Page 50 of King of War

He arches an eyebrow. “No?”

“Why do you even care anyway? After all this time, and everything she did, you still take her side.”

“I’m not on anyone’s side, Enzo, but this is Rayne. The woman who stood by yours for four years. The woman you were going to marry and have kids with. She doesn’t deserve any of this.”

“And just how do you know what she deserves? Your god may be all about forgiveness, but I’m fucking not.”

“You don’t even know that there was anything to forgive.”

What? Why is he even saying that? I told him what happened. Filled him in on all the sordid details—the proof I saw with my own damn eyes. That should be enough for him. “Do you know something I don’t? Did she talk to you about what happened?”

His brow is furrowed in a scowl. “No. She would talk to you if you’d only just fucking listen to her.”

And just what the hell is that supposed to mean? Clearly he knows something I don’t. “She told you something, didn’t she? Did she confess her sins to you, Father?”

He’s across the room in a few sides, my usually serene brother visibly shaking with anger. I know how much he’d love to punch me in the mouth, but he’s all about mercy and forgiveness these days. “No, she didn’t, and if she had, it would be sacrosanct, you sanctimonious prick.”

I swallow down my anger. “Then what the hell do you know that I don’t?”

“Nothing. But I know her, you blind jackass. And you knew her too. But you let Papa get into your head about her. He made you suspicious before there was ever anything to be suspicious about.”

While it’s true that my father never particularly liked Rayne or approved of my friendship with Tommy, I still know what I fucking saw. I grab my brother by the shoulders. “I saw what she did, Angelo. With my own fucking eyes, I saw it.”

He shrugs out of my grip. “You saw a single snapshot in time, Enzo. And, yeah, I get it looked bad, but did you ever actually ask her about it? No, you just flew into a rage and acted accordingly, like you always fucking do.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

He winces, like he’s said too much. Or maybe he wishes he could take back his words. “Look, one of the things that makes you so good at what you do, one of the things that keeps you and our brothers alive, is your gut instinct.” He claps me on the back, and I’m reminded of a similar, albeit more emotionally charged, conversation with Rayne. “But sometimes, big brother, even you can get it wrong. So how about you just do what you should have done six years ago and talk to her.”

I grind my jaw, knowing he’s right but refusing to admit it. When I came back after dealing with Tommy, I did intend to talk to her. I had every intention of asking her why the hell she betrayed me with him. And then I saw she’d stripped the cum-stained sheets from the bed, and for some reason that made me even more angry than if she’d left them there. Did she think it was that easy to hide what she’d done? Instead of talking, I accused her of being a whore, and she just stood there looking broken. Then she had the audacity to ask what I’d done to Tommy—the man she’d just fucked in our bed. And I saw red.

I fucking hate you. The last words I spoke to her before she left, and they haunt me still. Even though I didn’t hate her, and I never could. It would have been easier if I had, then maybe I could have let my father and Carmine handle her the way they dealt with anyone who brings disgrace to our family. Instead, I bargained for her life with the only thing I had left. My undying loyalty.

Chapter

Twenty-Five

ENZO

6 years ago

Ianswer the call from my father. “Carmine says he no longer needs you on the job in L.A.”

I frown, almost at the airport. “What? Why?”

“He says someone else is handling it, and he has a more important job for you.”

I roll my eyes and signal to Micah to turn the car around. He does so without question. “Is Rayne home?” I ask. Fuck, I only saw the woman two hours ago and already I miss her. What has she turned me into? At least this new job means I get to go home to her tonight, and that makes me a very happy man. Four years, and I love her more with each passing day.

My father sighs heavily, making no attempt to hide his disdain. It’s not my fiancée so much that he doesn’t like, but that he thinks she’s too much of a distraction for me. She is a distraction—the most incredible one there is. She makes me believe there might be more to this life than working for Carmine, and I resent the fact that he blames her for my ambition. It’s partly why I haven’t told him about my future plans. Not about me and Rayne getting our own place, or about the work I’m doing with Tommy. If he knew about any of that he’d blame her for putting ideas in my head, like I’m not a grown man capable of making my own decisions.

“What’s the fucking sigh for, Papa?” I ask, unable to stop myself. He can dislike her all he wants, but he doesn’t get to disrespect her like that.

“I don’t trust the girl, Enzo. She is too much like your mama for my liking. Do you see how close she is with Tommy? He is supposed to be your best friend⁠—”

“Don’t, Papa,” I warn him. “She’s not Mama.”

The truth is, Rayne is a lot like my mom was. The good, kind parts of her. She was a great mom. And for the most part, she was a good woman. A woman trapped in a marriage with my father—a man she didn’t love. I still recall the day she left us, her bag in her hand and a purple bruise covering the entire right side of her face. Micah was only three, Angelo two, and Rafael still a baby. I felt like my whole world was falling apart.