Page 211 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

She glared at me. “Now who’s slinging bullshit?”

She started to walk away –

But I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to me.

“Let go!” she yelped, trying to fight me off.

I had no choice.

I had to tell her the truth, or I might as well walk out.

If I said nothing, we’d end up wasting what precious time we had.

“It’s because I was going to say ‘I love you’ on the phone, but I stopped myself,” I said. “That’s it, isn’t it.”

She looked at me in shock, tears in her eyes –

And then nodded silently.

My heart suddenly swelled with the same emotion I’d felt hours before.

I started to speak –

Stopped myself –

Fuck, man, don’t do this – DON’T DO THIS –

“I love you,” I said.

Cat immediately burst out sobbing and clasped a hand over her mouth. Then she removed it and smiled as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I love you, too.”

I pulled her to me… wrapped her up in my arms… and just held her as she cried.

After a moment, she asked with a sniffle, “Why didn’t you say it on the phone?”

“Because it makes the whole situation worse.”

She pushed away from my chest so she could look me in the eyes. “What?! Why?!”

“Because we can’t do anything about it,” I said grimly. “In a week and a half, I have to get married. Ihaveto. I have no choice. And it fuckingsucksto marry a woman I don’t want, andwho doesn’t want me… when I’m in love with the woman I can’t have.”

Cat looked at me a long time in silence.

She finally whispered, “Then why did you turn down Don Rosolini when he said you could marry me instead of her?”

I backed away in horror. “Youheardthat?!”

“I heard him tell Alessandra about it.”

I felt ashamed –

And guilty as hell –

But I immediately became angry.

Because I couldn’t bear those other feelings.

“You knew and you never told me?!” I asked, enraged. “WHY?!”

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