Chapter 18 Enzo #2
Enzo couldn’t stop his laugh. “No, not at all. My dad was loud. Not in a mean way. He just had this big, booming voice. With all those kids, I guess he had to be loud for us to hear him, but no matter where we were in the house, we always knew the minute he got home because he would call for all of us like he’d just returned from war and not from work. ”
Enzo clenched his jaw, trying to remember exactly what his father sounded like. It got harder and harder as the years passed.
“If he was mad, he would get really quiet. It was terrifying. He was definitely a swing first, ask questions later kind of guy, but he always sat us down and explained everything to us afterwards. It didn’t really make getting our asses beat any less traumatic, but we knew he loved us.”
“Was he…” Seven trailed off.
“Was he what?”
“Was he…” Seven hedged. “Did he…commit crimes?”
Enzo smiled. “My dad was no criminal. If anything, he was too moral, too black and white when it came to the law. My mother has always been the one who did what needed to be done. She said that what’s just and what’s right aren’t always the same thing.”
“She sounds like Jericho.”
“She’s always saying, ‘When the law protects the powerful and punishes the poor, justice lives outside its margins.’ When my father died, my mom just kind of shut down for a while.
My stepfather was the one who swooped in and taught her how to be a better criminal…
for the greater good. They’re both very in sync with each other when it comes to doing bad things for good reasons. ”
“And does his family know what your family does?”
Enzo nodded. “The Conti family enterprise extends far past our own family. My stepfather is a Durante.”
He waited for Seven to connect the last name. “As in the—” Seven dropped his voice to a whisper. “As in the mob?”
“Why are you whispering?” Enzo asked, amused. “My house isn’t being tapped by the Feds.”
“How am I only just now learning this?” Seven pressed. “Is that why people are always accusing your mom of being some kind of mob boss? Because she married one?”
“My stepfather is the boss of nothing. My mother runs both families. My uncles and aunt answer to her. When Dario’s father died, he demanded that my mom step in. Said she was the only one ruthless enough to make sure his businesses didn’t collapse like a house of cards.”
“My new mother-in-law is an actual mob boss?” Seven said, like he was testing the weight of it on his tongue.
“It’s not exactly Goodfellas,” Enzo assured him. “More like Get Shorty.”
Seven huffed out a quiet laugh. “Is he a good guy? Dario?”
Enzo nodded. “Yeah, my mom is an incredible judge of character. That’s why she picked you for me.”
Seven side-eyed him. “Do you really think she put me in your office as some elaborate matchmaking scheme?”
Enzo smiled. “Oh, I know she did. My mother never does anything without looking at the whole board. She’s always five moves ahead. You were perfect in her eyes.”
Seven’s brows knitted together. “She didn’t even know me.”
“She did, though. She was already friends with your mother, who she adores. She already had Levi working at the restaurant, so she knew of you. When you ran away from me that day, you ran straight into her trap.”
Seven rolled his eyes. “You make it sound so calculated.”
“It was. Think about it. You were perfect. Sweet. Charming. Attractive. Soft. Intelligent. A law student. Neith’s son. But more than anything, you were one of Jericho’s boys. And she’s wanted to cement that friendship for years. By marrying us off, we’re joining three really powerful families.”
“Apparently, we’re joining four families if we include your stepfather’s family. The Contis, The Mulvaneys, the Navarros, and the Durantes…” Seven marveled. “Damn. I wish I could be mad about it, but it’s kind of genius. This really was an arranged marriage.”
“And your mom was a willing accomplice. Which means she thought I was good enough for you.”
Seven snorted. “No offense, but when it comes to men, my mother’s bar is so low it’s floating in the Earth’s core.
She spent the last twenty-something years letting some piece of shit lie to her, cheat on her, treat her like one of his harem, and yet, every time he crooked his little finger, she went running. ”
Enzo was quiet for a bit. Should he tell Seven what he knew? Even if it would hurt him more?
Seven glanced up at him anxiously, “I don’t mean you’re not good enough for me. If anything, you’ve been way too good to me. More than I deserve.”
Enzo tipped Seven’s head up so he could press another kiss to his lips. “That’s not true. I could spend the rest of this life and the next spoiling you and it still wouldn’t make up for how I treated you that day at the restaurant."
“It’s not that dire. I was just in a really bad place mentally and your offer tipped me over the edge.
I was going through some stuff because of my dad.
Your offer…made it worse. It was just a series of unfortunate events.
You’ve more than made it up to me. I just meant my mom has really bad taste in men, not that it made you a bad choice. ”
“Do you ever wonder if maybe your mom just went along with your dad all this time because she had no choice?” Enzo blurted.
Seven froze. “What do you mean?”
Fuck.
Enzo shook his head. “Nothing, I’m just... I—Just forget I said anything.”
“No,” Seven said, frowning. “I won’t. Tell me what you’re thinking.” When Enzo still hesitated, Seven scrutinized him further. “Do you know something about my parents?”
Enzo closed his eyes. What the fuck was wrong with him? This wasn’t going to make Seven feel any better. If anything, it would make him feel much worse.
“Enzo…”
It was too late now. “I don’t know anything…not for a fact. It’s more speculation, I guess.”
