Mafia Kings: Valentino: Dark Mafia Romance Series #6 by Olivia Thorn

Mafia Kings: Valentino: Chapter 5

I immediately went back to my cooking. But as I put the finishing touches on everything, I imagined that I was cooking it all for Valentino…

That I was seducing him with my cooking.

That once he tasted my food, he would take me to bed and ravish me all night long.

I guess it worked, because when I finally dished everything up for Signora Lombardi, she tried a bite of the tagliatelle alla Bolognese and her eyes widened.

“Oh – oh, that’s good,” she murmured.

Then she tried a slice of the bread, with its crackly outside and soft, pillowy inside. She tried it by itself without any olive oil or butter – and her eyes widened again.

“Mmf,” she said, her mouth full as she chewed.

It was a good ‘mmf.’

Finally, she tried a bite of the zuccotto.

This time her eyes closed and she made a face like the love of her life had just slipped his cock inside her.

“Mmmmm,” she moaned with her mouth closed.

I really hoped Aunt Giovanna was right when she said my cooking was better than sex.

“Mm… very good. Excellent,” she said as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Better than I’ve had in many Michelin-starred restaurants.”

I beamed like a five-year-old at Christmas.

“If it were up to me, I would hire you in an instant,” Signora Lombardi said.

My smile fell.

“…but it’s not up to you?” I asked, crestfallen.

She smiled sympathetically. “There’s someone else you need to talk to first.”

The next part of the interview was far scarier.

Signora Lombardi took me to a parlor near the front door of the mansion. Inside was a dark wood-paneled room filled with leather chairs. Bottles of expensive booze sat on a bar by the wall, and the faint scent of cigar smoke lingered in the air.

A guy was working on a sofa, sorting through sheets of paper laid out on a coffee table in front of him. He was dressed in a light blue dress shirt, although it was open at the neck and untucked over his expensive dress pants.

He looked like he could have been Valentino’s brother, except he was several years older, clean-cut, and more slender than muscular.

And not as hot.

Definitely very, very cute…

Just not as hot as my dream boy.

“Signor Rosolini,” Signora Lombardi said. “This is the new prospect I was telling you about – Caterina Martinelli.”

The guy looked up, locked eyes with me, and gave me a charming smile.

“Ciao, bella! Call me Niccolo. Please – sit,” he said, motioning towards a chair opposite him.

gave me an encouraging nod. I sat down and watched nervously as she walked out of the parlor and

relax! You’re very tense. A drink,

thought it might not be wise to booze it

smile and waggled his finger at me. “Good – good! That was a test. A little one. Don’t need people drinking on the job. You passed. In fact, you can stop worrying – you practically have the job. Signora Lombardi was effusive in her praise for your cooking. I can’t wait to taste some of your

words were quite complimentary, and I forced a smile

word stood out in

“…practically?” I asked.

Niccolo said. “You don’t have a criminal record,

the cops had let me and my friends off after that drunken party in Florence

already knew that. We checked you out before you even stepped foot on the property. But I need to

I swallowed hard. “Okay.”

and resting on the top of the sofa, and

my family?”

Oh shit.

you had

Niccolo laughed.

street.” Then he stopped laughing, and his smile faded. “I meant specifically about my family,

Oh shit. Oh SHIT.

“I…”

his head to the side and waited, never taking his

“That… you’re…”

I trailed off.

he said as he

look him in the

mafia,” I

a long

Niccolo burst

looked up

my family. Let me assure you, they’re just that: rumors. We’re importers and exporters. We deal in wine and olive oil. We have

did relax. He seemed so friendly…

smile turned a

my family is quite wealthy. And that makes us targets. For con men, grifters, thieves, thugs… that’s why you might occasionally see men with guns on the property. They’re our bodyguards.

a boyfriend,”

of exes, but

you sign a pile of NDAs – that’s Non-Disclosure Agreements – but I wanted to be sure there was nothing that might prevent you from maintaining my family’s… secrets,

wasn’t exactly

it wasn’t friendly,

in everything he was telling

sure I got the message without

up in

was pretty sure the Rosolinis were

that they were… and was that

I didn’t know anything about the mafia other than what I’d seen in movies and heard from gossip

would have run

I hated my life in

if I could get a job somewhere like this, cooking for a living,

certain incredibly handsome man dropping by the

won’t tell anyone,” I

Niccolo said, then clapped his hands together. “You’ll live here on the estate in the house

will?!” I

to the grounds when you’re not working. It’s quite beautiful here. I’ll arrange for one of our bodyguards to take you on a tour if you like. Now, unfortunately, no matter how great a cook Signora Lombardi says you are, there’s a bit of a hierarchy in the kitchen – and I don’t want to be

onions and garlic for years in a top