The Truth Hurts: Part Two: The Twisted Betrayal Duet

Chapter 2

Ipractically inhale the coffee Marco passes to me as we all stare at one another across the living room. It’s five in the morning, and nobody has said a word since we sat down. I don’t think there are any words for what we’ve just discovered. There’s so much to process right now that the silence is deafening and I’m still trying to fathom how my cousin just came back from the dead.

He had a funeral; Sera mourned for him. His family grieved the loss, and all this time he was alive. How do you even start to comprehend those events?

Enzo leans back on the couch, casually draping one arm over the back of the cushions. Even after three months, he still plays the stoic asshole, acting like he’s in charge. He hasn’t changed. He still wears his dark hair like mine, groomed but messy, though his is straighter than mine. He doesn’t look like he’s been living in squalor or hiding in dive bars. He’s got his signature leather jacket on—though it’s harboring a small bullet hole—his dark shirt exposing the tattoos on his chest and neck.

“I know you all have questions,” Enzo starts, linking his hands together as he leans forward on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees.

“That’s a fucking understatement,” Luca grumbles beside me. He’s still pissed about Enzo not allowing him to see Sera. We all want to see her, to check up on her. But Enzo’s right; Sera needs rest. We have no idea what state she’s in, but if the past four days were even half as rough on her as they were on us, she’s going to need all the rest in the world.

“How?” Marco asks first, his no-nonsense attitude piercing the silence. “How are you here?”

“Last time we checked, you were six feet under,” Matteo chimes in after his brother, sipping his own coffee.

“It’s a long story—”

“We have time,” Luca snaps, his knee bouncing agitatedly.

With a huff, Enzo darts his dark gaze to each of us. “Alright,” he sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I did die. That much is true. But by some twisted miracle, I came back. The bullet did some serious damage, to the point I was in a coma for two weeks. I woke up eventually but by then it was too late. Everyone thought I was dead—”

“And you didn’t think to contact us? Sera? Your fucking family?” Luca growls.

I rest a hand on his leg in silent placation, Enzo’s gaze tracking the gesture. He might be my cousin, but Luca’s right. His sudden reappearance doesn’t sit right with me, nor does the fact that he’s the one who managed to track Sera down and bring her back.

“The Verdis weren’t going to stop coming after Sera. Luciano was a piece of shit who wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted. We thought I could protect Sera this way.”

“By faking your death?” Matteo questions.

“How did that work out for you?” Luca snarks, gripping my hand tightly.

“Who’s we?” Marco asks.

Enzo frowns, seemingly avoiding our questions altogether. “Look, I get it. You’re all pissed at me.”

“Pissed!?” Luca jumps up from the couch, lunging for my cousin.

All hell breaks loose as Matteo grabs Luca by the waist, but his rage is too volatile, too strong to fight. He grips Enzo’s jacket, shaking so hard I can feel his anger rolling off him in waves. “You fucking died! You fucking left her! She grieved over your selfish ass while you put her in fucking danger! For what?!”

I listen to each word Luca says, even the ones he’s not saying. It’s the subtle injustice hidden beneath his words that I hear the loudest. His father died that day, too; protecting Sera. The unfairness of it all can be felt as Luca towers over my cousin. Enzo came back, Luca’s father didn’t, and now Enzo is going to be a constant reminder of that.

“Are you forgetting who brought her back?” he replies coldly, narrowing his eyes on Luca. He isn’t even scared of the anger that could unfurl from my man. He should be, though. Luca’s fury is an anomaly, an unpredictable tempest, his rage is a storm; destructive but filled with so much passion. He acts with his emotions first without considering the consequences. It’s what makes him so dangerous, yet so damn attractive. “Do you know who was looking out for you that night at the compound, when you decided to go against Sera’s orders?”

Cazzo. That was Enzo?

Matteo tugs Luca back, who releases Enzo with a harsh shrug. “Maybe we should let him explain,” Matteo suggests. “We’re all jumping to conclusions here and—”

A knock on the front door interrupts the chaos, drawing us all into silence once more.

“Expecting any more surprises?” Marco retorts, standing up slowly.

