Chapters 1, 2, and 3

“Wait!” Val called to his cousin, grabbing him by arm of his Armani suit. He whispered fiercly, “Floren, I still don’t understand. Why would somebody want to kill me? I’m…I’m an ordinary man.”
Floren turned slowly to face Val. He stared in silence before saying softly, “My boy, you’re an Arlotti. There’s nothing ordinary about that.”

After witnessing the murder of his best friend, Shelton, Valentino "Val" Arlotti is stunned to find himself quickly under the police's radar. Teaming up with Mafioso relatives Floren, Joe, and Alexander, (and some supersmart college students along the way), Val finds himself engulfed in the dilemmas of crime, murder, tested faith, a tense marriage, and, ultimately, his enemy's Consigliere.