Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
A single tear falls down my cheek. I'm back inside a cage again, and this time—the cage doesn’t even have windows for me to look out of.
CHAPTER 14
LUC
When I get back to the casino, Vincent is waiting for me in his corner booth. I’d expected him to look more stressed or to have a pressing expression on his face since he made it sound like this meeting was urgent. Instead, he’s sitting there with a drink in front of him and his eyes keenly focused on his phone screen until I walk over and sit down to join him.
“Luciano, thank you for coming,” he says as he looks up and puts his phone back in his pocket. “I'm sorry that I had to interrupt your accompanying Valentina to her doctor’s appointment.”
“It’s okay,” I say, even though I’m not at all thrilled to be missing it, especially since I’m going to be sending her away soon and was trying to spend as much precious time with her as possible first. Plus, impending fatherhood, even though it was an unexpected occurrence, isn’t somewhat that I want to miss out on any moments of.
“You said it was important,” I remind him. “Has something happened?”
“Not quite, but there is intel that suggests something is about to.”
That holds my attention now. Honestly, I want Leonardo to make his move, whatever it’s going to be. The sooner he acts, the sooner we can counteract and put him down, and that means the sooner Valentina can stay by my side so that we can move on with our lives and her pregnancy.
“People have seen Leonardo, Angelo Barone, and Valentina’s father together near the Vegas Strip during the last twenty-four hours,” he says.
“Giovanni Ricci?” I ask, surprised that he would still be in bed with the likes of men like Leonardo after what happened in Italy.
Leonardo Conti isn’t a very forgiving man. Considering that Giovanni’s daughter made a fool of him in front of a crowded church audience, I’m surprised that Leonardo hasn’t had Giovanni killed, or at the very least, cut him out financially and made his life a living hell. There’s only one reason Leonardo would still keep Valentina’s father around, and that is because he wants to use him for something.
“Has Valentina mentioned anything about her father contacting her?” Vincent asks.
“No, not at all.” I shake my head. “Actually, she mentioned how hurt she felt he hadn’t even bothered to contact her after the Italy fiasco.”
“Well, if there’s one thing that we both know, Leonardo is a master of, it’s manipulation. He’s probably pulling Giovanni around on strings like a puppet,” he says. “And I’m guessing that he’s going to use Giovanni to get to Valentina. I’m just not sure how yet—maybe he’ll threaten her father in order to leverage her back or send Giovanni to talk some sense into her and ride her with guilt about breaking the arrangement.”
“But what part do the Barones have to play in all of this, then?” I ask.
“Angelo Barone and his crew are the muscle. Leonardo has all the resources, Giovanni Ricci has the familial leverage, but if those things don’t work to both return Valentina to him and achieve the vengeance that he wants, then Leonardo will try to use Angelo Barone and his might to finish the job,” he explains. “That simply means the stakes are higher. I know you don’t want Valentina caught up in the middle between her father and whatever Leonardo has planned, so you really need to get her on the next flight out of the city.”
I nod in agreement, even though I had hoped to spend one more night with her before having to send her away. “I’ll put her on the next flight out of town as soon as her doctor clears her for travel.”
“Good. That should also free up some of your headspace to focus on handling things here. The sooner we take care of business, the sooner Valentina can return and be with you again.”
As Vincent sips his drink, I take a moment to consider thoughtfully all his current efforts to help me. He could still be angry about the trouble that I’ve caused him. He could honestly demote or punish me for acting against my consigliere duties, prioritizing Valentina over my family responsibilities. Instead, he’s having this impactful strategic planning discussion with me as if everything that I did is now just water under the bridge. It’s big of him to act this way, and I respect him even more for it. I also feel even more guilty for having ever planned on trying to overthrow his leadership position inside the family. So guilty that I need to fess up.
“Thank you for doing all of this to help me, Vincent. I know that part of this has now bled over into your businesses and into the family itself, and for that, I am sorry. But you are doing more than just looking out for the Moretti family’s interests. You’re helping me to keep Valentina protected and to resolve this quickly so that we can be together. You don’t need to do all of that, and yet, you are.”