Page 60 of Fight Me Little Pearl

Louisa and I stare silently at each other before she suddenly bursts into laughter.

“I need to confess my sins to a priest. I like forbidden fruit,” she says.

I laugh too. “Yeah. Valentino is definitely forbidden fruit.”

“How would the confession go?” Louisa asks. “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I’m married to a mob boss, and despite his murderous tendencies, he turns me on and I’m enjoying him way too much-”

I hit her with a throw pillow, effectively shutting her up. “Okay, fine, don’t go to confession.”

Her phone beeps, and she checks the screen. “My friends are outside,” she says. “It’s time to go. Let’s turn up!”

“What are their names?” I ask as we leave.

“Maria Fabbri, Tina Cirilli, Bianca Neri, and Bella Conti. You know any of them?”

I text Valentino their names before looking up at Louisa again. “No, I don’t. But I’m sure I’ll love them.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

VALENTINO

Dutch appeared beside me. “Roberto arrived last night and Federico just arrived this morning. He’s at the airport,” he says.

“Good.” I walk to my car. “Ask them both to meet me at The White Dragon.”

I slip into the backseat, and the car glides forward. I have a text on my phone, and it’s a list of four names sent to me by Francesca.

Good girl.

“Vance,” I call without looking up from my phone. “I want a quick and thorough background check on these names I’m forwarding to you right now. Francesca is hanging out with them today.”

Vance picks up his phone. “On it.”

After forwarding the names, I relax against the leather seat. So Vinny and Sal have put their differences aside to team up against me. We arrive at The White Dragon through a private underground garage. The elevator leads us straight to my office on the top floor. I own this club, along with several others in town. In the beginning, my father started The White Dragon,along with the others, as avenues to wash dirty money, but since I’ve taken over, the clubs now flourish on their own and have become another added source of income.

I truly cannot complain.

Inside my office, Vance takes the couch and gets to work on the names. I hope he has something for me soon. It’s too hot out there for me to let Francesca hang out with people I do not know.

“Giuseppe called,” Dutch says, sitting across from me. “Matteo was stabbed last night. He is in a doctor-induced coma.”

I turn my head towards him. “What happened?”

“He insulted someone at a nightclub.”

“What are his chances?”

Dutch shrugs. “Fifty-fifty.”

I shake my head. Matteo was a train wreck just waiting to happen. I feel nothing for him. He insulted my wife. But I know this news will upset Nonna greatly.

“Where are Federico and Roberto?” I ask, shifting the subject to more important matters. “They should be here.”

As if on cue, the door opens and Federico and Roberto, walk in. Federico is holding a wooden box.

“New season porcini mushrooms,” he says, opening the box and showing me the contents.

“Nice,” I say, but my mind is on other things.

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