“I called Mancini,” Enzo answers. “And the doctor.”

My mouth gapes at the new information. The puzzle pieces just keep fucking dropping and none of them are creating an actual picture.

“Raf?” Matteo frowns while his twin heads to the door. I’m wondering the same thing as voices and footsteps sound in the hallway. How the hell did Enzo explain this shit to Raf? Or has he known all along?

It’s a second before Raf enters the room behind Marco, wearing a dubious look on his face that I can’t quite decipher. It isn’t until he gives a subtle nod towards Enzo that it finally clicks and Luca shoots up from the couch. “You fucking knew this whole time!?”

“I can explain!” he says cautiously, raising his hands in the air like that might diffuse the situation.

It doesn’t.

Raf is next on Luca’s hit list, and he closes the distance so damn quickly that none of us can react in time. Luca pins Raf against the wall, gripping his throat. “You told us you couldn’t find her!” he roars, rearing his fist back.

Matteo grabs Luca’s arm just in time, yanking him backwards before he can get a hit in. I step forward, tugging him against my chest.

“Let’s just hear him out,” I say gently in his ear, easing him backwards. “You don’t want to wake Sera up.”

Luca shrugs out of my grip, his narrowed gaze remaining on Raf. “Fine. But if I don’t like the answer, I get to shoot him.”

“Luca,” I warn. The last thing Sera needs right now is all this bullshit. We don’t know what the hell has happened, or where Giovanni is. We have no answers and Luca’s storm is about to roll in and destroy any chance of us getting the ones we need. “Come on.” I bring him back to the couch with me, pulling him in against my chest.

He’s defiant, but complies nonetheless, his rage-filled gaze locking with mine. There’s so much anger and pain in his eyes that my heart aches for him. I know how difficult these past few days have been for him. I’ve felt his wrath, and it’s about time everyone else did too.

Raf takes a seat beside Enzo on the couch, both of them wearing matching expressions of guilt and remorse. I’d like to say I feel bad for them having to keep secrets from us, but I’m leaning in the same direction as Luca, and right now, I don’t have it in me to forgive so easily.

While Marco takes the doctor upstairs, the rest of us sit staring at the two assholes that betrayed us and their leader. It’s not just that. It’s the fact we trusted Mancini, we brought him into this group, accepted his help even when Bianchi questioned his motives. Turns out the asshole had ulterior ones all this time.

“So, who’s going first?” Luca grunts.

“Don’t come for Mancini. This is on me.” Enzo blocks any interaction with Raf to defend him.

“You’re damn right it is!” Luca snaps at Enzo. “You walk in here like you own the goddamn place, barking orders at us. All the while you’ve been fuck knows where, making us believe you were dead.”

“He’s been with me,” Raf interjects sternly.

My blood pulses loudly in my ears, my mouth slackening. “He’s been with you this whole time? You knew he was alive?” I don’t suppress the agitation in my tone. “Three months, Raf. You knew he was alive for three months! You saw what Enzo’s death did to Sera and you still kept that from her!”

Raf cards his fingers through his hair, dipping his chin to gaze at the floor. “It was the only way to keep Sera safe,” he tries to explain. “Enzo and I, we had a plan. A way to take down the Verdis and keep her safe.”

“But you didn’t keep her safe, did you?And your plan to take down the Verdis? How did that pan out because from where I’m sitting, you fucked up big time!” Luca roars. “We kept her safe!” He’s still glaring at Raf, his breaths harsh and deep. I can’t even imagine what’s going through Luca’s head right now because those two were supposedly friends, good friends. Betrayal always hits the hardest when it comes from someone close. I know that feeling all too well, because it hits every time I look at my cousin. None of this makes sense. Logically, I can see why Enzo did it. But does that make it right? Of course it doesn’t. Enzo could’ve saved us all so much pain if he just kept us in the loop.

“We?” Enzo scoffs. “If you’re talking about that pathetic excuse for a bodyguard, you need to rethink your next words carefully.”

“Where is Gio?” Matteo asks. “Is he alive?”

