“How’s the soup?” Taking the lid off of the other container that was in the bag, he brought it to his nose and sniffed. “Smells good.”
“It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”
He gave me a look. “I’ll bet it is.” Then he set his container down on the coffee table and braced his elbows on his knees, hanging his head.
I set my own soup down. “What’s wrong?”
It took him a minute to answer me, and when he did, it wasn’t what I was expecting to hear. He took a deep breath, and then tilted his head to look at me, and I was struck by the power of emotion in his dark eyes. “I’m sorry,” he told me simply. “That it took me so long to find you.”
I just stared at him for a moment. “Enzo—”
He cut me off. “No. You were under my protection, and I failed you. And I want you to know that I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Something stirred deep within my chest. “But you did find me, and you got me out of there. There’s no need to be sorry. I’m very grateful to you.”
He ran his hands through his hair, making it stick up all over his head even more so than normal. He didn’t seem to believe me.
“Enzo, it wasn’t your fault. You tried to tell me to stay where I was until you could get to me, and I didn’t listen. What happened isn’t on you.” It was on me. It was all my own fault. I should’ve listened to him. I should’ve stayed in my car at the club until the security guard came out to walk me inside. I shouldn’t have left my cell phone in my bag. There were so many reasons I could put the blame on myself, and not one where I should put the blame on him.
His voice was gruff. “It won’t happen again.”
“Okay,” I told him.
We sat quietly staring at each other for a bit, silently saying things neither one of us was ready to say out loud, until he broke the silence. “Eat your soup and bread. You’ve lost too much weight.”
Too tired to argue with him, I picked up my container. Once he was satisfied I was eating, Enzo did the same.
“So, what’s going to happen now?” I asked him when I couldn’t eat another bite.
“We can stay here for a few days. Give you a little time to adjust. On Monday, I have to report back to Luca’s and you’re coming with me. He has a large house. It’s where I stay when I’m not here. And now that he knows about you, I want you there with me where I can protect you and be there if you need anything.” He paused, as though he expected me to argue with him. And the Sera he knew before might have done just that. But this Sera really didn’t want to be left alone. I also didn’t want to go back to Jade’s and try to explain everything that had happened. As far as she knew, I was long gone. And it was safer for her to keep believing that.
When he saw I didn’t have any objections, he continued. “Once we get to Luca’s, we’ll discuss what we’re going to do about your father.”
“Will I have any say in that?”
He paused. “Not much, no.”
I almost laughed. I should’ve known better than to even ask. It wasn’t how things were done in the mafia world. A world run by men and their whims, with very few exceptions.
But he must’ve seen what I was thinking on my face. “I’ll do what I can, Sera. But that’s all I can promise you.”
“I get it,” I told him. “But you know that’s bullshit. I’m not a child, and it’s my life. I should have a say in it.”
He got up from the couch and picked up our empty soup containers, putting them back in the plastic bag they came in and setting them outside the door in the hall to be picked up by hotel staff. He didn’t argue with me. Didn’t try to defend the men he worked with.
And he was right to hold his tongue. There was nothing to argue about. The world of the mafia was the way it was. And me bitching about it wasn’t going to do anything to change it.
Coming to stand in front of me, he put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “It’s late, and you should get some sleep.”
Again, he was right. I was exhausted. However, the thought of sleep wasn’t a comforting one.
“I can sleep out here on the couch,” he said.
I felt the weight of his stare on me as I thought about that. Did I want him to sleep out here, leaving me alone in the bedroom? No. I didn’t think I did. “No, you don’t have to do that.”
“It’s no problem. And it won’t be the first time I’ve slept on this couch.”
But I shook my head. “I don’t want to be by myself,” I confessed.
