I sat on the edge of the bed, weighing my words before pouring them out. “You said Cosimo asked to step down months ago. I’m guessing he asked for you as the replacement?”
Enzio nodded.
“And that’s why they refused.” That was why he had to do what he had to do.
“What do you mean?”
“Have you ever asked yourself why Cosimo was the boss and not you? You were twins with the same potential, no age advantage, nothing.”
He just stared at me.
“Well, I’d asked Cosimo. He said he was chosen…because he was a better leader. And when I’d asked him to leave his seat to you again and again, he never agreed. He kept saying he didn’t want to leave, but I know now he just couldn’t, not without giving away the leadership to a non-Giovanni-Lanza blood.” I locked my gaze with his. “Because the family never wantedIl Tagliatoreas their leader, Enzio.”
Cosimo was merciless and a force to be feared, but, obviously, Enzio was a sick son of a bitch. I knew he liked to torture and cut his victims before hedisposedthem, but last night told me it was a lot more than that. A dark, vicious, ruthless boss like Cosimo was what the Mafia needed and welcomed. A sadistic psychopath with mommy issues and torture urges? Not so much.
“Whatever Cosimo did earned him the execution,” I continued before he might snap. He gave me his word, but I wouldn’t trust him. “Who was to be the executioner was left to be determined. Marta didn’t wanna lose everything, so she made that deal. You become the executioner. You prove to the family you’d do anything for itandshow them how fierce you are. You could kill your own brother. You’d kill anybody else who stood in the way.”
He sat beside me, eerily calm. “That still doesn’t answer my question. Why do you think it’s Marta and not me who made that deal?”
“I see it on you. The weight of it. You really didn’t want this position.” I tucked my hair behind my ear. “You know what he always called you? His half soul.” I lifted my chin and stared at the high ceiling so I wouldn’t cry. “He loved you so much, and so did you. You wouldn’t kill him for a seat you never wanted.”
“Then why did I do it?”
Because you’d do anything she’d tell you. Because you wanted her love, which she mostly gave to your dead twin.“Marta.”
I felt his penetrating stare on me, frying my nerve endings one by one. Then his breath came closer, scorching. It pricked my skin as if I was about to be between the jaws of a predator. Abruptly, he left my side and went toward the windows.
“You did the right thing when you demanded respect from Vincenzo and Alfio.” Hands in his pockets, he glanced at me over his shoulder. “But blurting out about myperformance…that was idiotic, and it’s going to cost you.”
Bile rose to my throat. “How?”
“You’ve just showed them you’re not sick at all to postpone the consummation party.” He smirked, and my heart dropped to my knees. “Get ready, dolcezza. It’s happening tonight.”
Chapter16
Enzio
“Gonna barf again?” I eyed her now pale face.
The sound of her teeth clenching reached me from over here. “Not this time. Because what you’re saying is not happening.”
“Oh yes, it is,” I confirmed. “It wouldn’t have if you’d kept your mouth shut. You might have even played your role as the good wife for a few days and have convinced them it was unnecessary. You could have spared yourself all that shit, but no. You had to give Marta a piece of your mind.”
Her gaze was suddenly made of steel, as if she wasn’t about to pass out in a pool of her own vomit a second ago. “It’s not happening because the only reason I might be forced into your rape party is to stay alive. Until Cosimo’s will is opened, my life isn’t in danger. So no, Enzio. It’s not happening tonight.”
“There are far worse fates than death, Bianca.”
“You can torture me, maim me, cut me to pieces, still you won’t fuck me tonight unless I’m a corpse. So unless you’re into necrophilia, it’s not. Gonna. Happen.”
God, I wanted to punish that mouth. Fuck her brains out until she couldn’t think or speak anymore. Instead, I strode toward her and irritated her with my smirk. Then I leaned into her, my cock taking notice of her smell for the first time, like a beast sniffing for a mate. “Tomorrow then.”
When I drew back, the fiery gaze I hated and craved was there, whipping my control out of me.
I fucking hated this bitch.
The way she analyzed things, saw beyond what was given to her, collected the pieces and weaved them into the hidden truth… What she deduced about Marta was true. It wasn’t going to be long until her assumptions about me turned into accurate deductions.
Bianca Zanetti would see right through me, and I hated to be seen. I loved my darkness, embraced it a long time ago. I didn’t need the light. The shadows suited me. The demons and I got along just fine.
