Page 95 of King of War

“But I thought…” I swallow down the words. He knows what I thought.

He taps my thigh. “You want to grab a burger and a drink, baby? Then we can talk.”

I’m stunned into silence, so I simply nod and hold on while Enzo maneuvers us to a quiet parking spot at the back of the diner. The restroom, a burger, and some answers—in that order, sound really good right now.

By the time I’ve used the restroom and freshened up, Enzo is sitting at a table near the window with two sodas on in front of him. I slide into the booth.

“I ordered you a double patty with everything,” he tells me.

My stomach growls at the mere idea of food. I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast, except for the bag of Skittles I scarfed when we stopped for gas. But a gal cannot live on candy alone. I know because I’ve tried. “Thank you.”

He smiles, reaches across the table, and takes my hand in his. “There’s a nice hotel not far from here. I’ll book us a room. They have a pool.”

I take a sip of my sugary soda. “I don’t have a swimsuit.”

His eyes grow dark with the kind of hunger that will not be sated by the best beef patty in California, not even a double. “Then we’ll swim naked.”

I narrow my eyes on his handsome face. “I’m not sure hotels look very favorably on that sort of behavior. Not the kind of hotels where I’d consider using the pool anyway.”

He squeezes my hand. “Then I guess I’ll just buy the fucking hotel then.”

I wouldn’t put it past him. “Or…” I catch my lip between my teeth. “We could just not swim and spend all our time naked in our hotel room?”

He hums like he’s thinking through my proposal when we both know he’s already picturing me bent over the bed. “I think I can get on board with that.”

I flash him a sweet smile. “I thought you might. So, now that that’s out of the way, shall we talk about Tommy? Tommy who is very much alive and, from the looks of him, well and happy?”

He winces. “Yeah. Tommy.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Well, at first it was because I was a jealous prick and I didn’t want you to know he was alive because the idea of you two running off into the sunset together would have been a slow, agonizing death for me.”

I can’t help rolling my eyes again.

“I know,” he sighs. “But that was back when I thought you and he were…” He grimaces, like he can’t even bear to say the words.

“Why did you let everyone think you killed him?”

“I almost did. I thought I might have. I left him for dead and for all I knew he might not have made it. So when I told my father he was gone, I wasn’t sure I was lying, even though I suspected. Then Micah found him a few years back. I drove out here, thought I might finally end it and put a bullet in his head. Wondered if it might make me feel better. And then I saw him, and he was holding this little kid’s hand. Had that same shock of dark hair. Looked like he was about two or three and he was just staring up at him. And then Tommy picked the kid up, and he squealed laughing, then he called out his name. Daddy. And I just couldn’t take that kid’s father away from him, you know? Even though a part of me hated that he had what I was supposed to have. Now I know he deserves it more than anyone.”

I place my hand over his and squeeze. “You deserve it too.”

He smiles, but it’s sad and doesn’t quite reach his eyes, like he doesn’t believe me. “So, I drove away and we agreed to forget he ever existed.”

“You and Micah?”

He nods. “And Raf, Angelo, and Luca too.”

I’m still reeling with the shock of it. Shaken to my core. “If I’d known, Enzo… You told your father he was gone, and I assumed…”

“That’s what you were supposed to assume, Rayne. What everyone was supposed to assume.”

Tears burn the backs of my eyes. “I would have fought harder to tell you the truth if I’d known Tommy was alive. I should have fought harder.”

“No,” he says firmly, giving my hand another reassuring squeeze. “You believed what I wanted you to believe. I am the only one at fault here because I should have listened to you, baby. I should have focused on you, and maybe then I’d have seen the pain on your face instead of being blinded by my anger.”

“Didn’t Tommy try to tell you what happened?”