Page 47 of A Valentino Reunion

The grin that comes over my face is foreign. I don’t think I can recall a time I’ve ever been this happy. “Thank fuck,” I say, picking her up off the ground and spinning her around.

“Don’t get too excited. It’s going to be a short-lived marriage…ifwe even make it that far. My dad is going to kill you,” Kyla tells me, sounding very certain of her words. “So make sure you have life insurance and all that sorted.”

“Why? Can’t afford to give me a proper funeral yourself?” I counter with a smirk.

“It’s funny you think there would be a body to bury,” she says, and I laugh. “No, I’ll need the millions of dollars to spend on therapy after my heart breaks because you’re gone forever.”

“Babe, I’m not going anywhere. Your father doesn’t scare me,” I tell her before capturing her lips with mine.

“What does scare you?” she asks.

“You do,” I admit. She’s the only person in the world who could completely break me. I’m about to lean in and kiss her again when my phone vibrates in my pocket. Pulling it out, I see my Zio Romeo’s name light up the screen. “Yeah?”

“Where are you?” he questions me.

“The Coliseum. Why?”

“I need you to meet me in the ducts. Remember that spot your father and I showed you a few years back?” He’s referring to the door in a back street that leads to the underground aqueducts.

“Yeah, why?”

“Someone just fucking shot up the gelato shop. I was there with Tilly. I need you to get her out of this fucking city, Lorenzo.”

“What the fuck? Okay, be there in fifteen,” I tell him.

“Make it ten.” He cuts the call without waiting for a reply.

I look at Kyla. I know she could hear everything my uncle said. I really fucking hate pulling her into this side of the family, the ugly side, but I don’t have a fucking choice right now.

“I’m sorry. We have to go.” I lead her in the opposite direction, towards the closest exit.

ChapterTwenty-Three

Isee the car lean into its brakes, and it’s like everything happens in slow motion. The window rolls down and the barrel of a semi-automatic pokes out, aimed right at the fucking window Tilly and I are sitting in front of.

Throwing the little square table towards the glass, I jump on top of my daughter, causing her and her chair to fall to the ground right as the bullets penetrate the first pane. Tilly’s shriek pierces through my ears and breaks my fucking heart.

I cover her body with mine as glass showers down on us. I make out the screeching of the tires over the sound of everyone screaming. I look down at Tilly. She’s not yelling anymore but her eyes are wide and the fear is evident on her face.

I don’t know who the fuck just decided today was the perfect opportunity for a drive-by. But, whoever they are, their days are numbered. I haven’t wanted to hunt down and end someone this much since I was in college and my sister-in-law was attacked.

I look down at Tilly. “You okay?” I ask, running my eyes over every part of her body that I can see. She nods her head but doesn’t say anything. “All right, listen to me. You’re okay, Matilda. We are going to stand up and head for the back door, ya hear me?” I tell her.

I remove one of the Glocks from the holster on my chest and shove it into her hands. I know she’s capable of using it. I taught her to shoot myself. She’s just never had a fucking reason to ever put those skills to the test until now. Before I get up, I retrieve my other pistol. Then I push to my feet and look around.

“Fuck,” I hiss under my breath when I see Luigi on the ground, his chest riddled with bullet holes, his white shirt turning a deep red.

Pulling Tilly up, I tuck her into my side and turn her head against me as I lead her out the far end of the shop. There’s a reason I selected this particular gelato store when I first started bringing my daughter here. The back door exits into an alleyway. One block down, there’s a door in that same alley that takes you right underground into the aqueducts.

That’s where I’m taking my daughter right now, until I can figure out what the fuck just happened. I need to get her out of this fucking city. I open the back door to the shop and look in both directions before I pull Tilly out behind me. Her hand is trembling in mine. I want to wrap this girl in fucking cotton wool and never let the world touch her. Though I’ve wanted to do that since the moment she was born and my wife insisted I couldn’t.

“It’s okay. We just need to make it another block.”

“What’s going on, Dad?” she asks me.

“I don’t know, sweetheart, but you’re okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Come on.” I walk quicker. I have no idea who shot up the shop. I don’t even know if they were targeting me or Luigi. I’m not about to stick around and find out, though. I won’t take chances with Tilly right next to me.

As soon as I get her into the underground ducts, I pull out my phone and call Lorenzo. He’s the closest one to us right now—that’s what the tracker on his phone tells me anyway. It’ll take at least an hour for any of my brothers to get here.

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