Page 91 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

She laughed as she hugged me back.

Oh shit…

I’m going to Sicily!

But then I realized something.

Sicily was averybig island… the same size as a lot of smaller countries.

And I had no idea where to go.

“WhereisValentino, exactly?” I asked.

Alessandra stared at me in shock. “Um… that’s a good question.”

“You don’t know?”

“No… but I know how to find out.”

Panic slammed into me all at once. “You can’t ask Don Rosolini, or Niccolo, or any of them – they’ll know something’s up!”

“Don’t worry,” Alessandra said slyly as she pulled out a cellphone, “I wasn’t going to.”

She went into her contacts on her phone, then tapped the screen and held it up to her ear.

After a second, someone answered.

“Hello, Nonna!” Alessandra said happily. “Yes – I’ve been meaning to call you, too! But I have a favor to ask you, and no one – not even my husband – can know about it.”

I froze in fear.

Alessandra was talking to her grandmother, who she hadn’t even known about until a few months ago.

Signora Oldani…

A member of the Oldani family…

Who belonged to theCosa Nostra.

Alessandra was calling in a favor from the mafia on my behalf…

And not only that, she was keeping Don Rosolini in the dark about it.

I waved my hands and tried to tell herNo!

Alessandra said, “Hold on one second, Nonna,” and muted the phone.

“You can’t do this!” I whispered frantically.

“Do you want Valentino back?”

“…yes…”

“Then this is how we do it.”

“Couldn’t you just call him?” I asked. “Valentino, I mean?”

“The first thing Dario did when he brought me here was take away my phone,” Alessandra said. “Even if the Sicilian mafia don is letting Valentino keephis,I’ll bet you they’ll be monitoring his calls and listening in somehow. No… this is the only way.”

---