29. Valerio
TWENTY-NINE
VALERIO
“Alright, well it doesn’t look like anything is crushed,” the doctor said, moving back from examining Luna’s neck. “But the bruising will take a little longer to heal. Rest your voice as much as possible, keep a cold compress on for fifteen minutes max at a time, and use the eyedrops I’ll prescribe.”
Valerio nodded, taking in the instructions as if they were for him. He wouldn’t forget a single detail for Luna.
“So she shouldn’t talk at all?” he asked.
“Only if she wants her voice to recover quicker,” the doctor said. “Emergencies and anything urgent should be fine.”
He turned to her. “I’ll get you a whiteboard and a marker so you can communicate.”
She huffed, crossing her arms. He knew it sucked for her, but nothing was worse than her voice being permanently damaged. If there was a way to avoid it, then he would do it.
Valerio texted Dante, waiting a moment before he appeared, obnoxiously cracking his fingers. “Alright Doc, time to walk you out.”
The doctor nodded, offering Luna a small smile. He dropped the prescription on the counter beside them, packing up his things. Going to an actual doctor’s office would have been simpler, but they didn’t want any other mafia families to find out there was a hit against Luna. Until Valerio was sure who was behind the attack, he couldn’t trust anyone outside the walls of his home.
So Valerio called—or more like forced—his doctor to do a house visit. He was able to watch over him with a harsh eye, keeping his promise not to leave Luna alone.
“If you need anything else, you know where to reach me,” the doctor said. He held out his hand, waiting for Valerio to set the check in it.
“Not a single word,” he told him with a warning. Expensive fucking doctor, but he was the only one he could find that was willing to keep his mouth shut under the right price.
“I respect my patient’s privacy,” the doctor said. With that, Dante guided him out of the kitchen. Luna flopped down on the counter with a huff. Valerio knew there were a million things she wanted to say, and yet, she wasn’t allowed to say any of them.
He wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder. “I know this is going to be hard, but it’s better if you're healed completely. If you want, I’ll be your voice for you.”
Luna gave him an unserious look.
His smirk widened. “Was that a yes?”
She let out a frustrated sigh, smacking his arm.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, walking toward the fridge. “I can make you something quick before I put you to bed.”
She nodded her head.
Dante entered the room again, this time carrying a whiteboard and a pack of markers with him. “I know I kind of owe you right now, but being your assistant wasn’t what I anticipated,” he said, setting them in front of Luna.
She immediately ripped the pack open, scribbling something down.
“The only reason I didn’t put a bullet in you was because Luna begged me not to with the last remaining voice she had,” Valerio spit out. “So stop bitching and make sure you pick up her eye drops and pain meds.”
Dante turned toward Luna, grabbing the prescription off the counter. “I’ll apologize for the rest of my life if I have to.”
Luna waved him off and even that simple action pissed him off. Maybe Valerio wanted her to be more pissed off and unforgiving because if Finn was even a second too late, she wouldn’t be sitting in front of him right now. It was more serious than she acted like it was. More serious than she was allowing Dante to be let off the hook for. He should have checked on her, but he decided that partying and swallowing his fucking sorrows in alcohol and whatever dick he could find was more worth it than protecting Luna. So yes, he should apologize for the rest of his life, but instead Luna emphasized that if they wanted to find who did this to her, they needed to work together, not throw accusations down each other's throats.
Dante walked off, leaving the kitchen in silence again. Besides the night before, this was the only time they had been truly alone since everyone moved in. The household was chaotic and busy with Augustus’s and Cecilia’s arguing, Blair’s and Allister’s bickering, and Gianna throwing herself into the chaos just because she wanted to. It had been one night and it was already too much.
He prepared a pesto panini, putting it on the panini press to heat up. He turned toward her, reading the white board she held up.
Are you going somewhere tonight?
He nodded. “I’m going to the warehouse so I can see what I can find out about the asshole who tried to kill you. He might be dead, but people always leave some kind of clue about who they are on their bodies.”
She frowned, erasing the white board with her hand and scribbling something else on it quickly. He handed her a paper towel to use as an eraser when she turned it back around.
So I’ll be here alone?
“No, you’ll have the girls with you. I’ll only be an hour, which is entirely too long, but I assumed you wouldn’t want to deal with looking at a dead body like that,” he said. “If you want to come, I won’t mind.”
She shook her head quickly.
No thank you.
He gave a small laugh, grabbing a plate and taking the panini out. He cut it in half and set it in front of her. “No one will be allowed onto the property, so you’ll be completely safe. But if anything happens at all, don’t hesitate to call me. I know you can’t talk, but the phone call will alert me enough. I’ll come in an instant.” Luna nodded, taking a small bite, but burning her tongue instead. He narrowed his eyes, grabbing a water bottle for her. “Be careful. You’re supposed to get better, not worse.”
