Page 244 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

My feet screamed in agony as they slammed into the rocks on the bottom.

My upper body kept going, toppling over –

And when my head hit the seafloor, everything went black.

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Complete darkness.

Then I was aware of cool water sloshing over my head, which seared with pain.

There was shouting above me –

Then next to me.

Someone hoisted me out of the water, turned me over –

And I was blinded by a light as bright as the sun.

Turns out it was just somebody’s cell phone flashlight shining in my face.

A couple of hardthwackson my back –

And I vomited water and coughed till my throat was raw.

Hands grabbed me roughly – two beneath my armpits, another two clamped around my ankles –

And carried me like a dead body up the stairs.

They set me on the ground and propped me up in a seated position…

Until a black car glided up next to us.

The back door opened, and they heaved me inside.

Isabella was there. Ludavica was right behind her. Both of them looked terrified.

“Are you alright?!” Isabella cried out. “Oh God, he’s bleeding!”

I thought,Ha – you should see yourself.

My eyes focused briefly on her blood-smeared face –

And then I blacked out again.

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“WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!” Don Vicari roared.

It was past midnight, and we were all in the Don’s study.

Isabella sat on a chair, her face pale but cleaned up. There were a couple of stitches in a cut near her hairline.

Ludavica sat next to her, unharmed but terrified.

I was wrapped in a blanket – less to keep me warm than to make sure I didn’t get the furniture wet – as an old Sicilian country doctor cleaned the scrapes and cuts on my face with iodine. I hadn’t even been allowed to change my clothes before the questioning started.

“I told you, Papa,” Isabella said in a timid voice. “Paolo slammed my head against the wall. Valentino chased after him, and… I… I don’t remember much else.”

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