Page 31 of King of War

“We both know I’m not enough of a masochist to endure your presence for any longer than I have to. So, the video?”

I ignore his barb and focus on the positives. If this is going to help get me out of here, then I’m all about helping. I pull out a stool and take a seat, popping a chunk of pineapple into my mouth, making him wait for me to finish eating it before I speak. “What exactly do you want to know?”

“When Oscar told you about it, what exactly did he say? Did he give any clues to what else might be on there?”

“It was Joseph who described the video to me, actually. He described it in great detail, and I got the impression he watched it a few times. Sick bastard.” Enzo growls, like he’s agreeing with me, but he doesn’t speak. “According to him, it was forty-seven minutes long, and it only shows what happened. Two people. Nothing before and nothing after.”

“So just you and Tommy?” he asks.

No, I almost say. But what would be the point of that now? It will only cause him immeasurable hurt, and I’m not in a strong enough frame of mind to be dealing with all of Enzo’s guilt and pain right now. “It was me, yes.” He doesn’t seem to pick up on my omission, and I don’t give him a chance to overthink it. “Why are you asking me this? You must have a theory about the Bertellis and how they came to be in possession of that recording.”

He grinds his jaw, staring at me like he’s deciding whether he should tell me what he knows.

“I want to help you, Enzo. I want that video found as much as you do. Believe it or not, I do have a life in San Francisco that I’d like to get back to.”

“Oh yeah? Anyone in particular you’re desperate to get back to, Rayne?”

He has a nerve asking me that when his date was over here a few nights ago. I have half a mind to call him an obnoxious pig with double standards, but I swallow it down and remind myself arguing with him gets me nada. “No. Only my ficus.”

His eye twitches and he glares at me for a few seconds longer. “I heard some information that the Bertellis were planning to use you and that video to somehow overthrow the don.”

A snort of laughter bubbles out of me unexpectedly. “Me? To get rid of Carmine Falcone. But how?” I gape at him, aware I must look like an idiot but not caring.

“I don’t know.” He runs a hand through his hair. “In fact, I have no fucking idea, Rayne. But the don tells me he wants the Bertellis taken out, then you show up at their request to get some video. Then I’m told that Oscar Bertelli had something on the don, and a woman was going to help them out with it. It all seems a little too coincidental to be not connected, don’t you think?”

I can only imagine they intended to reveal the truth to Enzo and somehow use it to implicate Carmine, but I have no idea how I fit into that plan. They could have simply shown Enzo the recording themselves. If only he hadn’t killed Joseph and Oscar, we might actually get some answers. “I agree, but how the hell could I bring down Carmine Falcone? I’m a wedding photographer, Enzo, not some kind of kingpin.”

“That’s what Oscar said though.”

“To who?” I chomp on a strawberry.

“That doesn’t matter. The point is, this is all somehow connected, and I know you’re hiding something from me.”

Fuck! Yes, I am, but will coming clean actually help right now, or just open me up to more humiliation and pain? The truth sits in my mouth like broken glass. I could spit it at him—let it cut him open. I could tell him that every name he has called me was built on a lie, that every year he spent hating me was another year I had to survive being hated for something I didn’t do. But Tommy is dead. Enzo and I are broken beyond repair. Most importantly, he has proven without a doubt that he will simply not believe me. And I refuse to give this man another opportunity to call me a liar.

“Before Vinny killed Oscar Bertelli, he was about to tell me something. About Carmine and my father.”

“Your father?” My heart bottoms out of my chest. I know he always hated me, and even though I’ve had my suspicions, I always dismiss them. Surely, Giovanni wouldn’t have had anything to do with what happened that day? But if we’re discussing coincidences, it’s still a huge one that Oscar came into possession of that video after Giovanni’s death. He never told me how he came to have it, or even mentioned Giovanni’s name, but it was the first thought that crossed my mind. Where else was it for six years? But is a niggling suspicion enough for me to accuse Enzo’s father of something so heinous?

“Yeah.” Enzo nods. “I even considered that it could have been him who planted that camera.”

I considered it too. Especially since at least one of his brothers knows more about what happened than he’s ever let on. Before I can voice my agreement, Enzo adds, “But there’s no way he’d have done that. I know Papa and I had our differences, but he’d never have betrayed me like that. Family was everything to him. Him and my brothers… We’ve always had each other’s backs. No matter what.”

Yeah, I think to myself. No matter what. The Medicis against the rest of the world, and I am definitely not a Medici. I was allowed to stand close enough to mistake their warmth for belonging, but not close enough for them to choose me when it mattered. If I make any accusations now, it’s only going to blow up in my face. Enzo will hear his father’s name and stop hearing me. He will look at me the way he did six years ago, like I’m worthless. Definitely get me another lying cheating whore accusation thrown in for good measure. And I am absolutely none of those things. So, I don’t tell him anything more than I already have.

So what if he thinks I’m hiding something? It’s nothing that he’d believe. Nothing that will help his cause right now either. There’s nothing on that video other than the worst moments of my life. I simply need to sit tight and let him find the damn thing, and then I can walk out of his life forever.

I’ve protected him from it for as long as I could, but when Enzo finds out what really happened that night, I know it will break him. And I don’t intend to hang around to pick up the pieces. I already had to put myself back together piece by piece, alone and afraid, and I have nothing left now for anyone else.

Chapter

Thirteen

ENZO

Iglare at her, feeling like this conversation is getting us nowhere. We’re just going around in circles, and she’s definitely not being entirely truthful. “You’re still hiding something, Rayne. I know you too well.”

She scoffs. “You know nothing about me, Enzo.”