She flipped him the bird, taking a sip of water. He raised his eyebrow. “So we’ve settled with lewd hand gestures then? I can show you one myself,” he said, lifting his fingers in a “V” up to his lips.
Luna looked away the moment he stuck his tongue out. He sat beside her, letting her eat while he checked the text from Allister telling him that Finn and Augustus were planning on joining them tonight. Why? He had no fucking idea.
She tapped his hand, showing him the board.
Keep me entertained. I left my phone upstairs and I can’t talk. :(
Valerio put down his phone immediately. “What should I talk about?”
She stared at him blankly. He shook his head. “Fine, how about we talk about our wedding? I’m thinking you wear a ginormous dress that you can’t walk in and we’ll serve lemon cake.”
Absolutely not!
“Is that a yes? Well, if you say so. Maybe I’ll have to plan the entire wedding myself,” he said with a grin. He didn’t know shit about weddings, but watching her get angry and not being able to voice the frustrations made him laugh. She looked fucking adorable. “I’m just kidding, I would never make you give up control over that. I know you only like to give up control when I fuck you.”
Her mouth dropped open before it closed back up. She blushed as she went back to eating. He kept her entertained with random stories from his childhood that at least put a smile on her face. They were the good ones with Dante and his mother. One in particular where he convinced Dante that there was a shark in the water while they were swimming and the dumbass actually believed him. They weren’t even in an ocean; they were swimming in a lake.
When she finished, Valerio took the plate from her and set it in the sink. He helped her walk up the stairs, holding on to her hips from behind. He assured her it was in case she suddenly became faint. He was the perfect nurse.
But realistically, since the night he walked into her apartment and saw her pale shaken body covered in bruises and dried up blood, he found himself reaching out to her more often just to make sure she was next to him. That she was real.
She threw on one of his big shirts and slipped into their bed. Dante had brought in both prescriptions at that point and Valerio gave them to her, making sure she took plenty of water with them. Every painful swallow sent a stab to his heart, but she would get better and he would get his revenge.
Snores escaped Luna soon after. Valerio covered her body with the comforter, tucking her in the way she liked. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, muttering an “I love you.”
He left the room quickly, carefully closing the door behind him. The minute it clicked, his face changed. The ability to care for someone only existed with Luna. Valerio, at his core, was deadly, rotten.
Someone had made the grave mistake of putting their hands on what was his. They tried to kill her.
He once promised he would burn the world down for Luna. Now, it was time to come through with his promise.
Valerio’s footsteps echoed against the concrete of the warehouse hallway. He walked quickly, unwilling to stay there for a moment longer than he had to while Luna slept at home.
Everyone else was already waiting for him, and that included Finn and his goon. Valerio wanted nothing to do with the most annoying Kingsley, but he’d killed the man that attacked his Luna. If Finn had any information whatsoever about what happened, then he needed to find out.
They all crowded around the center of the open room where the dead body sat on a metal table. He could already feel the rage entering him, but he had to remind himself that the man was dead.
“Did you find anything yet?” Valerio called out, directing the attention to him.
Allister was the one to answer him. “No, he’s completely empty. Not a single phone, ID, or anything to identify him or the person that sent him.”
“All this shows is that he was smart enough to be unidentifiable just in case he got caught,” Finn said, crossing his arms.
Valerio looked at the naked dead man closely. He scanned his skin, using a pen to lift his arms and legs.
“What are you looking for?” Augustus asked with a disgusted look.
“Some kind of mark or tattoo that would show who he’s connected to,” Valerio said.
“Who the fuck even does that anymore?” he asked.
“Our family,” Dante answered. Valerio nodded in agreement. An old tradition, but a useful one for secret missions like this.
“And mine,” Finn said. “The only person I know who used to seriously use it was my great-grandpa. I don’t think anyone younger does it anymore.”
Valerio continued his assessment, looking over the man’s neck that was covered with a thick beard. “And they're not actual members of the family either. They’re assassins the family uses, certain dealers, spies, anyone with secret association to the family.”
“I never understood why they needed to hide it,” Dante muttered. “If you were planning on attacking, don’t be a fucking coward about it.”
“Because these were attacks or missions that could cause complete destruction, war. A hit on Luna Kingsley is grounds for complete annihilation. Look at who her soon-to-be husband is, her brother, her father, her father-in-law. The list goes on. They wouldn’t want to come out with it full on. That would be too easy.” He continued his assessment, making sure not to miss a single inch of skin. “And the hard part is telling which one belongs to which family because they make an effort to keep it a secret, so only members who carry the mark could identify each other.”
“How would you even know who it belongs to if you find one?” Augustus asked.
“Well, when you have a ridiculously smart person like Valerio who makes an effort to memorize them, it’s easier,” Allister said.
