“I’m not going to kill you,” he said after a pause. “Even though honor dictates that I should.” He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his dark blond hair. “I hated my father. You know that.”
“He was still your father.”
But Luca only shook his head. “If you hadn’t killed him, I would’ve done it myself eventually.”
My eyes snapped up to his.
“You fucked up last night. Really fucked up. Not because you killed him, but because you were careless. Also, I don’t have enough of the family on my side yet. At least not where I’m sure of their loyalty to me, and now we have to contain the damage.” He paced away a few steps and back again, thinking.
“What about Sera?” I asked him. “She’ll be killed on sight if anyone sees her before we can prove she won’t rat on us. Even if they’re loyal to you.”
“Yes,” he said. “But I’ll do everything I can to help you keep her safe until things calm down.”
My eyes met his, and I hoped my sincerity showed as I said, “Thank you, Luca.”
“You don’t have to thank me. You helped me with Veda when she first came here. You still do. And I know you would give your life for her. I will do the same for your Sera.”
Though guilt still ate away at me for I’d done, I was humbled by the love and forgiveness of this man who was not only my friend, but my brother. Sometimes, it wasn’t the blood in your veins that bound you and made you family, but the blood you were willing to spill for each other.
He suddenly smiled. “Take the rest of the night off and go see to your girl. Hell, maybe if you get her a nice enough present, you can convince her to like you again.” With a smirk, he grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair where he’d laid it earlier and shrugged it on as we walked toward the elevator.
Sera was angry with me, and I didn’t blame her. I’d be angry too if someone had done the same to me. And I wouldn’t easily forgive them.
But now that I had her back, what was I going to do with her? It was quite obvious to me now that, much as I told myself I would forget her, there was no fucking way in hell I would be able to sit back and watch her marry someone else. The very idea of witnessing her walk down the aisle toward another man—again—gnawed away at my insides until I felt sick.
When I gave her up, I’d just kept telling myself that no matter what happened with her, it was better than ending up dead. Which is what would’ve happened if she’d stayed with me, and, like my previous wife, got on Luigi’s radar somehow. Which honestly wouldn’t be hard. Her pink hair alone would make her stand out. And if he’d noticed that she was special to me, he would’ve used her to get to me anytime he felt he needed to. Because that was the kind of bastard he was.
And when she became a thorn in his side, he would remove her permanently. But he wouldn’t dirty his own hands. Oh, no. Doing it himself would put a target on his back, so he would make me do it. A test of my loyalty.
I wanted to think that I was better than that now. Stronger. But the god’s honest truth was I didn’t know what I would do if I was ever again put in the position of choosing between my only family and the woman I cared about.
So I did what I had to do to keep her safe, knowing she would hate me for it.
But now, Luigi was gone. Luca, my friend and brother, was the new boss. And I had faith in him. It was what he’d been groomed for. But he was also a man who understood what it was like to have a woman become the very air you breathe, and who would never order another man to do something so sick as to put a bullet into his own wife.
A sense of relief so strong it made me lightheaded rushed through me. No, I would never have to make that choice again. Sera could be mine forever.
I just had to talk her into forgiving me. And then keep her alive long enough to prove she wasn’t a rat.
CHAPTER11
Serafina
Ididn’t see Enzo for a week after the night he shot Luigi and took me back. When I asked Veda about it while we were going through some of her clothes she was letting me borrow until the stuff I’d ordered online came in, she told me as far as she knew he was out of town on business for Luca. I was surprised he’d left without telling me. But then again, the last time he saw me, I didn’t exactly make him think I cared.
And I didn’t…or, at least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
My back was feeling a lot better. The welts had gone down and there were only a few red marks scattered across my right side and back of my hip where the belt had hit me the hardest. After that first night, Veda and Lisa had helped me when I needed them. By the third day, the pain was more tolerable, and I was able to do everything on my own. I tried to keep myself busy helping Veda take down the Christmas decorations, and not think about the man who had caused such an uproar in my life these last weeks. But it was impossible. No matter how much he’d hurt me, he’d also saved me. More than once.
Why would he do that if he didn’t care?
He’d found me when no one else could. He’d killed for me. He’d shown up on my damn wedding night just to watch me through the window and make sure I was okay. And when I wasn’t, he’d come smashing through the window like some kind of knight in dented armor to save me.
He’dkilled the mafia bossto save me. Without a thought for himself or what could’ve happened to him.
But he’d also done some real asshole things that weren’t so easily forgiven. And I wasn’t sure that I wanted to, even if I could, because forgiving him would make it that much harder to leave him.
I was eating dinner at the table in the kitchen with Luca and Veda when Enzo returned from wherever the hell he went. As soon as he came into the room—dressed in his usual fitted black suit, black dress shirt, black shoes, tie, and sunglasses—every cell in my body went on alert like I was a vampire and his blood was the only thing that could sustain me. I felt starved for him. My mouth watered, and I was suddenly entirely too warm as my blood raced through my veins in anticipation, but I clenched my teeth together and returned my eyes to my plate.
