Undressed By The Mafia God

Marco had always lived his life knowing it did not belong to him. From the moment the famiglia had taken him in, shaped him, Marco had understood the price.

Still, when Luca informed him that he would be taking over Elio’s training for the next couple of months, Marco wanted to ask for any other assignment.

Anything.

Warehouse audits. Discipline problems. He would even take reviewing Commissioned’s accounts.

But Italy?

For months?

Away from Val, away from Matteo. Just when he and Valentina were finally standing on ground that did not crack beneath their feet.

They had only just found their way back.

"Why can’t he come to New York?" Marco asked.

Luca sat behind his desk at Commissioned. "Because his seat is not in New York...It is in Italy."

Marco exhaled. "Boss, you haven’t even made up your mind completely about Elio."

"Exactly...Elio was raised around the famiglia, not inside it."

Elio could wear the suits, sit at Massimo’s table, and still know nothing about what it meant to hold territories. If Massimo wanted the boy considered, someone had to strip the fantasy from him.

And Luca trusted Marco for that.

Luca continued, "If he cannot learn, I need to know. If he can, I need to know that too." He looked at him for a long moment, then said, "If you do a good job training him, maybe I won’t have a problem with Father handing over the famiglia to someone who can barely hold a gun."

Sending Marco to Italy was a gamble. A necessary one, but still a gamble. First, it would punish Valentina. Luca was honest enough with himself to admit that. He did not enjoy hurting Marco, but Val had pushed herself into a corner.

Second, it would stop her from gleaning information from Marco every chance she got. Marco trusted his wife. That made him vulnerable. She would ask simple questions, overhear his phone calls.

A woman did not need torture when a man loved her. An enemy outside the family was hard enough. An enemy inside it? That was a rot in the bone.

This was not going to end well. He knew it. Valentina had already crossed lines. Perhaps not all the way, perhaps not beyond redemption, but enough. In the mafia world, enough was often the distance between breathing and being buried.

Marco in Italy would protect him from whatever treachery Valentina might invent next. If Valentina had nothing, if she knew nothing, she could give nothing.

To whoever the fuck was circling her.

Luca dragged a hand over his mouth and looked back at Marco. "Look, I do not like this either. But we have to do what we have to do. I would go myself, but Vee still has the surgery, and with the baby on the way..."

"I got it, boss," Marco said.

"Thank you," Luca said.

Marco gave a small nod then he turned and stepped out of the office.

Luca leaned back in his chair and wondered again if he was making the right decision. Keeping this from Vee.

God, how was he supposed to tell his wife?

No.

Not yet.

Maybe after the surgery.

Valentina had already done enough to be shot dead by mafia standards. She had no idea that by keeping quiet, he was protecting her too.

Stupid girl.

Stupid, stupid girl.

*****

"For how long?" Valentina asked.

Marco stood near the wardrobe, pulling shirts from hangers and folding them into his open suitcase. "I don’t know."

She had been standing by the bed for several minutes, but her body had not fully accepted the information yet. "What do you mean, you don’t know?" she asked. "Why are you going?"

"I can’t say," Marco said.

"Here we go again," she muttered.

Marco’s head lifted, and the warning in his look was enough. Valentina closed her mouth, swallowed the rest of the sentence before it escaped and set fire to the room.

"I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Well," she said carefully, "is it a couple of days? Weeks?"

"Months."

"What?"

"I’ll come home in between," Marco said quickly, stepping towards her. "Whenever I can."

"Months?" she repeated. "Marco." She had already begun to understand.

Luca was doing this on purpose. He was taking Marco away to cripple her. To punish her. Luca thought distance would weaken her.

Fine.

Then he would not see it coming. He would not see it coming at all. Marco stepped closer, and drew her into his arms.

"I’m sorry, baby," he murmured into her hair. "I promise I will put a rush on things. I’ll try to end this as soon as possible. And if it is a lost cause, I will return even sooner."

Valentina pressed her face against Marco’s chest. Marco’s hand moved gently up her back, soothing her, loving her. She looked up at him. "I love you."

"I love you more, sweetie," he said. "And besides, you could pop in and surprise me every once in a while. Or...another option is to come with me."

"Come to Italy?" she asked. "Like until you are done there?"

"Yes."

Marco’s hands settled at her waist. "It would be nice to come home every day to you." His fingers slid lower, squeezing her ass.

"I don’t know," she said. "I don’t want to leave Vee now."

"Vee has Luca," he said. "I need you."

Valentina lifted her chin, forcing herself to think. She could not refuse outright. "How about we meet each other halfway?"

"What are you proposing?" Marco asked.

"After Vee’s surgery..." she said carefully. "I’ll join you. How about that?"

"I’ll count the minutes until then," Marco said, smiling and kissing her.

"How is Luca doing?" she asked once he pulled away.

Marco returned to his clothes, and Val joined him, picking up one of his white shirts. "He seems well...Happier even."

Val glanced at him. "Really?"

"I have not seen him that light in a long time."

"I’m glad," she said. "Vee seems really happy."

"She is," Marco said. "The baby news is exciting for them. You should worry less about your sister. She is living her best life right now."

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