Days Of Valentino (Valentino Empire)
Episode One
“ W hy are you in my house, Dante?” Zio Theo grunts as he closes his refrigerator door on me.
“I was getting Josie one of those green juices she likes, so she could drink it on our way to school,” I tell him with my arms folded over my chest.
I love my uncle. I love my uncle, I repeat in my head.
At the moment, Zio Theo’s favorite thing to do is piss me off. He really has taken this whole adoption thing to the head. I wouldn’t put it past him to falsify DNA records to make the claim that Josie really is his kid.
I appreciate what my family has done for her, though. They didn’t have to take her in. They chose to. And the way my aunt and uncle have embraced her and treat her as one of their own is fucking great. For her. Me? Not so much.
I would have preferred if she’d just accepted my marriage proposal. Life would be so much better. I wouldn’t have to sneak in and out of my uncle’s place all the damn time. Sneaking into Theo Valentino’s house isn’t an easy feat.
“Here.” He opens the fridge, pulls out a bottle of green juice, and shoves it into my hands. “You know I bought her a car. She can take herself to school.”
“I know, but why would she when she can ride with me?” I ask him. “Thanks, Zio Theo. Catch you around.” I stalk out of the kitchen before he has anything else to say.
Josie is walking down the stairs as I enter the foyer, and I swear every time I see her, she takes my breath away.
“Shit, Josie, you’re going to make me kill people today,” I tell her.
She smiles wide. “No, I’m not.”
As soon as she reaches the bottom of the stairs, my arm snakes out and wraps around her back, bringing her body flush against mine. “When you look like this, every fucker is going to be gawking at you, and then I’m going to want to rip their eyeballs out of their sockets.”
Josie laughs. “I’m in a school uniform, Dante. There is nothing attractive about this.” She waves a hand down her torso.
“It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing, babe. You always look hot as fuck.” I lean forward and fuse my lips with hers. I can never get enough of her. “You ready?” I ask, pulling away much sooner than I’d like.
“I am. One sec.” Josie steps past me, and I follow her into the kitchen where she says a quick goodbye to Zio Theo and Zia Maddie.
“You know, we’d get to campus much quicker if you married me. We could get an apartment close to school.” I smirk while holding open the door for her.
Josie rolls her eyes as she slides into the passenger seat. I jog around my car, my new car that I love almost as much as I love Josie.
“You know how I feel about being a teen bride. Besides, sneaking around with you is so much fun.” She smiles at me as I climb in and start the ignition.
“Anything with you is fun,” I tell her over the roar of the engine.
“We could take the car Theo gave me.”
“What’s wrong with my car?”
“Nothing. It just… draws attention.”
“It’s supposed to.” I grin.
By the time I pull into the parking lot at school, the place is packed. Thankfully, we have reserved spots. Well, technically, they’re not reserved, but everyone knows they’re ours.
Josie is right. This car does draw attention. But so does our last name. I could be pulling up in a Honda Civic instead of my matte black Maserati GranTurismo. And it wouldn’t change a damn thing.
Did I mention I fucking love this car?
“Come on, your subjects await you, my queen.” I wiggle my eyebrows at Josie.
“Oh my god! Stop.” She jumps out of the car and closes the door so damn gently, like she’s afraid she might hurt it.
“Hey, Dante,” a high-pitched voice calls out the moment I come into view. I glance at the cheerleader it belongs to, ignore the girl, and round the hood.
“Looks like your little fan clubs out,” Josie says as I approach her door.
“The only fan I’m interested in is you,” I tell her, cupping the back of her head with my hand. My lips slam onto hers and my tongue pushes into her mouth, claiming her right here in front of fucking everyone. “I love you.” I pull back to look at Josie.
“I love you too.” Josie tugs me forward by the lapels of my blazer and kisses me. Briefly. “Come on, I need to stop at my locker before class.”
