The Don's Trust

Chapter 33

Valentina fanned herself with her hand while changing the radio station. Once she found a station she liked, she let it stay on that one. Her eyes moved to the man in the seat next to her. Luke had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the jacket he usually wore laid on the backseat of the car. Valentina tied her hair in a ponytail and proceeded to roll the window down to let the cool air inside.

''How is Kevin doing?'' She asked.

Luke chuckled, ''I would say he's doing fine, Miss. It changes depending on the amount of workload he has on that particular day.''

Luke double-checked the rear-view mirror to see if his eyes weren't playing any tricks on him. He could've sworn the same car had been following them since they drove back home. The dark-green cabriolet had been driving behind them for a while now.

''Don't panic, but there is a high chance we are being followed.''

Valentina froze and got thrown into a pit of panic. Alarm bells rang left and right in her head. Unlike Luke, she had never been in a situation like this before.

''What do you mean? Since when?'' Her voice had a tremble to it.

''Well, I mean that someone has been trailing us since the beginning.'' Luke wasn't sure on how to reassure Valentina, ''It's the green car in the back. Can you see it?''

Valentina gulped when she found the car in the reflection of the mirror. She had never seen it before and couldn't figure out who could possibly want to go after them. Whether the person was following Luke, a man from the underworld or Valentina was also a mystery.

''Hold on. I'm going to shake him off,'' Luke stepped on the gas pedal.

Valentina kept her gaze focused on the dark-green vehicle. It was evident the person behind the wheel struggled to keep up with Luke. Valentina watched as the car got smaller and smaller. It took little to no time for Luke to get rid of their pursuer. The tension left Valentina's body and found herself thinking she was lucky to have a driver as skilful as Luke.

''Do you still see him?'' Luke asked.

''No, you shook him off a while ago. Who do you think it was?''

''I'm not sure. If he was after me then I can think of a whole list of people wanting my head.'' He sighed, ''If he was after you then he must know of your connection to Don Vito.''

Her eyebrows drew together as she listened to Luke. Anybody who saw her and Vito together in public was a possible suspect. It could've been complete strangers who watched them from a distance. Valentina's train of thought wasn't bringing her anywhere. Instead, she recalled the people who without a doubt saw them together. She could only think of two people outside the mafia who fitted in the description. Philip Coleman and Lilly Belote. Valentina wrote detective Coleman off her list as he already achieved his goal by putting Vito behind bars. In her head, it would be pointless for Philip to follow her. Valentina didn't believe Lilly to have any motives to stalk her either. It was a dead end.

''What happens now?'' She asked Luke.

''I'm going to report this to Boss Damian. Maybe he knows what to do. If the person pursuing us is someone from the police then it's going to be tricky to deal with. After what happened with Don Vito, we have to be more careful.''

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

During the last couple of days, Valentina saw the same cabriolet pop up multiple times. Her mind was flooded with anxiety and it caused her to stay inside the house. When she did go outside, she would regularly look over her shoulder.

Valentina slowly opened her eyes and let a yawn escape her mouth. She stretched her stiff body and sat up on the couch. Tousled hair covered her face as she looked around her. The only light in the living room came from the television playing a movie. She pushed her brown hair back and checked the time on her phone. The unexpected sound of a ringtone made her jump a little.

Unknown number?

She hastily answered the call, hoping it was Vito. It wasn't.

''Good afternoon, am I speaking with Valentina Armani?'' The person on the other side of the phone said.

The voice sounded familiar to her ears, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Just as the man repeated his question, she remembered where she heard his voice before. It made her heart beat against her ribcage. She closed her eyes as she thought back on the man she encountered with Vito in the bistro.

''Hello? Is anyone there?''

Valentina stayed as quiet as a mouse.

''That's odd. Maybe if I try again.'' Detective Coleman ended the call.

The detective was good at gathering information. From his previous times of tailing Valentina at her college, he knew of her connection to Lilly. Philip got in contact with Lilly to get Valentina's phone number. Naturally, Lilly complied with the detective and handed the info he wanted on a silver platter.

Valentina couldn't bring herself to speak up and lowered the phone from her ear. The screen displayed the same unknown number. He was calling her for the second time.

I should find out why he's calling me.

Valentina tapped the green icon, ''Hello, this is Valentina.''

''Ah! Great! My name is Philip Coleman and I'm a detective who works on the Lucchese case. We've met once before if my memory serves me right. Do you remember?''

Valentina wanted to scoff at the man, ''I remember.''

''I wanted to let you know that we've made progress with the case of your parents. If you want we can meet up and get into the details of it. I don't think you'd want to talk about this over the phone. I'm sure it's better if we meet in person. That way we can slowly go over the things you want to know about the Lucchese case.''

Valentina was intrigued by the idea of knowing more about her birth parents, but she didn't want it to come from a man she loathed. Instead of going to Philip for answers, she believed Vito could provide her with answers if she wanted.

''What kind of progress?''

''I'm not going to say that right now. I think it would be more appropriate to discuss this in person.''

''That would probably be for the best,'' Valentina straightened her spine, ''This is all very thoughtful of you, but I'm not interested. Still, thank you for calling me.''

''Ah, wait! Don't ha-''

''Have a good day, Mr. Coleman.'' Her tone was sweet and polite. Valentina didn't let Philip finish speaking and hung up.

Philip Coleman used the Lucchese case as a cover to get closer to Valentina. The more he knew of Valentina, the more he could find out about Vito. Philip's plan was to exploit the bond Valentina shared with Vito. The detective wanted to get even more dirt on the Don of the Grimaldi mafia. He wanted Vito to be in prison for much longer than he now was.