I couldn’t imagine my life being anything but what it was now. Being a part of the mafia was all I’d ever known, and it wasn’t as hard as people thought it was. There were rules we lived by. Clear, black and white rules. Rules that were never broken without consequences.
Sometimes this life was bloody and violent, but it was only that way to protect the ones we loved. To protect the rules that kept us alive and out of jail. My life was orderly. I knew my place as one of Luca’s soldiers. And after Alessandra, I allowed myself to care for no one except him and Tristan. The two people who had been with me through everything, and who I could depend on to always be there because we protected each other and we followed the rules. If I had the need for a woman, I called Jade. I knew what to expect with her, and I liked it that way. There were no feelings involved. No uncontrollable hunger. She was pretty, and she knew how to conduct herself in whatever situation she found herself in.
She didn’t fuck me up inside until I couldn’t think straight. Until the fear of losing her twisted my guts into knots. No woman had ever done that. Not even my wife.
Until Sera knocked on my door and threw my world into a tailspin. I felt off balance. Distracted. And that wasn’t good for me or the people I was sworn to protect. I should have Luca call her father and let him come and take her. I knew this. It would be the smart thing to do. The right thing to do. Because what would her life be with me? Would she end up six feet in the ground like Alessandra? Would she constantly try to run from me? She was trying to escape the world of the mafia, not become more entwined in it.
And if I forced her to stay, she would only grow to hate me.
With these thoughts swirling in my head, I inhaled deeply, and the scent of bleach burned my lungs. In the morning, I’d check her skin to make sure she hadn’t done any serious damage to herself.
Getting up, I walked quietly into the bedroom. Sera was curled up under the comforter, but I knew by her breathing she wasn’t asleep yet. Still, I was quiet as I crossed the room to where I’d left my clothes and retrieved the items she’d given me earlier. A ring, a watch, and a money clip. Then I got my cell phone.
I took them all back out to the sitting room with me and laid them out on the coffee table, studying them as I drank. I would find out who these things belonged to.
And I would kill them.
For her.
CHAPTER7
Serafina
Iwoke slowly, bit by bit, rising up from the depths of my dreams only to be dragged under again, until finally I rose all the way to the surface of my consciousness and hovered there.
The first thing I became aware of were the smells. Mostly fresh linen from the soft pillow beneath my head and the thick comforter pulled up over my face. Once I lowered the blanket, there was the mouthwatering smell of bacon and coffee. It permeated the room until I threw off the covers and sat up, getting my bearings.
Enzo.
I heard him moving around in the other room and quickly got up to use the bathroom and brush my teeth. When I was finished, I splashed some water on my face and ran Enzo’s comb through my hair, wishing I had something I could use to pull it back off my face. I finally just tucked the sides behind my ears.
The bed was made when I emerged, and my suitcase was lying open on top of the comforter. The one I’d left in the trunk of my car. My shoulder bag was next to it, my cell phone lying on top.
The folded bag that contained all of the money I’d saved up was nowhere to be found.
Enzo’s voice came from the doorway, and I looked up to find him leaning against the doorframe, his hair still wet from a shower I hadn’t heard him take, wearing a pair of black, low-hanging sweatpants and nothing else, his arms crossed over his powerful chest and his expression carefully blank as he studied me. Except for his eyes. His eyes were as expressive as always. And right now, the way he was looking at me made me feel like prey.
“I had your car towed here from the club. Where is the charger for your phone?”
I had to think for a second. “Um, I might have forgotten it at Jade’s. Did you go through my stuff?” I didn’t ask how he’d gotten into my car without the keys. I could guess.
He ignored my question. “I’ll have the concierge get you another charger. Are you hungry? I had breakfast brought up from the kitchen.”
I was having trouble keeping up with my thoughts. Possibly an aftereffect from the drugs? “Yeah. Yes. I’m starving.”
“Good.” He sounded relieved, like food would solve everything. And actually, to us Italians, it kind of did.
But instead of going back out to the other room, he walked over to the bed and sat down. “Before we eat, come here, please.”
I hesitated, but only for a second, before I walked over to him. It wasn’t because I was afraid of him. It was just…I didn’t know what it was. A reaction to waking up and not quite believing I was here. Reaching for my hand, he pulled me forward until I stood between his legs. In a complete swing of emotions, I had the sudden impulse to throw myself into his arms and hug him tight, but I restrained myself. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to hold still.
“I just want to check your skin to make sure the irritation from the bleach is calming down.”
I still didn’t feel clean, but now that my head was clearer, I could probably resist the urge to shower in bleach again.
When he stared at me meaningfully, I held out my bare arms. The skin was still a little irritated, but not nearly as red as last night. “I think it’s okay.”
But, of course, he wouldn’t be happy until he checked for himself. “Let me see.”
