Gio arched an eyebrow.
‘Your mother,’ he clarified.
Enzo blinked.
‘We talked.’
‘Good for you,’ Enzo said, knocking back the espresso and preparing to leave. This wasn’t going as he’d wanted and he knew when to cut his losses.
‘You are a strange combination of both of your parents,’ Gio observed.
‘You don’t get to say that.’
‘You are stubborn like your mother, and a coward like your father.’
‘How dare you!’
The accusation roared from deep within Enzo to a place he’d rarely visited.
‘I don’t really have the luxury of time, or small talk, so I will do us both the favour of getting to the point,’ Gio said cryptically. ‘Unlike your mother, who clung desperately to whatever it was she wanted, you seem intent on throwing it all away. I’m guessing that’s your father’s influence.’
Shock whipped through Enzo like lightning. He wanted to argue, but he couldn’t. He wanted to shout, but nothing came out. For a moment, they just stared at each other, as all the walls and barriers Enzo had used to protect himself began to crumble.
‘No small talk, huh?’
‘No, boy. No small talk. You cannot continue to live your life surfing the edges of everything you want.’
‘I’m more than you think, old man.’
‘Oh, yes, I know. I know about the secret investment company, the admittedly impressive wealth. You get that fromme,by the way.’
‘Madonna mia,’ Enzo exclaimed in frustration.
‘It’s not a life. What you had. What you thought you enjoyed,’ Enzo said. ‘You ran away from anything permanent in your life and I wanted you to experience someone you couldn’t shuck off so easily.’
‘She would have left the moment she got what she wanted,’ Enzo pointed out bitterly.
‘I believed she would change her mind.’
Enzo shook his head, speechless at the man’s presumption, hurting and furious that she hadn’t changed her mind. That she hadn’t stayed.
‘I believed that she was someone who wouldn’t abandon you or leave you,’ Gio insisted.
‘You had to pay her!’ Enzo yelled, his anger loud and furious in the stillness of the room as he ripped open the wound that hid in his heart of hearts. Because he’dwantedErin to be that woman. He’dwantedErin to love him and not leave him, or abandon him. He’d wanted her to love him for himself, without conditions, strings, or bribes. Because damn it, he’d fallen for her.
‘You should know that she dropped her claim on the publishing company,’ Gio announced, probably aware of the impact it would have.
‘What?’ Enzo asked, shock tensing every muscle in his body.
‘She told me to keep it. She chose you.’
‘When?’
‘Does it matter?’
Very much.
Not waiting for an answer, Gio pressed on. ‘I received an email two weeks ago. Would you like to see it?’