“Spit it out,” Seven demanded.
Enzo sighed. “I told you that I knew of your dad, right?”
Seven nodded. “You mentioned it the day we met. I was afraid he was one of your clients.”
“He wasn’t. But I represented one of your father’s other…
women…once. It was a favor for my mother.
A pro bono case. Check-writing fraud. She’d written a bad check to try to buy groceries for her children, one of whom was your father’s.
” Enzo took a deep breath and let it out.
“She told me she didn’t love him, never had.
But she came when he called because every time she tried to cut ties, he’d remind her how easy it would be for their kid to go missing.
How easy it was to make people disappear.
So, she just gave him what he wanted, whenever he wanted. To keep her daughter safe.”
Enzo watched the color drain from Seven’s face. “What?”
“I think the reason these women keep going back isn’t because your father is just so charming…
it’s because he threatens their children—his own children—to keep them in line.
Your mom feels safe dating my Uncle Rocco because she knows your father can’t hurt you from prison, and if he tried, my family has your back.
I’m sure my mother has told her this. I’m sure Rocco has told her this. ”
“So, it’s my fault?” Seven whispered. “This whole time, he’s been holding my mother hostage? Blackmailing her into sleeping with him? I think I’m gonna puke.”
Enzo held him tighter. “I didn’t tell you this so you could swim in guilt. None of this is your fault. The only person at fault is your father.”
“Easy for you to say.”
Enzo shook his head. “It’s not, actually. But if you were your mother and you were sleeping with someone to keep your child safe, would you blame the child for being a target?”
Seven just shrugged, his face stormy.
“Of course, you wouldn’t,” Enzo answered for him.
“Your mother loves you, and if that was why she kept going back, she did what she had to do to keep you safe. And she pretended to love your father so you didn’t feel guilty.
I shouldn’t have told you this. I just thought it might help you forgive her or, at the very least, understand her. ”
Seven jerked his gaze to Enzo’s. “No, I’m glad you told me. But how do I not feel bad about it? She lost decades to that piece of shit.”
Enzo pulled Seven in for another kiss. “And if you asked her whether she’d do it again, I promise you, she’d say yes.
You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to her.
She tells me so every time we see each other.
And then she reminds me that she has an army of people willing to slaughter me on her command if I break your heart again. ”
“Again?” Seven asked. “Oh, God. Did your mom tell my mom what you did?”
Enzo flushed. “Not in so many words, but I think she got the jist of it.”
“Oh, my God. That’s so fucking embarrassing.”
“Yeah, for me,” Enzo murmured. “The fact that your mom didn’t just kill me and make it look like an accident is a miracle. Hell, I’m shocked that Jericho didn’t.”
“Jericho knows, too?” Seven cried.
“I don’t know if he does or not, but the way your friends overshare I can’t imagine that he wouldn’t.”
“We overshare with each other, not Coe. He’s the closest thing I have to a real dad. He’s too protective. He almost stomped a man to death when he stabbed Nico.”
Enzo’s stomach soured. “Well, if he did try to kick my ass, I would let him. I deserve it.”
Seven rolled his eyes at him. “Stop being such a martyr. You had a lapse in judgment based on your traumatic break-up and self-esteem issues. You didn’t cheat on me. We’re so far past that now that it’s not even worth bringing up.”
Enzo’s insides twisted painfully. “I just hate that I hurt you.”
“I’m over it,” he said, then yawned. “But if you do cheat on me, I’ll release the full weight of the Navarros, the Mulvaneys, and the Contis on you, and I’ll have Felix make me a designer work bag out of whatever’s left of you.”
Enzo squeezed him against his chest until Seven wheezed. “Don’t even joke about that. I would never do that to you. The idea of being with anyone else makes me a little queasy. And the thought of you wanting someone else makes me homicidal.”
“Good,” Seven muttered. “‘Cause I’m still waiting on my official proposal.”
Enzo smiled. He already knew just how he wanted to do it. He just didn’t know how he would make it happen. But he wasn’t afraid to exploit his connections if he needed to.
“Just wait a little longer, okay?” Enzo asked.
“Okay,” Seven mumbled sleepily.
“Let’s go to bed,” Enzo suggested. “You’re exhausted. Do you want to sleep in the cocoon or out of it?”
“Out. If I wake up and can’t move my arms, I’m gonna have a panic attack.”
“Fair enough.”
Enzo unwrapped him and tossed the blanket aside.
Seven immediately laid down beside him and made himself the little spoon, backing his naked ass up against Enzo’s crotch. “Snuggle me.”
Enzo didn’t have to be asked twice, but he was grateful he’d put on underwear. He slid his arm under Seven’s pillow, then threw an arm and a leg over him. “This okay?”
“Mm,” Seven hummed. “It’s perfect.”
Enzo kissed the back of his neck, resting his head on the pillow next to Seven’s.
If anyone had told him a year ago that he wouldn’t be able to sleep unless he was wrapped around another human being, he would have laughed in their face. Now, he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else, sleeping anywhere else.
Seven owned him, body and soul. He might be his sub, but Enzo was definitely the one who’d been collared.
He drifted off with the scent of his shampoo in Seven’s hair and a smile on his face.