BOOKSDRAMA Chapter 117
Mafia Kings: Valentino: Chapter 117
I looked out at everyone in the audience.
I saw the shock on the faces of Roberto, Lars, and their fiancées –
The bewilderment on Adriano’s –
The Did he just DO that?! expression on Bianca’s face –
The Holy SHIT, this is gonna be GOOD! look on Lucia’s –
And the tearful smile on Alessandra’s.
Niccolo was furious – nearly frothing at the mouth.
That didn’t scare me, though.
What scared me was the cold, dispassionate frown Dario gave me –
And the look of psychopathic rage on Don Vicari’s face.
But before anyone could start shouting, I spoke loudly to drown them all out.
“I’m in love with another woman. I have been for half a year now, but I was too stupid to admit it. Her name is Caterina Martinelli.
everything for me.
“But I was a coward.
“My brother Dario gave me a chance to marry her before I came to Sicily – and like a fool, I turned him down.
“She risked her life to follow me here. I’ve been seeing her over the last two weeks.
“But I was still a fool. I let her slip through my fingers.
“I can’t do that again. Even if my family disowns me... even if I make mortal enemies today because of it... I can’t lose her. I
can’t. I won’t.
“I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused. Isabella is a wonderful girl, and I’m sure – ”
I turned back to look at Isabella, and my voice faltered.
Her face was whiter than her wedding dress.
Behind her, Ludavica looked like she might faint.
Suddenly, I remembered what she’d told me two nights ago:
All those suitors my father brought around?
I said ‘no’ because they were all like my father: they hated gay people.
And if they found out after I was married, they would definitely kill her, and probably me. With my father’s blessing.
SHIT.
I hadn’t just ruined Cat’s life and my own –
I might’ve fucked up Isabella’s and Ludavica’s lives, too.
If Isabella was forced to marry somebody else –
And the new guy found out about her and Ludavica and didn’t like it –
GODDAMN IT!
I had to live with the consequences of my actions –
But I couldn’t make them suffer, too.
So I did something I didn’t exactly think through.
All I remembered was Isabella saying, If I’m not a virgin, no Cosa Nostra asshole my father would approve of would ever want to
marry me. And if you bailed, he’d definitely force me to marry one of them.
If I just fixed it so nobody would marry her –
Problem solved.
I turned back to Don Vicari and said, “I have a confession to make. In my anger and – and my feeling powerless in all this – I
took it out on your daughter. I – two nights ago – I forced myself on her in the garden. Isabella’s not a virgin anymore – because I
raped her.”
That’s when all fucking hell broke loose.
Like I said: I didn’t exactly think it through.