“And you’d be right. That’s exactly why I took it,” he told me without an ounce of shame. “But I don’t plan to keep it. You can have it back when the time comes.”
“And when will that be?” I asked him.
“I can’t tell you that. We’ll just have to wait and find out.”
I was learning pretty quick that Enzo was nothing if not straight up with me. He didn’t beat around the bush. And he didn’t throw a bunch of pretty words at me. So I believed him when he told me that I would get my savings backwhen the time came. It wasn’t what I wanted, but it was the best I was gonna get. And I was going to have to learn to live with it or leave without a dime to my name.
“Are you ready?”
I took one last look around the bedroom, checking that I hadn’t forgotten anything. Although, I’d be surprised if I had since I’d never unpacked, and just put anything I’d worn right back into my suitcase in the dirty clothes section. “Yup.”
Back in his work clothes, Enzo was quiet on the drive to Luca’s, which wasn’t unusual for him, but I could sense tension in the air that wasn’t usually there, and it didn’t do anything for my nerves. I was about to meet the notorious underboss who ran this city with a sharp blade and a no second chances attitude. Rumor had it he was about to usurp his father out of his position and take over as boss. I’d heard my father and his cronies talking about it before I came here. I’d also heard them say that Luca’s main competition, his brother Mario, had mysteriously disappeared over the summer.
I turned from the scenery passing by my window as we headed out of the city and toward the lakes. “So, what’s he like?”
Sunglasses in place, Enzo never took his eyes from the road except to check the mirrors every once in a while. “Who? Luca?”
“Yes.”
“He’s an underboss, Sera,” he told me, as though no other explanation was necessary. “But he’s also someone I’ve known nearly my entire life. You have nothing to be scared of.”
“Nothing?”
He knew what I meant, and he didn’t respond.
“Tell me again why I have to go here.”
“Because it’s where I need to be, and you’ll be safer here. With me.”
“But I thought you said you killed the asshole who shoved me in his trunk.”
“I did.”
“Then who am I hiding from? My father doesn’t know I’m here.”
“I told you, Luigi knows. Luca told him before he knew about us.”
“But he hasn’t told my father yet, right?” I knew I was acting like a child, but I couldn’t stop myself.
He glanced over at me, then took my hand as he returned his eyes to the road. “I don’t know what Luigi has done by now. But if he did, you’ll be safe at Luca’s. His home is off the main road and surrounded by guards. No one can get in or out without him knowing about it. Not even your father’s men. It’ll be okay.” I felt his eyes on me. “Hey. Look at me.”
I’d been twisting my hands in my lap nervously, staring straight ahead out the windshield without really seeing anything as he talked. I had the nearly uncontrollable urge to leap from the vehicle and run. But at his command, I took a steadying breath and turned to look at him.
“No one will take you anywhere you don’t want to go.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak around the bubble of fear rising in my throat.
Enzo reached over and grabbed my hand, lifting it to his mouth and kissing the back. He didn’t let it go the rest of the drive.
A few minutes later, we arrived at Luca’s. Enzo had told me how even his own family didn’t know the location of his home, and the fact that he didn’t blindfold me told me more than words ever could.
Guards greeted us at the gate, opening it immediately when they saw it was Enzo. We drove down a long drive crowded by trees, but between breaks in the branches I could see men with guns patrolling the grounds. We drove on until we came upon the house, a great, sprawling, two-story stone home easily twice the size of my father’s house. A large fountain surrounded by native Texas plants sat in the center of the circular drive, adding to the grandeur.
Enzo pulled the SUV up to the front of the house. Before we could even get out, the front door opened and a man with short dark hair, a closely trimmed mustache and beard, and dead brown eyes came out to greet us. I vaguely recognized him as the man who’d been with Enzo when he came to rescue me from the house in Mexico. At the time, I’d been too out of it to think much about him. But now I realized that I should’ve paid much more attention.
Because he scared the ever-living hell out of me.
“This is Tristan,” Enzo told me as he helped me out of the vehicle. “Tris, this is Sera.”
