Page 223 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

“Don’t go getting any crazy ideas, asshole. Now get over by the bed.”

I backed up until I was against the mattress.

Paolo’s eyes drifted down below my waist –

“Jesus Christ, some guys get all the fuckin’ luck,” he muttered, then looked me in the eyes again. “Put on some fuckin’ clothes.”

“Just point that thing somewhere else, will you?” I growled as I picked up my pants and stepped into them.

“I could say the same to you,” he joked, then glanced at Cat. “With a pipe like that, I can see why you keep coming after him like a crack whore.” He looked her up and down lecherously. “And why helikeshis little crack whore.Damn.”

Rage consumed me. “DON’T YOU FUCKING TALK TO HER LIKE – ”

“Shut the fuck up, asshole,” he interrupted.“I’mthe one in charge here, not you.”

“What happened to Isabella?” I asked angrily.

Paolo laughed. “Nothin’. She’s still out there with that other chick, pointin’ at sailboats like a fuckin’ moron.”

Shit.

He’d tricked me…

And I’d never seen it coming.

“This is a shakedown,” I said bitterly, finally realizing what was going on. “Just like Rocco does for his father.”

“I guess you could call it that. Though you’re gonna have to cough up a lot more than some two-bit drug dealer.”

I cursed myself silently.

I’dknownPaolo was a traitor to Don Vicari –

But I hadn’t thought he’d be a traitor to me.

I’d let myself be lulled into a sense of false security, thinking he’d be happy with whatever cash Alessandra had thrown his way.

As much as I hated Niccolo, I had to admit, he never would have let this happen tohim.

He never would’ve let his guard down, and he would’ve seen it coming from a mile away.

“I h-have some cash,” Caterina said miserably as she pointed at her purse on the dresser.

Paolo rifled through it while keeping his gun on me.

“Not bad,” he said as he pulled out the money and stuffed it in his pocket. “But that’s chump change compared to what you’re gonna pay next.”

“That’s all we’ve got,” I snarled. “We don’t have anymore.”

“Maybeyoudon’t, but that sister-in-law of yours does.”

Alessandra.

He means Alessandra.

Paolo threw Cat’s purse at me. Despite being caught off-guard, I caught it.

“Now get out the phone and call her,” Paolo ordered.

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