With Josie’s hand firmly clasped in mine, we walk into the building together. Everyone moves out of my way. It’s what I imagine the Red Sea did for Moses. Not that I’m saying I’m a god. But within the walls of this school, I might as well be.
“What’s up?” Orlando is waiting at Josie’s locker.
“Why are you standing here?” I ask him.
“Because I knew you’d stop here first.” He shrugs. “I need a favor.”
I glance around the hallway. There are a lot of people hanging around. A lot of ears. “What kind of favor?”
“The kind he shouldn’t be asking.” This comes from Aurora.
Great, if Aurora has anything to do with whatever Orlando wants, I don’t think I want to hear it. It’s never anything good with her.
“Aurora, I don’t recall asking for your opinion,” Orlando snaps at her.
“And yet you got it anyway. How lucky are you, Orlando? Some people around here would kill for my opinion on literally anything.” Aurora responds with a huge, fake-ass smile on her devious face.
“Okay, well, as fun as this family reunion’s been, I got shit to do,” I tell them when I notice Josie has finished getting whatever she needed from her locker.
“Do not stop… this… on my account.” Josie points at each of us. “Watching you three is more entertaining than watching a telenovela.”
“Wait… Who’s the heart throb in this drama? Me or him?” Orlando asks, gesturing between us.
“Him obviously,” Josie says, resting her palm against my chest. Capturing her wrist, I raise it to my mouth and kiss her knuckles.
“Your vote is rigged,” Orlando grunts.
“Okay, anyway, Dante. He wants to borrow your car so he can take some girl to a clinic,” Aurora says, keeping her voice low so that only we hear it.
“Seriously? A clinic? For what?”
“She’s… ah… not feeling well,” Orlando says.
“Get an Uber. No way is anyone sick getting in my car,” I tell him before turning to Josie. “Unless it’s you, babe. I’d let you throw up in my car.”
“You really do say the sweetest things, Dante.” She laughs.
“Come on, man. She’s not sick. She just… needs the morning-after pill,” Orlando mumbles.
“You didn’t wrap it?” I ask, honestly shocked.
“It wasn’t me.” He runs a hand through his hair.
“Why can’t you take your own car?” I’m reluctant to hand over the keys to my baby to anyone.
“Because Pops tracks it. If he sees I’ve stopped at a clinic, well, that’s something I don’t want to deal with,” Orlando explains.
“Babe, give him your keys. He needs to help whoever this girl is.” Josie blinks up at me.
I know what she’s doing. Using her sweet, innocent ass to get me to bend to her will. And it fucking works. Every damn time, because I cannot say no to this girl.
“Fucking hell. You’re lucky I love you,” I tell Josie before digging into my pocket and pulling out my keys. I pin my cousin with a glare. “One scratch and I’m coming after you with a baseball bat.”
“Baseball bat, got it.” He smirks.
“Actually, no. Aurora owes me a favor.” I turn and look at the she-devil herself and then turn back to Orlando. “One scratch and I’m sending her after you.” I match his smirk.
Orlando’s brows rise. “Fine, no scratches.” He nods his head. “Thanks.” Then he turns and runs down the corridor.
“Who’s the girl?” I ask Aurora.
“No idea. I just know he asked me for my car first.” She shrugs. “Enzo gave me a ride today, though.”
“Why?” I ask her.
“Because he wanted to give me a lecture. Ever since Lorenzo left, Enzo has taken on the whole give Aurora lectures thing,” she says.
The bell rings through the hall. After walking Josie to her first class, I leave her to head to mine. I hate that we don’t have the same schedule. I’m going to make sure that’s not a problem next year.
By lunchtime, Orlando still hasn’t returned with my car, and I’m ready to kill him. But what cements his movement to the top of my shit list is the text message I just got from Zio Theo.
Boss:
WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU AT A SEXUAL HEALTH CLINIC, DANTE???
He actually used all caps. I should have known my uncle’s crazy ass would be tracking my car too.