Undressed By The Mafia God

"Trust me," she snapped.

Her plan was simple. Get Vito to Luca. Luca wanted to kill Vito, didn’t he? He wanted her to hand over Voss’s witness on a silver platter. Fine. She would hand him over.

All she had to do was get Vito’s murder on tape. Then Voss would have him. Then Luca would go down once and for all.

Then Marco would come back. Then Vee would understand. Then everything would be fixed. The fantasy sat in her chest, held together with panic, and a truly insulting amount of denial.

"Where are we going?" Vito asked.

"Somewhere safe." She navigated a couple of streets, taking turns fast enough to make Vito grip the handle above his door.

Her phone started ringing. Both of them looked down.

Voss.

Of course Voss would call the moment he realised she had pulled Vito out. She killed the call instantly.

The pizza parlour appeared ahead, dark and abandoned, sitting on the street.

This place.

The beginning of so much rot. She pulled up outside.

"Why are we here?" Vito asked.

"It is the safest place for now," Val said. "No one would think to look for you here."

That part was almost funny. No one would think to look for him in the one place where everything started.

Vito stepped out of the vehicle slowly, still glancing around. Valentina made a show of parking the car properly.

While he looked towards the boarded windows, she unlocked her phone with trembling fingers. Her pulse hammered so loudly she could barely think. She typed quickly, keeping the screen low.

’Pizza parlour. He’s here. Come now.’

She sent it to Voss. Then she shoved the phone into her pocket, got out of the car and joined Vito at the entrance.

They stepped inside. Valentina reached for the switch and turned on the lights. Fluorescent bulbs flickered overhead, buzzing awake one by one.

And right there, sitting in the long-abandoned pizza parlour, was Luca. He sat at one of the old tables. One leg stretched out, one arm resting lazily on the chair beside him, a gun held loosely in his hand.

"Vito Scalese," Luca drawled, the gun catching the dirty light. "Long time no see."

"Luca!" Vito gasped and turned to Valentina. "What...what is he doing here?"

"I don’t know," Valentina said quietly. "I didn’t know he would be here." She turned slightly, pretending to adjust her shirt.

With trembling fingers, she switched on the tiny camera she had attached near the inside seam. The device was small enough to hide, but in that moment, it felt as heavy as a brick against her chest.

Luca was not reacting the way he was supposed to. He was too calm. And if there was one thing Valentina had learned about Luca Genovese, it was that when he looked unsurprised, someone else was usually about to discover they had been stupid.

Vito turned to Luca, fear already shining in his eyes. "Luca... Luca... come on..."

Pathetic.

Painful.

Luca rose from the chair. The gun still dangled at his side, loose in his hand.

"Luca..." Vito swallowed hard. "You know I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t testify. We had a deal."

Her eyes shot up fully. "What deal?"

Luca reached Vito and clapped him on the shoulder like they were old friends. "You are a good man, Vito,"

The words were so ridiculous Valentina almost laughed.

Good man.

Vito Scalese.

"What deal?" Valentina asked again, louder this time.

"Come," Luca said smoothly. "Come sit."

Vito obeyed almost instantly. Valentina stood frozen near the door. This was wrong. The camera was running. The evidence was being gathered. Voss was coming. She had done what Luca demanded while secretly doing what Voss needed. But then, she felt like she had walked herself into the centre of Luca’s plan.

"I would invite you to the house," Luca continued, "but my wife doesn’t know about this nonsense yet. I hate to break her heart."

"Of course, of course," Vito said quickly. "I understand." He walked forward to one of the seats and sat.

Like a dog told to stay.

Valentina’s disgust rose hot in her throat. He sounded like a man still trying to please Luca. Luca turned back to Valentina.

His smile remained on his face as he stepped closer, close enough that she could see the cold amusement in his eyes. He leaned in, his mouth near her ear. "I am always going to be one step ahead of you, Val. I am going to allow you to bury yourself so deep that your sister eventually sees nothing but your callousness, selfishness, bitterness, and finally, the ridiculous burden she has had to carry on her back all these years."

Valentina’s face went cold. he knew nothing about her and Vee. Nothing about what it meant to grow up with a father like Vito. Nothing about holding one another together.

Luca straightened. The smile was still there.

Vile man.

Manipulative dick.

"So, Vito," Luca said, turning away from her as if she had already served her purpose. "Tell me, how have the police been treating you?"

Valentina was genuinely confused now. Her plan began slipping in her hands. Luca was entertaining Vito.

Vito shifted in his chair, eager now that Luca was not immediately shooting him. "The state is cheap, I tell you."

Luca hummed, as if deeply interested.

"They demand you give them your life and give little in return," Vito said, warming to his complaint. "The food is terrible, the living arrangement is dreadful."

Valentina looked between them. Her pulse kept climbing. Vito continued to speak while Luca listened patiently.

"Well," Luca said. "Once this is all over and you get what you want, I will do my best to help you smooth things over with your daughter."

She knew she was in trouble then.

Vito nodded quickly. "Yes, yes. That would be good."

"Whatever happened in the past should stay in the past, eh?" Luca continued. "I mean," Luca said, turning his head slightly, "if one daughter could forgive you..." He gestured to Valentina. "She can too."