He came up to the left ear, noticing a small little patch of ink that only showed from the bottom of the man’s earlobe. His eyes narrowed as he used the pen to lift the earlobe up.
There it was. A small emblem. Valerio stopped when he noticed what it was. A small lion head with two swords crossing behind it, and faintly, nearly impossible to see if the eye wasn’t trained for what it was actually looking for, was a “K” in Old English font in the lion's open mouth. To anyone else, it would have looked like just any tattoo, but he wasn’t just anyone.
Valerio stood up, deathly calm.
In a split second, he grabbed Finn’s neck, slamming him down onto the dead man’s body, squeezing with all his might.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Augustus yelled, trying to pull Valerio off.
“Why the fuck is the Kingsley symbol on the assassin that tried to kill Luna?” Valerio screamed. He tightened his hands, choking the life out of Finn, who fought against his hands.
“Let go of him. You can’t kill her brother,” Dante said, trying to rip him away.
“I’ll tell her the assassin woke up from the dead and got the correct Kingsley this time,” Valerio spit out.
Then he thought about Luna and how fucking heartbroken she would be if he told her that her dumbass brother died. With that thought he let go, stepping away. Finn coughed and attempted to catch his breath.
“Did you have to push me against the dead man’s dick?” Finn asked. He was hunched over holding his knees, taking in deep breaths.
“Explain to me why that man has your family symbol on him,” Valerio said. He was seething in anger. His mind was already jumping to conclusions that he hoped weren’t true for Luna’s sake.
Confusion crossed Finn’s face. He walked to where Valerio had seen it, looking back at him with even more confusion. “I have no fucking idea.”
“If you’re lying to me, I swear to God,” he hissed. Dante held him back.
“I’m not lying,” Finn spit out.
“Is it possible someone else hired him?” Allister asked. “Someone from a different family that wanted to frame you guys?”
“Why are we dismissing the possibility of it being your father so quickly? Maybe what Cecilia was saying about your father was true,” Augustus said to Finn.
Finn shook his head. “My father wouldn’t send someone to kill his own daughter. There’s no fucking way.”
“How do you know?” Valerio asked.
“Because he has to have some humanity!” he screamed, running a hand through his hair. “Why would he attack his own daughter? Why not just go after you?”
“Because it would cause a full-out war if your father attempted to kill me,” Valerio said. “It would be the first person my father would attack, but if Reece Kingsley harms Luna himself, he can blame whoever he wants knowing the truth. Has he mentioned anything about the contract to you?”
“No. Nothing,” he said, shaking his head.
Augustus looked up with an uncertain face. “Actually, I might have heard something.”
“What?” Valerio barked at him.
“I overheard him asking about legal loopholes, but my father couldn’t find anything. That contact was so fucking precisely worded,” Augustus said. “But I thought it was just him being a protective father. No fucking offense, but can you blame the guy for not wanting his daughter with you?”
“You didn’t think that was important enough to mention?” Dante asked, rolling his eyes.
“Fuck off,” Augustus spit out. “I don’t get involved in this bullshit.”
“Suddenly Luna stops being an asset, so he throws out keeping her alive all together. How much more evidence do you need?” Valerio asked Finn.
“None of this is evidence. It's all coincidence,” he said.
“Then look through his shit. Find concrete evidence that proves your father didn’t do this because as it stands, he’s the first person on my hit list right now,” Valerio told him. “The only fucking loophole that all of us know of is death. He wasn’t above hitting her, he wasn’t above hitting you, he’s not above this either. Sleep with one eye open. If he was dumb enough to attempt to murder my Luna, then you’re not far from it either.”
He knew Finn was shocked, his mind going through a million different thoughts. He wanted to believe his father could be good, but the truth was none of them were. Given the horrible shit both Cesare Vitali and Reece Kingsley had done, an attempted assassination on their own kids couldn’t be out of the question. Not until they were proven otherwise.
Valerio wouldn’t sleep until whoever did this to her was buried six feet under. And rest assured, he would find the person responsible.
“Then what’s the plan?” Allister asked.
“We’re going to throw our engagement party,” Valerio said. “It’s the only time me and Luna will be out in public together. If someone wants to target the two of us, then they’ll have their chance to. We’ll catch whoever is suspicious and use our usual methods to get information we need.”
“Fine,” Finn agreed. “When?”
“Next week,” he told them. “Spread the news. I want everyone in attendance. Not a single person is off the suspect list, so keep your fucking eyes open. If you hear even a whisper or see a slight shadow that is suspicious, then you tell me right away. Got it?”
Valerio didn’t wait for their responses before he turned around to leave. Ready to get back to Luna.
“What should we do with the body?” Dante asked.
“Burn it,” he called out, slamming the warehouse door behind him.