“Barely,” Enzo smirks, glancing at Raf. “He’s currently in the trunk of the car. You know that fucker was working with the Verdis, right?”

The sickening silence that follows his words pierces right through my chest. My breath hitches and I can’t seem to grasp what my cousin is saying over the pounding of my heartbeat. “No,” I manage to say through my disbelief.

“Fuck,” Matteo mutters. “How did we miss that?”

“Because he never fucking spoke!” Luca barks. “Did you know this whole time?!”

“We had an idea,” Enzo answers.

“And Sera?” Luca focuses his attention on Raf. “Did you know where Sera was?”

“No,” Raf answers with conviction. “I only got a trace yesterday on the compound Sera was taken to. Enzo was already in the vicinity.”

“You should have told us,” I say angrily.

“And what would you have done?” Enzo questions me, raising a brow. “I only got there just in time.”

“Just in time?” Luca frowns. “What does that mean?”

“When I got there, she was… Luciano was…” Enzo’s voice grows rough as he shakes his head.

“What happened?” Matteo asks, “…to Luciano?”

“I did what I had to,” Enzo answers sharply. “I’m not proud of keeping this from you, but I won’t apologize for it.”

“Then don’t expect forgiveness any time soon, Enz. You won’t get it here,” I grumble, standing up from the couch. “Whatever your reasoning was, you shouldn’t have made those decisions on your own.”

“Where are you going?” Enzo asks, his brows furrowing.

“I’m going to be there for my leader,” I reply, looking down at my cousin. “Something you should have done from day one.”

I glance over my shoulder at Luca, silently asking him to follow. With an inaudible grunt, he stands and follows me. We remain silent as we head upstairs, his hand in mine, giving me the comfort I need. It’s strange how the roles between us have suddenly switched up, but in a way, it’s something we both need right now.

Pushing open Sera’s bedroom door, my eyes land on her. She’s curled up on her side, smothered by her bed covers. Her hair splays behind her on the pillow, like a dark shadow escaping her. She’s perfectly still, dreamlike, yet so fucking real. My chest pinches the longer I look at her, but as much as I want to reach for her, I’m frozen on the spot.

“How is she?” Luca asks the doctor quietly, rounding the bed. He perches on her right side, running his knuckles over the dressing on her cheek.

She doesn’t stir, though.

“She has a large laceration on her back, a smaller one on her cheek, two broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder,” the doctor explains. “I’ve done what I can to make sure she’s comfortable, but she needs as much rest as possible.”

“What can we do?” Luca asks.

The doctor glances at all of us in turn, sighing quietly. “There isn’t much you can do. Keep the wound on her back clean and dry. Her ribs will heal on their own, and the dislocated shoulder is back in place, but it’ll be tender for a couple days.” He drops a bottle of pills on the bedside table. “She can take these for the pain.”

A sudden feeling of heaviness weighs down in the pit of my stomach, my thoughts running wild as I think about what she might have gone through. None of us will really know until she wakes up, but I’m not sure I want to know at all. Her face is busted up, purple bruises marring her beautiful skin, her lip cut and her wrists bandaged.

Whatever she went through, I’ll make damn sure it never happens again.

Marco guides the doctor out, leaving Luca and I staring at our beautifully broken leader. There are no words to describe how I feel because it’s a chaotic blend of relief, happiness, grief and shock.

“She’s really here,” Luca whispers in disbelief, lacing his hand with hers. He’s been taking her disappearance the hardest, so it’s no wonder he’s still in shock.

“Yeah,” I reply softly.

“So is Enzo.” He looks up at me, and I finally see the worry that’s been driving his anger. I step around the bed and lean down to cup his cheek.

“I know what you’re thinking. This doesn’t change a thing, got it?”

He nods, but it’s weak and uncertain. “He’s her true second-in-command,” he says softly. “This changes everything.”

“No,” I reply sternly, leaning closer to brush my lips against his. “It doesn’t. I know Sera. I know how she feels about us and I won’t let my cousin change that.” I slant my lips against his, searing my silent promise into a desperate kiss. Because I’ll be damned if I let Enzo get between us.