“Oh,shit!”
Luca’s sudden outburst makes us both look his way, then out the window to see what caused it.
“No!”Sophia shouts as Enzo shoves one of our guys away while grabbing for the gun of another.It’s like watching an accident unfold in slow motion as Nico raises his gun and fires a round in Enzo’s chest.
Sophia buries her face in my shoulder before Enzo hits the pavement.This time, he won’t get up on his own.
“Oh my God, he’s gone,” she whimpers.Even now, she pities him.“I can’t believe it.”
“He wanted to go out on his own terms,” Alessandro muses, and I hear something close to respect in his voice before he goes out to help with the body.
Luca knows what to do, pulling a money clip from his back pocket and turning to the manager while peeling off another stack of bills.“You’re going to want extra for the mess.”Never in my life would I imagine being this grateful for the way his mind works.
“Let’s go home,” I tell Sophia, who nods, almost melting against my side as I lead her through the kitchen rather than forcing her to witness the carnage out front.
From today on, I’ll do everything in my power to keep her from the darkest parts of our world.
Because for the first time in forever, I have something to remind me there’s more to the world than darkness.
20
SOPHIA
It’s only been a matter of hours since Enzo pulled me from the house, but a lifetime might as well have passed by the time I return.I’m different now.I’ve said goodbye to who I used to be, because Enzo was my last connection to that version of myself.I see that now, stepping into my home as another man’s wife, a man who loves me.
A man I love with every fiber of my being.
If anything, what Enzo did was a gift.He shone a spotlight on what matters most.
Like Dante, who hasn’t stopped hovering over me since we left the diner.“You probably want to shower.Wash all this shit off you.”Once the door is locked, he turns to me, taking my face in his hands.“First, there’s one more thing I have to say.I wasn’t completely honest with you this morning.I want this out in the open before we move forward.”
“Okay…” I still feel half numb, anyway, as I try to process the day.I guess now is as good a time as any.
“I told you I ran up to the wreck the night of the crash,” he murmurs, and I nod.“I didn’t tell you the driver was still breathing.In fact, he wasn’t that badly injured at all.I changed that.”The heaviness in his voice tells the rest of the story.
“I probably shouldn’t have…” he continues, “… but he killed… I couldn’t let him get away with it.”
“I understand,” I tell him after a few moments, covering his hands with mine, wrapping my fingers around his.Do I really understand?Maybe a little.If Enzo had killed Alessandro today, I could easily imagine wanting to kill him for it.When it comes to the people we love, we can do things we would never consider otherwise.“Thank you for telling me.Thank you for trusting me with that.”
“I don’t want there to be any secrets from this day forward,” he whispers, leaning into a kiss against my forehead.He follows that with one against the tip of my nose.“Thank you for being the perfect woman for me.”
Maybe I am.Maybe our fathers knew what they were doing when they put us together.A business arrangement that ultimately turned into a love match.How often does that happen?
I don’t have the ability to figure it out, and I don’t want to.I’ve wasted too much time thinking and questioning already.Now, especially after today, I want to feel.
Which means backing up, still hand in hand, leading Dante to the stairs.“I do need a shower, but I need you to come with me.Please.”
“You never have to beg for something like that.”He’s trying to joke, but there’s something in his endlessly deep, dark eyes that tells me he understands.I need the connection, touch, and sensation.I need to come back to center, and it just so happens he is my center.
I’m almost too happy to peel off my clothes once we’re in the bathroom with the shower running.I want every part of that experience off me, forever.Before I step into the stall, I kick the leggings into the corner.I don’t want to remember Enzo that way.I would rather remember the way he used to be when I loved him.
“Let me take care of you,” Dante offers once he joins me, wasting no time pouring shower gel onto my sponge.“Relax.Close your eyes.”
His body touches mine, a warm, solid presence against my back.The urge to melt against him is too much to resist.I let my head drop to his shoulder while he runs the sponge over my skin.It’s heaven, being cared for like this, letting him take over so I can rest.
Only I’m not feeling so restful by the time he runs the sponge in slow circles over my breasts.My skin comes alive under his touch.It’s the most natural thing in the world, responding to him, and by the time he washes my stomach, I’m breathing faster.
So is he once he works the sponge between my legs, which I spread to give him better access.All at once, something hard pokes my ass, getting bigger with every rasp against my ear.“How could I give up being able to do this again?”he whispers while his dick slides against my wet skin.Finally, he tosses the sponge aside in favor of using his hand to massage my mound.
