could make Don Vicari come to the conclusion that I wasn’t the right guy for his daughter.

If I could makehimbail on the deal…

Then maybe I could go back home to Caterina…

And it would be like none of this had ever happened.

26

Caterina

For almost half an hour, I lay curled up on the spare bedroom floor, sobbing my heart out.

I hurt so bad it felt like I might die.

Actually, Iwantedto die.

I just wanted this awful hurting inside me to end.

When my tears finally slowed down, I realized I should probably clock out and tell them I wasn’t feeling well. That way, I could go back to my room and not have to try to fake it through the rest of the workday.

I didn’t think I could handle the stares and whispers once the story got out. And thanks to Marianna hearing Valentino say, “We need to talk,” I was pretty sure it would get out pretty damn quick. Especially once somebody saw me and put two and two together.

I went to the bathroom to clean up. Thank God I hadn’t worn much makeup today, because what little I had on was a mess.I washed up and did my best to look presentable, but my eyes were still red and swollen.

If I could just make it to the kitchen without being stopped…

Or without breaking down again…

That last part was the hardest. Not starting to cry again.

I kept my head down as I walked back to work.

A couple of other servants walked by, but they rarely talked to me anyway, so they didn’t notice.

But Alessandra did.

I was almost to the kitchen when she saw me. She was coming down the hallway in the opposite direction, and she called out cheerfully, “Hi, Caterina!”

When I heard her voice, my heart stopped in my chest.

I thought about turning around and running in the other direction –

But my feet froze.

I looked up the tiniest bit –

And out of the edge of my vision, I saw her happy expression turn to worry.

“Caterina?” she said as she walked up to me. “What’s wrong?”

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