HIS RUTHLESS MAFIA QUEEN

CHAPTER 5: who could it be?

Valentina’s pov:

By the time I got home, the sun has already disappeared. I stop out of the car and look up, finally I am home. at least that’s what everyone describes it to be, to me it is a fortress with mansion. Nothing enters without permission, nothing leaves without someone knowing or so I thought.

I walk through the front doors, pulling off my heels as I cross the marble floor.

“Valentina”

I stop, my father is standing at the bottom of the staircase, he wraps his arms around.

“ you are late” he didn’t shout this time around.

my father always had something to say, it’s either u didn’t do well or I over did. He ever appreciated my effort.

“ I was working” I rolled my eyes

“ well did you get it done, don’t tell me you failed with that look on your face”

“ father, you never trust me with anything. Well I did what I could” I kept my

face very calm and innocent in other to avoid his criticism.

“ Greco, is a tuff man. I should have just sent Macro as I always did. But you insisted, so?”

“ he is still alive”

my father raises an eyebrow, with a look of confusion

“ i never asked you to kill him, besides that’s not what i asked”

Before I can answer, my phone rings. I glance at the screen SALVATORE GRECO. He is calling I answer quickly. Father looks at me with a strict look; put the phone on speaker, I obeyed him.

“changed your mind?” A bit of laugh comes through the phone.

“ I hate you”

I smile, “ so yes”

“Two hundred rifles” he says, his voice sounds bitter. I could tell that his pride was hurt

I lean against the staircase

“ Seven days?”

“seven days”

“ and ten carafes of ammunition” fathers eyes were still fixed still on me, waiting to see if I will make any mistakes in the negotiation.

Salvotore took a pause, then he finally responded “fine”

“And my price.”

Silence, Then an irritated sigh.

“Your price.”

I smile and pushed my hair back. My father’s expression was numb. He wasn’t excited, the drama.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” I babbled.

“You’re impossible.”

“I’ve been called worse.”

I end the call.

My father is watching me.

“You got it?”

I slip my phone into my handbag

“I mean you basically heard the conversation, he agreed.”

A slow smile appears on my father’s face. I was waiting for him to say more, praise me, encourage me. But all I got was one word from him

“Good.” He uttered

He walks toward the sitting room.

“Come.”

i was wandering what he wanted to show me, curiosity grew the best out of me, I follow him. Even if I didn’t want to I can’t even say no. The room is warm and dim, the fireplace burning despite the mild evening outside. My father settles into his chair, I sit opposite him. He studies me for a moment.

“You handled yourself well today.” he placed his hands on the table

“Thank you.”

“But don’t become arrogant.” I have been waiting for him to talk, I knew he most have beared something from Salvatore. I almost laugh but comport myself back.

“I’m not arrogant.”

“You threatened a weapons trafficker.”

“He threatened me first.” I folded my arms and gave a cold look. Father eyes seemed worried, he cared for me.

“With an unloaded gun.”

“Exactly.”

My father shakes his head,“You’re going to give me gray hair.”

“You already have some.”

He gives me a look,, he stiffs his posture and sends held by his body. I smile. For a moment, everything feels normal than usual. Almost, then his expression changes.

“There is something else.

I immediately straighten.

“What?”

“The gala.”

I groan.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I told you I’m not going.”

“You’re going.”

“Father”

I barely remember how the conversation lead to an argument, father Kees on pushing me to go, but I don’t want to. So I argue back.

“Valentina.”

His voice carries the kind of authority that ends arguments before they begin. I sigh, that’s it. I just had to give up and agree

“When?”

“Saturday.”

“Where?”

“Taormina.”

“Who is hosting it?”

“The Bellini family.”

My smile fades slightly, the Bellinis don’t throw parties without a reason.

“They’re inviting everyone?”

“Almost everyone who matters.”

I raise an eyebrow.

“That’s a lot of dangerous people in one room.” Which means the De Luca will be around tkl

“Which is precisely why you’re attending.”

“Why?”

My father leans forward.

“Because there are rumors.”

“What kind?” I gasped

“About territory.”

I go quiet, he continues to talk

“Someone has been trying to interfere with the shipping routes.”

“Whose?”

“We don’t know.”

That bothers me, but I don’t show it. If I do then he will see me as week.

“Matteo?”

My father’s eyes sharpen.

I notice.

“Why did you say his name?”

“I didn’t.”

“You were thinking it.”

I lean back.

“The De Lucas have been expanding.”

“Yes.”

“And they’re not exactly known for respecting boundaries.”

father stands up, pour a drink, and sips from it

“Keep your distance from them.”

I study him.

“That’s specific.”

“It is.”

“Why?”

He doesn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he reaches for the glass on the table.

“There are men you negotiate with.”

He pauses.

“And there are men you survive.”

My stomach tightens.

“Which one is Matteo?”

My father looks directly at me.

“I’m telling you not to find out.”

Before I can respond, his phone rings, he looks at the screen. Something changes in his expression, he answers the phone

“What?”

Silence, I watch his face, then his body movements and then I see it his jaw tightens.

“Where?”

Another pause.

“Are you certain?”

My father slowly stands.

“What shipment?” he questions

My heart begins beating faster., he listens at first; the orders

“Get everyone to the warehouse.”

he ends the call. I rise.

“What happened?”

He looks at me.

“The Trapani shipment.”

My blood runs cold.

“The one I just negotiated?” He nods.

“It’s gone.”

I stare at him. I was shocked, how, gone. All my efforts, it’s impossible I felt I was going to run mad. I just finalized the deal.

“What do you mean gone?”

“The truck left the warehouse twenty minutes ago.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“It never arrived at the port.”

My mind races, my heart drops. I felt I was going to cry, but I just couldn’t. No single tears were ready to drop.

“Salvatore?”

“His men say they didn’t touch it.”

“Then someone intercepted it.”

My father doesn’t answer. He doesn’t need to, I already know what this means. Two hundred rifles along side ten crates of ammunition. Gone and whoever took them knew exactly where they were. My father walks toward the door furious.

“I’m coming with you.” I said

“No.” Father shouted at me

“Father”

“You’re staying here.”

“I made the deal.”

“And that’s why you’re staying here.”

I stare at him.

“Why?”

He turns toward me, for the first time tonight, I see something I rarely see in my father’s eyes. Fear, not for himself but for me.

“Because whoever took that shipment knew it was you who made the deal this time around”

I freeze.

“What?”

He reaches the door.

“They left something behind.”

My heart pounds.

“What?”

He looks at me.

“A message.”

Then he walks out, I stand there, frozen. My phone vibrates, I slowly pull it from my handbag. An Unknown number, one message. I open it and my blood turns cold.

YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER TAKEN THE DEAL, VALENTINA.

A second message appears.

NOW WE KNOW WHERE TO F