Undressed By The Mafia God

"I have to go." Voss said. "We have already stayed too long. You know what to do if you feel unsafe."

Valentina nodded. Her throat had gone too tight for speech.

"If anything changes, you call me."

She nodded again.

"I will have you removed instantly. Okay?"

The word removed made her stomach twist. Removed from what?

Her marriage?

Her life?

Would she take Matteo and run while Marco woke to find his wife and son gone?

"Okay?" Voss pressed.

Valentina nodded once more. Voss gave her one final look, then turned away. Valentina stayed where she was, staring down at the toys in front of her. She had planned to buy something for Matteo.

Now she was not sure she wanted anything. Her heartbeat intensified. She could feel it in her throat, in her wrists. She needed to get out.

Valentina walked to the exit. She reached her car, settled Matteo into his seat, checked his straps twice, then got into the driver’s side. For a moment, she simply sat behind the wheel and inhaled deeply.

Go to Commissioned.

That was her first thought.

Go see Marco. Make sure he was okay.

But if Voss was right, she could not afford sudden behaviour. She had been doing well so far. She started the car and headed home.

By the time she arrived home, her hands were stiff around the steering wheel. She parked in the garage, shut off the engine, and sat for one final second in the silence.

Then Matteo made a soft impatient sound from the back seat. Valentina unbuckled herself, stepped out, and opened his door. She picked him up carefully, holding him close against her chest, his warm little body grounding her as she walked towards the house.

As soon as Valentina entered the living room, Luca was there, sitting on a single sofa. Terrifyingly at home in a house that was not his, which was very Luca. The man had the unsettling ability to make every room feel as though it had been waiting for him to occupy it.

"Hey, Val..."

She jumped almost out of her skin. Matteo startled against her chest and released a small protest, his little arms jerking.

"Luca..." Valentina forced herself to breathe, then quickly composed her face. "What are you doing here?"

Luca leaned back slightly, one ankle resting over the other knee. His eyes moved over her slowly. "You look afraid...Why?"

Her hand tightened on Matteo’s back. "I’m not afraid. You startled me."

"Need help with Matteo?" he asked.

"No, it’s fine."

"Alright. I suck with babies anyway. I wonder what would become of me when your sister gives birth," he continued. "I’d be utterly useless. Exactly what I am feeling right now."

Valentina’s pulse kicked harder. "Why would you feel that?" she asked. She moved towards the bar, carefully, as though she were only adjusting Matteo’s weight and looking for somewhere to set her handbag. Her eyes flicked once to the cabinet where she knew Marco hid a gun.

His smile faded by a fraction. "You have placed me in a situation I never thought I would find myself."

Valentina stopped beside the bar. Matteo shifted against her again, unhappy with the change in her breathing. She bounced once on her feet. "What are you talking about?"

Luca rested his elbow on the arm of the chair, his fingers loosely touching his mouth. "With most problems, I know exactly what to do...A man betrays me, I cut him out. A man threatens my wife, I end him. Someone becomes a liability, I remove the liability. It is simple. But you..." he tilted his head. "You are not simple."

"I have no idea what you mean."

"Whatever I do to get rid of you," Luca said, "I hurt Marco. I hurt my wife. That I cannot do."

Her face went cold.

Get rid of you.

Matteo fussed again, and Valentina pressed a kiss to his head because if she did not touch him, she might forget how to stand.

"What are you talking about?" she asked again.

Luca’s eyes sharpened. "You set yourself up, Val, so do not act stupid. The police questioned the Kanes."

"I don’t see what that has to do with me."

"There is no way they would have known that the Kanes were involved with me outside of visiting my club."

"Maybe someone saw them with you." Valentina’s hand moved behind her, feeling for the edge of the bar.

"You..." Luca said, eyes fixed on her face, "you were the only person who could have known."

Valentina shook her head. "Still have no idea what you are saying."

"Do you know what I hate about this?" he asked. "You are not even good at lying. That is what makes it insulting. Bianca lied beautifully. You? You are so obvious. The fake concern and too tight hugs that weren’t a part of your repertoire even when you still used to like me."

Valentina’s eyes burned as she panicked. "I did nothing."

The house was too quiet. Where were the staff? The nanny? Anyone? Had he arranged this?

"The Kanes helped you, Val," Luca said. "You stayed with them for a while when you were entangled with Bastardi."

"And take a wild guess who had me entangled with Bastardi," Valentina demanded while calculating how quickly she could reach the gun Marco kept hidden at the bar.

"I do hate repeating myself," he said, "but your father did. Your father offered you up. Not your sister. You. I thought I had an asshole for a brother...Julian at least announced his hate. His treachery was expected of him. He wore envy badly, and died exactly the way men like him usually do."

"But you..." Luca’s gaze fixed on her with disappointment. "Do you have any idea what you are doing to your sister? To your husband?"

"They will forgive me," Val said. "They always forgive me," she added, as though saying it again might make it less ugly.

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