Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Kidnapped by a mob boss.

Whose life is this?

Valentino drinks wine from a glass while I desperately cling to my sanity. I feel fine for someone who’s been knocked out, but the amount of questions I have is nearly double from my first time meeting Valentino.

There’s no denying how lethal he is. I remember the ease of him disarming and defeating the men who tried to take me. The way he fended off Frankie, and probably would have killed him if Frankie weren’t so important to me. As the fog lifted, dosed by more competent kidnappers, Valentino cradled me effortlessly in his arms.

Well, maybe it wasn’t as effortless as it felt. Still, he cares for me in ways I want, but there’s so much danger around him, me, this stupid situation that’s burying my parents. I’d stay in this beach house forever if I could. Refuse to return to the life where my parents ache for a freedom they’re likely never going to get.

‘So you and Saul are related?’ I ask Valentino.

‘Fuck no,’ he scoffs. ‘Stefano Barrone’s mother was Rosario Caputo’s first wife. Saul comes from whoever came after Great-Grandmother Maria. She stole money from Rosario. That’s what the feud is about truthfully. Having his wife stolen bruised his ego, having a few million dollars snatched from the Caputo coffers … that nearly ruined their family.’

‘La Familia, you all condone this behavior?’

Valentino shrugs. ‘Deception and theft from wives is a risk. It’s like a curse, sometimes more like a guarantee.’

‘Is that why you’re not married?’ I ask him. ‘Or are you?’

‘Not married and never have been. My mother, Hera, walked out on us when I was a kid. Pop bought this place for her as an engagement gift. He was just starting to make money, and it was before he was a don. That’s why it’s so small compared to the other places out here.’

‘I’m sorry, Valentino. It’s the perfect size for me.’

He sighs, changing the subject back to marriage. ‘I’ve never wanted to be tied down to anyone. But, having met you, I can see the appeal.’

‘The appeal? So you’re not head over heels in love with me by now?’ I ask with a giggle.

‘You’re growing on me,’ he quips with a smirk. ‘Lia, I do care about you. I want you safe. At least without Saul’s interference, we can figure things out on our own terms. And what about you, my sweet Lia? Why is a woman like you still a virgin?’

That makes me laugh. ‘I’m not exactly a virgin anymore. I also have to say that sex with you is beyond what I ever imagined.’

‘We’re two of a kind, Lia. Why are you ignoring my question? What’s taken you so long to get swept off your feet?’ he prods.

‘I’m not exactly easy to carry⁠—’

‘Don’t disrespect the woman I’m falling head over heels for. Besides, it seems that I’m the right kind of guy since you’re easy to carry in my arms.’

Heat blooms across my cheeks as I turn away from him. Embarrassment ripples through me. ‘That was cheesy, but it was good.’

‘It was good because you know I’m good for it.’ He flexes his muscular arms and prowls toward me from his end of the sofa. Valentino has a way of disarming me, making me comfortable in his embrace. He slips behind me so I’m leaning against him.

‘Seriously, Val.’ I nuzzle against him. ‘No one’s been able to get my attention long enough for a conversation, let alone have them talk me out of my jeans. Besides, I spend most of my days at work.’

‘You’ve been with Frankie these past few weeks. Have you ever thought about doing something other than working as an office manager? What do you want to do with your life?’

I shrug. ‘Would you be surprised if I told you that I actually enjoy managing the construction sites? There’s something empowering about bossing a bunch of guys around to build something beautiful.’

‘Okay, so you stick with construction. What do you like to do for fun?’

‘You.’

Valentino stifles a laugh, mixing with a snarl as his mouth kisses the lines of my neck. ‘Don’t start with me. I’m still recovering from this busted lip. Do you know how many clients I had to tell that I got into a bar brawl from the last one you gave me?’

‘You’re the one who likes it rough. Can I ask you what that’s about?’

I can feel him shift behind me, the energy around him building with a hint of apprehension. ‘Lia, I want to be honest with you. I don’t want to hide anything from you. I also don’t want you to look at me like I’m a freak of nature or even worse, like I’m a monster.’

I sit up and turn to him. ‘A mob boss backed my parents into a corner to extort money from them. Then he suggested to those same people that they offer their only child up in a virgin auction. The monsters in my life look nothing like you. If anything, you’re the monster who rescued the princess.’

‘I don’t know what fairytale that is, but I’ll give you the short version. I was an enforcer under my father before I became Don Barrone. Me and Armande were both enforcers, actually. We were young, temperamental, and decided to test our limits.’

‘How? And for what?’

