“Two men at each door. Down the halls and on the roof. All counted. All dead.” He shrugged. “You always forget the details.”
I looked at Enzo and saw this other side of him, and I wasn’t repulsed. I wasn’t scared. If anything, it was a thrill to see the other side of him in action. He was so controlled, like a tight coil ready to strike. He was well aware of the damage he could do, andthatwas why he held himself back.
David shouted for his men, but no one answered. The silence was deafening, and then the panic set in. He called out several more times, each one growing more frantic. “Where the fuck is everyone?” David lifted the gun again, this time taking aim at my head.
Before I could swallow my fear, Enzo pulled out his gun and shot him. Three times in quick succession. Two to the chest. One to the head. It was lightning quick, done before fear could take over. Again.
I gasped, the sound tearing out of me as David’s eyes went wide, and then he crumpled to the floor.
“Don’t look,” Enzo ordered me, pulling me against his chest before his arms wrapped around me. I happily buried my facein his broad chest, locking out the rest of the world for just a moment.
Men, at least a dozen of them, armed with guns, rushed inside and looked around the room in search of danger. They moved in perfect, choreographed steps around the studio until the whole place was clear. When they found nobody else, they lowered their guns and looked to Enzo for direction.
I couldn’t make out their words; everything sounded like it was underwater, but eventually, Enzo shuffled me out of the studio and into a big black SUV. His arms never left me as the engine started and the car slowly began to move.
I waited for the emotions to hit me. The fear. The relief. The anger. Anything.
But nothing came. The numbness was all that was there, other than Enzo’s steady hold, which reminded me that I was alive.
I was alive, and for now, that was enough.
Chapter 28
Enzo
Ishouldn’t fucking feel guilty. David had it coming. He practically begged for it by threatening Matteo, and working with the Russians pretty much signed his death warrant. Still, the guilt lingered. Not even holding Ren, safe and sound in my arms on the drive down the dark highway, alleviated that gnawing in my gut.
When we arrived at the house, it was too quiet. It was the kind of silence that settled in after something you couldn’t take back happened, thick and heavy. Almost fucking oppressive. There were men posted outside the house, along the perimeter of the property and on the road that led to the house. The danger had passed, but I wasn’t ready to ease up or take any chances.
Ren had disappeared upstairs the moment we stepped inside. She hadn’t said a word and I understood, so I let her go. She needed some time to herself to decompress and wash away what happened, at least physically.
“How is she?” Luca asked softly, his gaze flicking toward the staircase she’d walked up on shaky legs before disappearing.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I’m going to find out.”
He nodded once, understanding everything I wasn’t saying. “Mattie is still asleep. He woke up briefly and we had some food but—” he started, then shook his head. “He went back to sleep pretty quickly.”
“Thank you, Luca. Knowing you were with him made the rest easier.” Emotions clogged my throat, but I needed to let him know what it meant. Luca was more family to me than David had ever been. Obviously.
“Of course. That’s what brothers do.” He smiled, but his gaze sharpened. “I won’t do that again, Enzo.Ihave your back. Always.”
I nodded. “Understood.”
“Good. Go check on your woman.”
I took the steps two at a time, finding Ren in my suite. Well, finding the clothes she’d dressed in this morning. “This morning,” I whispered to myself, hardly able to believe it was still the same fucking day.
The shower ran inside the bathroom, steam curling into the bedroom. I paused, but only for a second, my worry and my need to see Ren too strong to ignore any longer.
I hesitated at the door, suddenly unsure what the fuck I was doing. I walked into the fire to rescue her, but now I held back. Why?
The shower door slid open and Ren stepped out, but it took a moment for the cloud of steam to clear, for Ren to come into view. She was still gorgeous with her damp hair, makeup-free face, and curves on full display. She was safe. She was alive, and the relief that slammed into me forced me to use the wall to keep myself upright.
And then my gaze landed on a nasty bruise at her side. Purple fists bloomed angrily along her ribs, and red and purple rings wrapped around her wrists. “Fuck, Ren.” I was in front of her instantly, reaching out to touch her.
She didn’t flinch or pull away. “It’s fine,” she said in a voice smaller than I’d ever heard.
“It’s not fucking fine,” I growled and then bandaged her wrists slowly, carefully, my hands steady even as something inside me twisted tight. “Does this hurt?” I asked, brushing my fingertips along her ribs.
