Page 14 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

Signora Lombardi took me to a parlor near the front door of the mansion. Inside was a dark wood-paneled room filled with leather chairs. Bottles of expensive booze sat on a bar by the wall, and the faint scent of cigar smoke lingered in the air.

A guy was working on a sofa, sorting through sheets of paper laid out on a coffee table in front of him. He was dressed in a light blue dress shirt, although it was open at the neck and untucked over his expensive dress pants.

He looked like he could have been Valentino’s brother, except he was several years older, clean-cut, and more slender than muscular.

And not as hot.

Definitely very,verycute…

Just not as hot as my dream boy.

“Signor Rosolini,” Signora Lombardi said. “This is the new prospect I was telling you about – Caterina Martinelli.”

The guy looked up, locked eyes with me, and gave me a charming smile.

“Ciao, bella!Call me Niccolo. Please – sit,” he said, motioning towards a chair opposite him.

I looked at Signora Lombardi, who gave me an encouraging nod. I sat down and watched nervously as she walked out of the parlor and closed the door behind her.

“Relax, relax! You’re very tense. A drink, perhaps?” Niccolo offered.

I could have used one, but I thought it might not be wise to booze it up in front of my prospective employer. “Um… no, thank you.”

He gave me a wry smile and waggled his finger at me. “Good – good! That was a test. A little one. Don’t need people drinking on the job. You passed. In fact, you can stop worrying – you practically have the job. Signora Lombardi was effusive in her praise for your cooking. I can’t wait to taste some of your dishes.”

The words were quite complimentary, and I forced a smile –

But one word stood out in particular.

“…practically?” I asked.

“Well, there is the matter of the background check,” Niccolo said. “You don’t have a criminal record, do you?”

“Oh, no,” I said, extremely grateful that the cops had let me and my friends off after that drunken party in Florence a year ago.

He grinned. “I already knew that. We checked you out before you even stepped foot on the property. But I need to ask you a few questions.”

I swallowed hard. “Okay.”

He leaned back, his arms flung out on either side and resting on the top of the sofa, and fixed me with a piercing gaze.

“What have you heard about my family?” he asked in a casual tone.

Oh shit.

“Um… that you had a palace…”

Niccolo laughed.

“I don’t know that I’d call it that, but it’s nice to hear that’s the word on the street.” Then he stopped laughing, and his smile faded. “I meant specifically about myfamily,though. And I urge you to be completely and totally honest with me.”

Oh shit. Oh SHIT.

“I…”

He cocked his head to the side and waited, never taking his eyes off me.

“That… you’re…”

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