His Chosen Mafia Queen

Chapter 11

Valentino pov

Once we step back into the main area, everyone

looks at us curiously, except for Javi, who gives me

a knowing look, which causes me to smirk before I

return to my seat.

Soph doesn’t hesitate to get back to business. It’s

interesting seeing her in her element. She handles

all of these tasks with ease, and it’s clear to see that

everyone here trusts and respects her.

My phone vibrates and catches my attention as

soon as I feel it on my thigh, which causes me to

silently curse whoever is trying to disturb my time

around Soph, and I decide to ignore it. I know I

should answer right away, but I want just a few

more minutes of calm before going back to my

usual chaotic life. Moments later, it vibrates again,

and I let out a silent sigh and finally pull it out of my

pocket and see it’s Owen. Looking in Sophia’s

direction, I couldn’t help but smile. She is having an

animated conversation with Javi and her other

students while laughing. I don’t know how she’s

staying so grounded in this f****d up situation, but

she is, and that makes me proud of the strongwoman she became, but it’s not enough to keep her

safe.

My phone vibrates again, and this time I answer.

Owen wouldn’t be this persistent if it weren’t

important.

Standing up, I walk to the hallway entrance while

keeping Soph in my line of sight and answer the

call: “O what’s up”?

“We got a bite”, he states seriously.

“Good, what are the details?” I ask matter-of-factly.

“One of Al’s old men just made a call from a burner,

asking if the message made it to the king.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“He said he didn’t know Al was dead. He sounded

confused and nervous, boss.”

“Good, he should be. Al had a rep for having his

goons do his dirty work with limited information on

how dangerous their jobs were…where is he now?”“He’s still at his place, we got eyes on him, but

haven’t made a move yet. What’s the move, boss?”

“Good, don’t make any moves yet, keep an eye on

him and see if he meets or speaks to anyone.”

“You got it, boss.” A long pause of silence passes

the line before I hear O tell the guys he’ll be right

back, and a car door closes. “V it’s just you and me

now…Sophia would want action taken right away to

keep her safe. I don’t think she would want us to

drag this out.”

I glance at Sophia, and she’s still happily talking to

everyone. “I know O, but she doesn’t know this

world, and I would rather be thorough than rash. I

want this handled without there being loose ends.”

“Understood. We’ll make sure there aren’t any.”

“Good,” I respond before hanging up and placing

the phone back in my pocket. At that moment,

Soph looks in my direction, and her expression

turns serious before she walks to me.

“Everything okay, V?”“We got an update, the guy was working for a man

who wouldn’t fall in line whose no longer a

problem.”

“And?” She asks.

“And we’re making sure we’re only dealing with one

person. I want to make sure there are no loose

ends.”

“How long will that take?”

“Not too long.”

“I want to talk to them,” she states matter-of-factly.

“No.”

He huffs and pulls me into her office and closes the

door.

“What do you mean, no? It’s my life in danger, not

yours. I deserve some answers,” she demands.

“I won’t allow you next to anyone without knowing

you can protect yourself.”“You can’t control me, V. I know how to defend

myself; I took self-defense classes.”

“That’s not enough, Soph, the people I deal worse

than you could imagine.”

“I’m not scared. No one will make me fear for my

safety and get away with it.”

“We can agree there.”

“I’m not budging, Valentino.”

“Ugh, woman, fine, but under one condition,” I

respond.

“Name it,” she responds confidently.

“You learn how to use weapons and have your

fighting skills tested.”

“My fighting skills tested,” she repeats slowly.

“Yes, and I’m not talking about a cute little class

where a coach tells you to kick or hit a padded

shield to help you feel empowered.”She gives me a look with a little scowl that makes

me laugh with a shrug: “I’m just being honest.”

She crosses her arms: “I took a real self-defense

class, Valentino.”

“You’ll have to prove that. As I said, I don’t deal with

small-time criminals. If you’re going to insist on

being involved, you’ll have to be ready for anything.”

“So what does that entail? Me and a boxing ring

with one of your men fighting me?”

“Nope.”

“Then who?… Carmen because she’s a female?”

She asks while putting her hands on her hips.

I can’t help but laugh. She reminds me of that little

fairy that gets upset at Peter Pan, only without

blonde hair and light colored eyes. “I’m going to test

you myself.”

She scoffs: “I’m not scared of you, V.”

“Maybe you should be Soph.”“I know you won’t hurt me, so there’s no reason to

be scared of you.”

“I won’t hurt you, but that doesn’t mean people in

my world won’t try to hurt you. This is why I’m going

to train you myself, it’s the only way I’ll know for

sure that you can handle yourself…besides I am the

best, so why not learn from the best?” I state with a

cocky smile.

“Are you always this cocky?” She states with an eye

roll.

“I earned the right to be.”

“How so?”

“Lock the door”, I instruct before glancing around

the office to make sure there's nothing around that

can cause injury.

“Why?” She asks with confusion on her face.

“Don’t worry, nothing inappropriate will happen

unless you want it to.” That comment earned me a

really expression, so I chuckled in response. “Pleaselock it, we don’t need anyone walking in and getting

the wrong impression.”

She turns and turns the lock slowly, then takes a

deep breath and slowly lets it out, then turns around

to face me. “Okay, what now?”

I respond by getting into a fighting stance: “Now

show me yours.”

“Here? Seriously?”

“Danger isn’t always in a controlled environment…

humor me, Soph.”

“Fine,” she replies before moving the chairs to the

side, then gets into position.”

“Not bad at all…I could tell you have some training,

but it’s not good enough,” I state while circling her.

“Please tell me, Jedi master, teach me your ways,”

she states sarcastically.

Ignoring her sarcasm, I proceed Unfazed: “You’re

too stuff…stop thinking too much and allow your

instincts to lead.”“Maybe it’s because you’re circling me like I’m your

prey.”

“If you can’t handle it from me, how would you be

able to handle it from others?”

“My reactions to you will always be different from

others,” she admits quietly.

“Understand, but right now you have to pretend not

to know me…swing at me.”

She looks at me, surprised: “Do what now?”

“Try to hit me, Sophia.”

“Shouldn’t we leave this for another time?”

“No,” I state before stepping behind her and putting

her in a headlock.”

“What are you doing?” She asks in a slight panic.

“Show me you can handle yourself, Soph, show me

what you go.”

“I…I don’t want to hurt you.”“Don’t worry, I can take it.”

Using all of her strength, she bends forward and

tries to flip me over her shoulder, but can’t, then

groans.

“That might work with someone less muscular or

shorter, try again.”

This time, she tries stepping on my feet and trying

to elbow my sides:” I thought you took self-defense

classes, Soph,” I taunt.

“I did damnit” she replies angrily as she wiggles

around while I hold her.”

“Prove it.”

She exhales loudly: “Fine, no more playing nice.”

Sophia grabs my thumb and pulls it backwards,

then tucks her chin into my elbow. While her hand

goes on my face, pushing it backwards, and she

twists her body while adjusting her footing, then

puts her other arm behind me and puts her hand on

my forehead while pulling back, then punches me in

the gut.She moves her arm again to punch me lower, but I

let go before she causes me pain in an area I prefer

to remain painless.

“That’s enough for today. Tomorrow’s a new day.”

“No.”

“What do you mean, no?

“I want to be ready as soon as possible.”

“You can’t rush perfection, Soph.”

“I don’t need to be perfect. I need to know enough

to survive and defend myself against anyone who

dares to threaten me again.”