Page 16 of Days Of Valentino

“Yeah, I know the feeling.”

“I know that you’re probably already looking for the person, but I need you to do something for me, Antonio…”

“What?”

“If you find him before my husband does, I need you to let him help you deal with the problem,” she says. “He needs it.”

I want to tell her that he can fuck right o#. That if it weren’t for his bullshit job, Matilda wouldn’t be in this bed in the firstplace. One look at my fiancée, though, and I know that I need to work with her family on this.

“Okay,” I agree. “I’ve got some things to see to. Are you going to stay with her?”

“Yes.”

“Can you call me if she wakes up? I’ll come back.” I kiss Matilda once more, straighten up, and button my suit jacket.

Livvy nods before glancing at her daughter again. “I’ll call you.”

I walk back out into the waiting room and catch all the expectant stares shooting my way. My brother dips his chin, letting me know our guys have the fucker. I point to Romeo. “You’re coming with me,” I tell him as I walk out of the hospital.

I don’t turn around to see if he’s following me. I don’t give a fuck if he is. I might have told Livvy that I’d work with him on this, but I’m not going to force him to do it. He either follows me or he doesn’t.

By the time I reach the parking lot, three Valentinos step up next to me. “You know, just because you got him first, doesn’t mean you’re better,” Theo grunts.

“Pretty sure it does, actually,” I tell him, eyeing Romeo and Dante as I jump into the car.

Episode Seven

Violence. The behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill. Growing up Valentino, I haven’t exactly been a stranger to the term. Or the act. Not when your family is the head of one of the world’s largest crime organizations.

What I’ve never witnessed before is the kind of violence my father is reveling in right now. He’s not alone either. No, thiswhole thing has turned into some kind of fucked-up bonding experience.

If I didn’t know how much my old man and future brother-in-law needed this, I’d be up there right alongside them. This fucking asshole did have my sister shot after all. Instead, I’m leaning against the back wall, next to my Zio Theo who looks… proud? No, that’s not it. Glee. My uncle has fucking glee in his eyes. The sick bastard gets a kick out of this shit.

Meanwhile, I’m doing everything I can not to let the contents of my stomach come up. Like I said, I’m not a stranger to violence. But the shit they’re doing to this fucker? It’s a kind of torture I’ve not seen before, especially from the revered mayor of New York.

The last thing I need is to throw up, though. I’ll never hear the fucking end of it.

“How much longer do you think this is going to last?” I ask my uncle.

“Why? You got somewhere else to be?”

“No, but you do. Unless Zia Maddie is taking that trip alone.” I try, unsuccessfully, to hide my smirk at my uncle’s sudden distress. My aunt planned a getaway for the two of them. And it’s in my best interests to make sure that they go. I have a surprise for Josie—one I don’t need my uncle finding out about just yet. Mostly because I’m not an idiot and I don’t want to die at seventeen.

“Fuck,” he hisses while running a hand through his hair. “Yo, Romeo, think you can speed this Frankenstein show up a bit? I’ve got other places to be.” Zio Theo pushes off the wall and walks the few steps over to where my father and Antonio have the guy strung up with a butcher hook through each hand.

We’ve been here for three hours already. It seems Pops and Antonio have found an activity they both excel at. Although I can’t tell if they’re trying to one up each other with everythingthey’re doing to the guy or really this messed up in the head. By the looks of it, they’re literally going tit for tat.

Right now, Antonio has an electric sander removing the guys toenails one at a time. But it doesn’t stop at the removal of the nails. No, once the skin beneath is red raw, he gets a rusty nail and hammers it right into the middle. Don’t ask me why, but it’s clearly painful as fuck. The guy is either screaming or passing out.

“You go. I’ll finish up here,” Pops tells Zio Theo.

“Romeo, I think he’s had enough,” my uncle replies, nodding towards the guy they’re torturing. He’s hooked up to some kind of IV and receiving bags of blood at the same time. They’re keeping the asshole alive as long as they can.

“He’s had enough when I fucking say he’s had enough!”

I take a step forward, because I don’t like the way Zio Theo is glaring at my Pops. Not that he’d do anything—well, not anything lethal anyway. But I’m not going to stand by and let someone, family or not, touch my old man.

Deciding to put an end to all of this, because I actually want to get out of here and go and pick up Josie, I grab a knife from the table next to me and throw it at the fucker’s throat. The blade lands front and center, causing him to gurgle up some blood before his head hangs, and every ounce of life drains from his body.

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