Chapter 51

Mafia Kings: Valentino: Chapter 51 After we both came the second time, Cat snuggled up next to me on the bed.

“That was fucking incredible,” I said.

“So incredible,” she murmured, her eyes closed.

“It’s funny, though.”

“What’s funny?” she asked sleepily.

“You usually wear that perfume I like.”

“Your driver told me not to. So you wouldn’t smell like me when you went back home.”

Smart.

Speaking of Paolo –

I looked over at the clock radio on the bedside table (and was immediately jealous that it was a clock radio, not a fucking brass alarm clock).

We had an hour and fifteen minutes to go.

I hated this new life of being at the beck and call of others. Running around whenever they ordered me to. Feeling like I had to punch a clock.

Even though I’d had to do whatever Dario said, I had a shit-ton more freedom back home.

I thought of Niccolo again angrily. It had all started with him – his fucking plan to marry me off –

And yet someone else had gone around him.

“You said Alessandra helped you?” I asked Cat.

“Mm-hm,” she murmured, still blissed out from the sex.

But I had questions, and very little time to get the answers.

“How?”

“She asked her grandmother for help.”

Holy shit.

Her grandmother – who Alessandra didn’t even know about just a few months ago – was part of the Cosa Nostra family that ran Genoa. The Oldanis.

If she was helping Alessandra go around Dario’s orders –

That was crazy.

If I did that, I might get thrown out of the family for betrayal.

If one of our foot soldiers did it, they would be executed.

I doubted Dario would do either to Alessandra – he definitely wouldn’t kill her –

But other mafia dons would have, no question.

Don Vicari wouldn’t have hesitated.

However, divorce was probably on the table. If Dario and Alessandra stayed married, it would be the end of him ever trusting her again.

In addition, Signora Oldani was risking a war with our family by interfering.

I was pretty sure Dario wouldn’t go that far...

But Niccolo might.

After all, he was the one being humiliated without knowing it.

Savage glee bubbled up inside me.

Fucker!

Too bad I couldn’t ever taunt him about it since it would endanger Alessandra.

“But how did Alessandra’s grandmother get in touch with Paolo?” I asked.

“That’s the guy’s name?” Cat asked sleepily. “Paolo?”

“Yeah.”

Cat shrugged, her eyes still closed. “Alessandra just said her grandmother knew people in different families.”

“And Signora Oldani paid Paolo?”

“I think Alessandra did.”

My eyes opened wide. “How much?”

“Mm-um-know,” Cat mumbled. I don’t know.

Shit...

Paolo was risking a lot doing this.

If Don Vicari found out, he’d kill him.

And, to be honest, Paolo would deserve it.

Any servant who would sell out his don, no matter for how much, was a traitor.

Which meant I couldn’t trust Paolo, either...

Because if he’d sell out Don Vicari, he’d sell me out, too – in a heartbeat.

Shit.

Things just got a whole lot more complicated.

“I wanted Alessandra to call you, but she said they would probably listen in on the call,” Cat murmured.

“She was right. Don Vicari took away my phone, and I’m sure he would have made me talk in front of him if I got on the phone.”

Cat lifted her head to look at me. “Really?”

“Really. Did Paolo tell you anything else? Anything odd?”

“No – other than he didn’t want me to know his name.” Cat frowned. “Why are you asking me all these questions? Is something wrong?”

I didn’t want to worry her, so I told a little white lie.

“No – I was just curious. Don Vicari is probably the most secretive guy in the – ”

I paused. I didn’t want to say Cosa Nostra.

“ – that I know, so it was pretty incredible that you found me.”

Cat laid her head back down on my chest.

She was silent for a few seconds. I figured she was anxious because she knew I’d been about to say Cosa Nostra –

But that wasn’t it at all.

“What’s she like?” she asked quietly.

“Who?”

Cat lifted her head and gave me a pissed-off look. “The girl you’re supposed to marry.”

Oh.

Yeah.

I chuckled. “I’d completely forgotten about her, to be honest.”

Cat glared at me playfully. “Good. You better not have been thinking about her while we were having sex.”

I laughed even harder. “If I did, I think I’d lose my erection.”

“Why? Is she ugly?”

“No – no, she’s fine. She’s just not my type.”

“What is she?”

“A bookworm. And thin as a rail.”

Cat looked hurt. I knew she was sensitive about her weight – which was ridiculous to me. She should’ve known by now I couldn’t get enough of her body exactly the way it was.

“No boobs, no ass, no nothin’,” I added.

Cat looked a little less hurt, but now she was annoyed. “So that’s all that matters? Boobs and ass?”

I suppressed a smile and grabbed her chin with my thumb and forefinger. “Nope. Not by a long shot.”

She narrowed her eyes. “So... what’s your type, then?”

“Beautiful face... gorgeous eyes... a good heart... loyal... the kind of girl who would come halfway across Italy to find me...”

“All the way across the world if she needed to,” Cat said softly.

I smiled. “All the way across the world if she needed to. And I want somebody who can cook... who fixes the best pappardelle al cinghiale I’ve ever had.”

It was no joke – Cat made the best pasta with wild boar sauce I’d ever tasted, even in the fanciest restaurants in Italy.

“And zucotto,” she said with a smile, naming a sweet dessert cake she was amazing at.

“And zucotto.”

“And bistecca alla Fiorentina... and ribollita... and arista,” she said, rattling off some of my favorite dishes.

“All of it,” I agreed.

“Anything else?” she purred.

I made a face like I was thinking. “Huge tits and a spectacular ass.”

She slapped my chest, but she was grinning now.

“And the best sex I’ve ever had.”

She looked at me with a sweet smile. “...really?”

“You had to ask? Seriously?”

“That’s not a ‘yes,’” she said, playing at being annoyed.

“Yes – yes – a thousand times yes,” I said, and kissed her.

She kissed me back, then laid her head down on my chest.

She was quiet again for a few seconds before she spoke again.

“...are you really going to marry her?” she asked quietly.

Hearing the pain in her voice made my heart ache for her –

For both of us.

“I don’t want to,” I said.

“But you’re going to,” she whispered without looking at me.

“Dario ordered me to.” I hated myself for doing it, but I started listing off all the reasons Niccolo had given. “We need allies to fight my uncle. Massimo and Lars could be dead... wait, have you heard anything?”

She shook her head. “No.”

I exhaled. “Then there’s still hope.”

There was a long pause...

And then she whispered, “I don’t want you to marry her.”

“If there were any way I could get out of it, babe, I would.”

She didn’t say anything.

I put my fingers under her chin and forced her to look at me. “We don’t have much time left, babe, and I want us to spend it being happy... with each other.”

She looked at me blankly for a few seconds...

Then smiled sadly, leaned forward, and kissed me.