Chapter 20

Mafia Kings: Valentino: Chapter 20 The stone walls and lack of windows in the panic room were perfect protection from bullets.

When I entered, Dario was holding Alessandra, and Adriano had Bianca in his arms.

Niccolo looked over at me and snarked, “Finally!”

“What happened?”

Before anyone could answer, Alessandra pushed away from Dario’s chest and looked at me frantically. “Where’s Caterina?!”

“She’s safe,” I reassured her. “She’s fine.”

Alessandra calmed down and sank back into Dario’s arms.

“Well, now we know what you were doing,” Niccolo snarked. “Like we couldn’t smell it on you.”

“Do not fucking start with me right now,” I snapped. “What happened?”

Nic glanced at Alessandra, then pulled me aside and whispered, “A sniper tried to hit Dario.”

“Is he okay?” I whispered back.

“He’s fine.”

“What about everybody else?”

“Everyone’s fine.”

I looked around the safe room. “Where’s Roberto?”

“I sent someone to get him.”

“What about Lars?”

“He went after the shooter.”

“Then I’m going with him.”

If Lars was chasing the asshole who came after our family, there was no way I was going to wait around in a safe room.

I turned to leave –

But Niccolo grabbed my arm. “The hell you are!”

“Somebody needs to have his back!” I snarled.

“Half of our foot soldiers are already out there!”

“Then I should go, too!”

“They’re trained for this!”

“So am I!”

Nic knew it was true. He and Roberto had bailed on the military training Lars had put all the foot soldiers through – but me, Massimo, and Adriano had stuck it out to the bitter end.

It wasn’t bragging to say I was one of the best. All our soldiers were pretty good, but I was better than 90% of them.

“You’re a target,” Niccolo whispered harshly.

“If you’re worried about targets, do you really think it’s a good idea to have all of us here in here together?” I challenged him loudly enough for everyone to hear. “What if there’s a bomb?”

I got exactly the reaction I was looking for.

Alessandra and Bianca both gasped.

“Could there be?!” Bianca cried out.

“No!” Niccolo said in exasperation.

“Get him the fuck out of here!” Adriano roared.

Dario just gave me a reproachful look.

Niccolo glared at me and hissed, “After this is all over, you and I are going to have a serious talk.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said dismissively as I bolted out of the panic room.

I sprinted for the armory – another stone room with a locked steel door – and picked up an AR-15.

Then I ran outside to join the foot soldiers.

I headed for the nearest group walking into the olive groves. They were surprised when they saw me running towards them, but I noticed a couple of guys give approving glances at each other, like Not bad.

A guy named Araldo said, “Sir, you should go back to the house.”

“Fuck that,” I snapped. “Are you looking for the shooter?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then I’m coming with you.”

And that was that.