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

Mafia Kings: Valentino: Chapter 31

The highway followed the coast and eventually headed up into the hills. Soon we took a smaller highway farther up into the mountains.

The view was gorgeous – especially the sparkling blue of the Mediterranean behind us.

Cat would have loved to have seen this, I thought bitterly.

As far as I knew, she’d never seen the Mediterranean.

And now I’ll never get to take her.

Thirty minutes later, we took an off-ramp into nowhere. There were only a few scattered villages along the two-lane road. Everything else was rolling hills that went on for miles, full of scrub brush, boulders, and a few cedar trees here and there. Occasionally you would see a crumbling stone building, probably 200 years old, that the inhabitants had abandoned.

Then things got worse.

The road narrowed to one lane with a stomach-churning drop on one side. If there hadn’t been metal guardrails, it would’ve been incredibly easy to just go sailing off the cliff.

Thank God there wasn’t any traffic coming in the opposite direction. I had no idea how they would have gotten past us.

The road itself was awful. Chunks of asphalt were broken away, and there were potholes everywhere. The ride became a series of jarring bumps as the caravan continued.

Finally, after 25 minutes of driving out into the middle of nowhere, I saw what looked like a large stone building in the distance. It was surrounded by tall, skinny cedars and had a sloped roof of rounded clay tiles.

Is this it? I wondered.

Sure enough, we turned down a gravel road towards the building. After a few minutes, we reached a massive brick wall with a wrought-iron gate, much like the one my family had around our property in Tuscany.

Unlike ours, though, there were no surveillance cameras or automatic gates – just two guys with shotguns standing guard.

As soon as they saw the cars, they unlocked a chain around the bars and pulled the gates open.

After we drove through, they shut the doors again and locked the chain.

Beyond the brick walls, there weren’t any trees – just lots of dry grass and rocky ground. Probably so nobody could sneak across the property and attack it.

We soon came to the building I’d seen from the road. Its three-story walls were made of massive sandstone blocks worn down by centuries, with two dozen arched windows barricaded with metal bars.

I wondered if the bars were to keep people out… or in.

The SUV drove around the corner, and I realized that the wall belonged to just one of two buildings that made up a larger compound.

Between the two buildings stood a massive iron gate – not made of bars with space between them, but a solid sheet of hammered metal.

Perfect for stopping bullets, I mused.

right of the metal slab was a single doorway big enough for a person

other men manually pulled back the iron gate on creaking hinges so the caravan could drive

either side of the gate. At least half a dozen

Snipers nest.

the two buildings, and I realized

a worn cobblestone road that stretched for at least two

grassy courtyard. The fountain in the center had what looked like an ancient Roman sculpture of

and hung from chains embedded into the stone walls. Inside them

building: giant doors made of weathered wood with iron trim

waited as the driver quickly hopped out

Shotgun didn’t do the same

said. “Time to meet your

out and stood by the car as

wearing black pants, white shirts, black vests, and caps came out first. They all had shotguns or rifles, so I

of a woman, maybe 4’10”. Her face was wrinkled as a walnut,

an old-timey black dress with a high neck, lots of black lace, and long sleeves that came down

apron held her arm as she walked. The old lady took small steps, and it was a long process

years old and sharp as a

followed Vicari dutifully over to the old woman, who had finally reached

Vicari said, “this is

me and smiled. Her teeth were tiny and yellow, though she was missing

right?” Vicari said. “I got a

in a thick

burst out with a chuckle in spite of

softly as

was a

we were surrounded by guys with guns, and her grandson was a

here’s my daughter, Isabella,” Vicari

the Don’s

And was immediately confused.

standing in

was actually kind

nice face, even with

was also really shy. She looked at me, but when our eyes met, she glanced away and

hair was dark brown, curly, and extended past

about it was incredibly modest: sleeves halfway to her elbows, a neckline that

wasn’t crazy about was how thin she was:

but in all the right places. I knew a lot of guys liked

was more of