Luca gave me his attention. “What?”
“You said Ciro has been causing problems in his town, yes?”
“That’s my understanding from what my connections have told me.”
“And you want to get him on your side, to keep our relationship strong.”
He cocked his head. “What are you thinking?”
I held my hand out in front of me, asking for patience. “We could use his daughter for leverage. Hold her here as our prisoner. Use her to get him to do as we wish.”
But Luca immediately shook his head. “That won’t work.”
“Why not?”
“Because to Ciro, his daughter is nothing but a piece of virgin property for him to sell to the highest bidder. He won’t give anything for her. And if we threaten her safety, he’ll assume her value has gone down. But he still might start something to save face. To prove how tough and strong he is. And I can’t afford to be involved in a war right now. Not with everything else going on with my father and after how carefully we’ve made every move to get to where we are now.”
Goddammit. He was right. I knew he was right.
“I’m sorry, Enzo, but we have no other choice than to let Luigi know she’s here. But perhaps I can talk him into waiting a few days before he lets Ciro know.”
My blood raged through my veins, even though I knew he was right. We had no other choice. At least, not one I was willing to do. “What will you tell him?”
“I don’t know.” He gave me a small smile. “I’ll think of something.” He paused. “I’ll tell him I want to keep her here to question her about her father.”
I gave him a nod, then walked over to the table in the corner and poured myself a full glass of whiskey, downing it in one swallow.
“You can still change your mind,” he said quietly. Before I could respond, he held up his hand. “Just think about it. You have a little time.”
CHAPTER12
Serafina
Iquickly discovered that I liked Veda. There was something truly special about her, and I could see why Luca was so in love with her. Of that, there was no doubt. Even in the short time I’d seen them together, I could see that she was his entire world.
It almost made me wish that I planned to stick around longer, and maybe for the first time in my life I’d know what it was like to have a real friend.
After assuring me there was nothing going on between her and Enzo, and me continuing to insist I wouldn’t care if there was, Veda changed the subject and started talking about the classes she was taking at the community college, and I was grateful so I wouldn’t have to continue to lie to someone I truly liked.
We were commiserating over professors who insisted on giving their students essay only questions on their tests when Enzo came in.
My eyes went to him immediately, drawn by something I couldn’t put a name to. But I knew something was wrong.
“Veda, would you leave us, please?”
She gave me a smile as she rose. “I’ll see you at dinner.”
“Okay. Thanks for the tour, and for keeping me company.”
Enzo glanced at her briefly and nodded with respect as she walked past, then closed the door behind her, turning the lock. The soft click was obscenely loud in the sudden silence of the room.
My heartbeat was loud in my ears as he took off his sunglasses and watch and tossed them on one of the nightstands. Then he turned and came straight at me, the question I was about to ask dying on my tongue when I met his eyes. Something was horribly, horribly wrong. “What happened?”
He gave no indication that he’d heard my question. When he reached me, he grabbed me up in his strong arms and wrapped one hand in my hair to tug my head back and bring my mouth up to his.
The kiss was nothing like any we’d shared before. I could practically taste the desperation. The sorrow. The rage and confusion. I tried to break away, to talk to him, but he tightened his grip on the back of my head, holding me prisoner as he ravaged my mouth.
I pressed my hands against his chest and tried to shove him away, but it was like trying to move a wall. He made a desperate sound low in his throat that made my heart ache, and so, finally, I gave in and wrapped my arms around his neck.
