Mafia Kings: Valentino: Dark Mafia Romance Series #6 by Olivia Thorn

Mafia Kings: Valentino: Chapter 45 We were meeting Rocco in a town called Gela, another small beach resort on the southern coast of Sicily.

Gela was a lot farther west than Pozzallo, which meant it was closer to Don Vicari's compound. Paolo got us there in only an hour and a half.

We found Rocco and his boys in another café, sitting outside in their tracksuits.

"Well, well, well," Rocco said as I walked up with Paolo. "Look who's here - Mr. Bleedin' Heart." I didn't say anything. I just stood there grimly.

Rocco stayed in his chair. He knew better than to stand up next toand look like a school kid.

"Am I gonna have any fuckin' trouble out of you today?" he snapped.

"No." "No, sir," he corrected me.

All his rent-a-thugs snickered.

"Don't push it," I warned him.

He glared at me, then broke out into a smirk. "The only reason I'm puttin' up with your sorry ass is because Pop said I had to. But you so much as step out of line or giveany lip, I swear..." He trailed off to imply a threat. It wasn't very scary.

I wanted to say, You swear what, exactly? You'll sendback hto Daddy because you're too much of a pussy to handle it yourself? Instead, I replied, "I won't say anything." "Good. But just so I don't have to listen to your fucking whining, today we're starting with the scum of the earth. Does that meet your approval?" he asked mockingly.

"Fine." "Good. Let's roll." Paolo moved to follow the group as they all moved into the street - "No," Rocco snapped. "You're not part of my crew. You stay here." Paolo watched forlornly as I walked away with Rocco and his gang. Don't be in a hurry to be a gangster, I wanted to say to him. Someday, you might just get your wish.

God help you if you do.

We hit the back alleys of Gela, looking for the guys who sold drugs.

Most of them coughed up immediately, producing fatter stacks of bills than the shopkeepers from the day before.

A couple of guys weren't exactly flush with cash, though.

One pleaded for an extension; Rocco punched him in the stomach so hard the guy crumpled to the ground. Rocco told him to have the money (plus a 50% late fee) in five days, or Rocco would break both his thumbs. The other guy tried to run for it when he saw Rocco down the block.

Big mistake.

Three of Rocco's thugs took off at a run.

I guess those tracksuits were good for something.

Three minutes later, Rocco got a phone call on his cell.

"You get him? Good. Where are you? Alright - see you in a few minutes." We walked until we found an alley where the three thugs had the drug dealer pinned up against the wall.

His clothes were so-so - it looked like he shopped at the sArmani Exchange as Rocco's dipshits - but his eyes were rimmed with red, and he kept sniffing like he had a cold.

Classic case: An idiot who got high on his own supply.

Actually, on his boss's supply, which was his really big mistake. Besides running.

"Rocco, man, this is all a misunderstanding," the guy pleaded. "I got your money - I just gotta go get it. See, I got these guys who all owea grand, but they've been givingthe runaround. I been on their ass all week about payin'back. If you go with me, you could, like, scare the shit out of them and get 'em to cough up!" Rocco nodded his head like he was listening sympathetically- And then, out of nowhere, he punched the guy in the jaw.

Might have broken it from the way the guy howled.

A couple of people walking by the alleyway stopped to gawk.

"WHAT THE FUCK'RE YOU LOOKIN' AT?!" Rocco roared at them.

They immediately disappeared.

Rocco turned back to the guy. "You owesix grand, you stupid fuck." "No - no, it's only three," the guy protested.

Although with his broken jaw, it sounded more like, No, ih on-ee hree.

"It was three grand a month ago, before all the late fees. Now you owe six." "Rocco - "the guy pleaded, tears in his eyes.

"Show this piece of shit what happens when he's late on his bills," Rocco said to his gang.

That was what they were waiting for - Probably the main reason they worked for Rocco, the sick fucks.

They kicked the shit out of him.

The guy screamed and wailed and held up his hands to defend himself - but the thugs just broke his fingers as they stomped on him.

I usually had no sympathy for drug dealers, but Jesus. When they were through with him, the guy was a mangled, bloody mess on the filthy floor of the alleyway. "Now you owe 7000," Rocco said right before he spat on him. "Have my money in two weeks, bitch, or next twe put you in the ground." The guy just moaned as Rocco and his boys walked away, laughing and high-fiving.

"You wanna pay his fuckin' debt, too, Mr. Bleedin' Heart?" Rocco asked me.

"No, I'll let him handle it," I said, depressed as hell from what I'd just seen.

After the drug dealers cthe pimps. We found them at no-tell motels, the kinds that rented by the hour Sleazy-looking assholes with open shirts and gold chains around their necks. Predators and bottom feeders. In the rooms behind them were the women, on breaks between customers.

Swere brash and funny as they catcalled Rocco's men, offering them a discount.

But the vast majority were frightened and didn't make eye contact.

Many of them were drug-addicted, with red-rimmed eyes and glassy stares. Shad needle tracks up and down their arms.

My stomach hurt every tI saw one of them sitting in the background, slowly rocking back and forth, staring into space.

I remembered how Dahad banned all pimps in our territory and ordered that all the women Were to be offered 5000 euros if they would get out of prostitution and do something else. At the time, we'd all thought he was crazy - But now, standing outside those tawdry hotel rooms, I decided it was the best thing he'd done since he becDon.

The pimps were almost all on twith their payments. The ones who weren't gave Rocco most of the money and promised the rest by the end of the day.

I looked past them at the lost souls under their control. I knew exactly where the pimps were going to get that money...

And I wanted to kill every last one of them for what they were doing to those women.