He groans with a huff. ‘We wanted to show the other dons that Pop had the toughest enforcers in all the land. So, we held a fight club type of thing. For three nights, we brawled, bare-knuckle, last man standing type of thing. We won, but it triggered something. I realized I liked the pain, but being the winner of something like that doesn’t get people lined up to fight you. Then I found Dimitri.’

‘Ah, the Miami Vice extra.’ I nod.

‘Yeah. He has a way of noticing things about people, picking out what they need. He set me up in a room at Kings. One thing led to another⁠—’

I stop him. ‘I don’t want to hear about your sexcapades.’

‘What the fuck is a sexcapade?’ he asks.

‘Shit, that’s what me and Frankie call his extravagant love affairs.’

‘Love affairs? Frankie’s married? That didn’t come up in our research.’

‘Oh my God, he’s not married. Sexcapade, you know? Like the Ice Capades; tips, tricks, and splits … but on dick.’ It sounds so absurd when I break it down out loud.

Val chokes on laughter, sitting up. ‘How the hell do you know about the Ice Capades? Shit, I haven’t heard about that show since I was a kid. You? You weren’t born in the 1900s like me.’

I can’t stop laughing at this version of Valentino. He’s so sweet, charming, less lethal than the man commanding teams of men to cart away intruders. This is a man I can love. Conversation just flows between us. ‘Me and Frankie used to watch tapes at my Nonna’s. That apartment you practically broke the door off? We spent years of Sundays watching the tapes, eating, living, laughing.’

‘Well, I don’t have any sexcapades to speak of. I just liked getting hit. Makes me feel alive, and when I don’t have to hit back? It’s like a shot of adrenaline mixed with codeine. There’s no need for restraint, I don’t have to defend my manhood or my life.’

‘And during sex?’

‘It makes everything insanely pleasurable.’

‘That’s the short version, huh?’ I ask him, turning to face him. The split in his lip is small, barely the size of a short fingernail. I lean in close to kiss him, inhaling his scent as our lips touch gently before the softness of his tongue rubs against mine.

When I pull away, he’s staring at me with a look in his eyes that I can’t pinpoint. While he may not be head over heels in love with me, I’m definitely falling for him. I don’t want this moment to end. However, the sound of his phone buzzing somewhere in another room pulls us out of our romantic trance.

He pushes himself off the sofa, giving me another chaste kiss before trotting off into the house and returning with his phone against his face. I can hear the loud voice coming off the other end of the line.

‘You get me my money, the pages, and you get your delivery. Capisce?’

‘Yeah. I want proof of product,’ Val says, his tone deathly serious.

‘You’ll get your proof,’ the caller says before ending the call.

Val ends the call and looks at me.

‘Who was that?’ I ask him.

‘You were kidnapped this evening, Lia. It’s time to be a victim,’ he says nonchalantly.

‘Fuck, I nearly forgot about that. Remind me to chloroform you.’

‘Only if you promise to have your way with me. I want to wake up in your arms. No, nix that. I want to wake up between those thighs.’ He leans down, kissing me gently.

‘Why are you making crime sound sexy? What do I have to do? You never actually told me your plan here,’ I say.

‘Remember the guy Jimmy?’

‘Yeah. In the Icebox. Is it a real Icebox?’

‘No,’ he says. ‘It’s just a place we like to keep people on ice, so to speak. I have his phone. Saul’s going to call, text, or message about proving that he has you so I can pay him five million and your parents can sign over the business.’

My heart thumps against my chest. ‘Five what?’

‘Million, babe, capital M. I’d pay more, but Saul doesn’t want to be greedy, apparently.’

‘And then what happens? Saul nor Jimmy has me. Are you going to pay?’

He runs his fingers through his hair. ‘I’m going to pay for this one way or another. Just relax and sit tight. I have to run into the city, but I promise that by the time I get back, Saul will be out of your lives.’

‘How long are you going to be gone?’

‘A few days, maybe? Lia, I swear I’m coming back. There’s a ton of food to get you through the weekend. I have to get this stuff with Saul situated and then we can handle your parents.’

‘What are we handling with my parents?’ I ask him.

‘I have to be smart with how I handle this. What I’m doing with Saul, I haven’t run things by the other dons and I don’t want either side of my life to get complicated. I just want everything to be smoothed over before you jump back into your life. Let me take care of La Familia so there’s no blowback from what I’m about to do to Saul.’

‘What are you about to do?’

He pauses as if he’s uncertain what he wants to say. ‘The less you know, the less you’ll be able to tell the police. Sit tight. I’ll be back.’