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I burst into a disbelieving laughter. “This is crazy.” But curiosity gets the better of me, so even though I’m embarrassed, I find myself asking, “What about Maria? Any dirt on her husband?”
Valentino slides me an amused glance. “Look at you. What a curious little thing you are?” he teases.
“Come on. Please.”
“Well, since you asked so nicely.” He steers the car into our neighborhood. “Maria’s husband doesn’t actually fancy women, but it’s all good because she has a boyfriend, and Tina, who you haven’t mentioned, knows about it.”
I slump in my seat. “I need to talk to Vance. Can he run a background check on my future?”
Valentino grins. “He already did. Fifty years into the future, we’re still married, our kids are all grown up, and we spend our days fucking in bed and rocking in the verandah.”
I laugh. “Don’t kid yourself. In fifty years you’ll be over eighty. You’ll be lucky to get one erection every two months.”
Valentino pulls the car onto the driveway. “Then I guess I have to get all the sex out of the way before then, won’t I?”
His eyes shine with lust, and I’m about to dash out of the car when he grabs me and pulls me to him. I try to scramble out of his hold, but his arms tighten around my waist.
“Don’t struggle. You’ll only make your punishment worse,” he whispers into my ear, sending a ticklish feeling down my body. I bite back a laugh. “Put me down, Valentino.”
“You don’t have enough bass in your voice,” he mocks. He rushes me up the stairs and into our bedroom. He’s just put me on the bed when there’s a knock on the door.
Valentino frowns. “What is it?”
“Sorry to bother you, Don Barone,” the housekeeper says, “but there’s someone in the living room waiting to see you.”
“Who is it?” Valentino asks.
“He says his name is Tom Hawkins.”
Valentino’s disposition changes as he sets me on my feet, and I know I’m looking at the Boss of the Barone clan. A sliver of fear snakes up my spine.
“Give me a minute, Francesca,” he says softly. “I’ll be back. Don’t move a muscle while I’m away.”
I nod and slump onto the bed as he disappears from the room. I stay as I am for a few minutes, but with every second that ticks past, I feel myself grow more and more restless. There is something different about this visitor. It was obvious in the immediate switch in Valentino at the mention of the name.
I scramble out of the bed and head for the door, careful not to make too much noise as I pad in my bare feet quickly down the stairs. I hear an unfamiliar voice and trace it all the way to the living room. Hiding behind the wall I carefully peek into the living room.
Valentino is seated on an armchair and his body is calm and composed, but I detect anger rolling off him in waves. Three men are standing in front of him, but one of them is obviously the leader, his posture is more confident and aggressive.
“We urge that you desist from ruining this city,” he says in a harsh tone. “As the new superintendent of the New York City Police Service, I intend to rid the city of people like you. Peoplewho make money off people’s weaknesses and perversions. You have made yourself very rich, but I need you to know that it’s not for long. Because Tom Hawkins has arrived and I plan to clean up this city.”
When he finishes his rant, Valentino observes a moment of silence before clapping his hands. “Bravo,” he says sarcastically. “Great speech. Wrong audience.”
Tom Hawkins starts to speak again, but Valentino raises a finger, effectively shutting him up. “If you have a personal vendetta against me, join the queue,” he says. “But I guarantee that your high and mighty stance will not end very well for you.”
“I don’t have a personal vendetta against you, Mr. Barone. I’m just taking the trash out of my city!”
“Trash?” Valentino growls suddenly, and I gasp, slapping a palm over my mouth to keep the scream at bay. Suddenly, he is not the man I know. He is scary and he’s not even on his feet. Tom Hawkins is so shocked by the transformation he stumbles back and knocks into the two men behind him.
“Like I said, if you want to make an enemy of me, join the queue.” Valentino rises to his feet and towers over the three men like a giant. “But I must warn you, the next time you step foot into my home, you’ll leave in a wheelchair.”
“Is that a threat, Mr. Barone?”
Valentino smiles. “Why don’t you find out?”
Tom Hawkins stares back at him for a moment before turning abruptly to leave. I move back as they walk past me towards the front door. I start running up the stairs to go back to the bedroom when I hear my name called.
“Francesca.”