“I don’t think so.”
Vitale held his hands higher, palms out. “You’re going to shoot an unarmed man?”
Enzo stared at him.
The urge to pull the trigger roared through him, hot, immediate, irresistible. Then Kathleen’s face rose unbidden in his mind. Her voice. Her eyes. The disappointment he’d see there.
He held.
Vitale laughed. “That’s what I thought. You only think you’re tough.” He leaned in slightly. “Deep down, you want to bethe good guy. That’s your weakness. You don’t have the killer instinct.”
Vitale’s hand dropped.
Enzo fired.
The bullet punched cleanly between Alessandro Vitale’s eyes.
He crumpled without a sound.
“You’re wrong,” Enzo said quietly. “And it cost you.”
Rocco stared down at Vitale’s body, his face twisting as the reality finally hit.
“Look what you did,” he screamed, his voice cracking. He lunged for the gun he’d dropped earlier, fingers scrabbling against wet stone.
“Don’t,” Enzo warned.
The word was low. Deadly.
Rocco straightened slowly, his chest heaving, hatred blazing in his eyes as his glare bounced between Enzo and Bianca. “You both are?—”
“Get in the boat, Rocco,” Enzo said quietly.
The calm in his voice stopped Rocco cold.
“I hate—what?” Rocco’s rant collapsed into confusion.
“Get into the boat and get out of here,” Enzo repeated. “Vitale was right about one thing. The cops will be here soon.” His gaze hardened. “Go now. Before I change my mind.”
Rocco hesitated, torn between fury and survival.
Enzo’s attention flicked to Bianca. “Go with him.”
“No,” she hissed. “He wants to kill me. You need to keep me safe.”
Enzo snapped. “Get in the fucking boat,” he roared, the sound echoing violently through the cave. “Both of you. Now.”
There was no mistaking it this time. No bargaining. No theatrics. Just finality.
Rocco flinched. Bianca recoiled.
They scrambled for the boat, Rocco shoving her ahead of him as if afraid Enzo might change his mind mid-step. The engine coughed, then roared to life, the thunderous sound filling the cavern as the boat peeled away into the darkness, vanishing into the open sea.
Enzo didn’t watch them go.
The moment the boat cleared the cave’s entrance, he turned and headed for the stairs.
He had to find Kathleen. Make sure she was safe. Do whatever he needed to convince her to take a chance on him. To start slowly, with a proper date, a short courtship, a quick marriage. Because he wanted that more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life.
