Chapter 3
Chapter three
Present Day
“Whiskey. Neat,” I ordered, resting my arms on the pristine bar top of the swanky hotel Alessio owned in Sicily. His generosity was a disguise to keep an eye on me while I stayed in his city, but I’d take it.
I took a sip from the glass, hissed with satisfaction at the burn in my throat, and gave my two loyal men behind me a subtle nod. They slipped away into the shadows. I needed to be alone to gather my thoughts.
And all my thoughts were focused on one man. As always. Finn Rossetti.
The ghost from my past. But who was haunting who, really? Because it was me who couldn’t let go.
“Enzo?”
I glanced over my left shoulder to see the beautiful Elenora Barbieri striding towards me, her large brown eyes wide with surprise and delight.
“I thought that was you! Alessio said you were staying in this hotel for the next few days.”
Standing up from my stool, we kissed cheeks before she grasped my arms and gave a gentle squeeze.
She looked just as beautiful as the day I met her years ago, but now she had a radiance that shone from pure happiness and contentment.
Being married to the mafia king, becoming a mother and a renowned art dealer clearly agreed with her.
“Elle,” I smiled. “I am. But what are you doing here?”
“I have a dinner meeting with a gallery that might be interested in showcasing some of my new client’s pieces.” She glanced at the Rolex on her wrist. “But I have ten minutes. Let’s have a drink. It’s been too long.”
Her bodyguards, who trailed her every move because Alessio only allowed her to be unprotected if she was beside him, moved to the end of the bar to give us some privacy. Elle perched on the stool next to mine and ordered herself a drink.
“So, are you still painting?” I asked, picking up my glass.
“Of course! I took a break for a few years after the twins were born, but now that they are older, it’s easier to find the time. The galleries are still thriving, so I feel blessed. Anyway, how are you? I heard you were at the house earlier. What brings you to Sicily?”
I glanced down at my drink with a slight smirk at her double-edged question.
It sounded innocent enough, but there was always an undertone of protectiveness towards Finn when we spoke.
I’d never blame her for that. She’d been caught up in our mess more than anyone else.
She was the only person aside from Finn that I’d ever confided in about my sexuality, but I’d still tried to marry her to hide it from the rest of the world.
She’d forgiven me, but Finn was her best friend.
And after what I did to him, she’d always be cautious about my motives.
“The Americans.”
“Ah,” she sighed, raising her wineglass with an eye roll. “Why can’t they just accept that it was a blessing that the sick prick died in that plane crash and get over it? They’re better off without Anthony Galiz leading them. But any excuse for a war.”
“You could say that. They killed my cousin and consigliere in broad daylight.”
She gasped, grabbing my forearm on the bar. “Oh my God! Enzo, I’m so sorry.”
I shrugged. The sympathy bounced off my tough exterior. “They’ll pay.”
“So that’s why you came to Sicily? To meet with Alessio about how to retaliate, I presume?”
I took a sip of my drink before I said, “Not Alessio. I wanted to meet with Finn.”
The frown on her face was expected, but her silence wasn’t. When she kept staring without giving me so much as a slap on the back of the head, I turned to face her. “What?”
“What are you doing, Enzo?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
Hunching over my drink at the bar, I took another sip to avoid answering.
“Enzo. Don’t.”
“Don’t?”
“He’s in a good place. He’s happy. Don’t ruin it.”
My chest tightened painfully, a sensation I only ever experienced when I thought of him. That was the problem. I never felt anything for anyone else—only Finn Rossetti.
“I’m not trying to ruin anything. I’m glad he’s happy. I came for his strategic mind so I can get justice for my cousin and end this war.”
Lies.
“You and I both know that is absolute bullshit,” she whisper-yelled, leaning in closer. “If you wanted justice for your cousin, you’d have met with Alessio. He could just as easily have listened to your demands and devised a plan of retaliation with you, but you demanded to meet with Finn.”
I met her fiery gaze and scoffed. She had me. My shoulders sagged as I glanced back down at the bar, avoiding her wrath. “I still love him, Elle.”
She blew a breath between her lips as if I had just uttered the most ludicrous sentence ever constructed. Shaking her head, she picked up her drink and swallowed the rest in one gulp.
I lowered my voice, making sure no one nearby could overhear. “I’m serious, Elle. I made the biggest mistake of my life by letting him go, and I’ve spent every day since living with that regret. I’ve tried to stay away. I can’t do it any longer. I want him back.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. I need another drink.” She raised her hand to the barman, who immediately replaced her glass with another.
She took a sip before looking me dead in the eyes.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Enzo. Except Finn is my best friend.
And Alessio’s. If you hurt him again, Alessio will kill you. And I will let him.”
I chuckled, knowing how true that was. “If I hurt him again, I’d walk into Alessio’s knife myself.”
She raised her eyebrows, mildly impressed by my response. I genuinely meant it. I would rather die than hurt that man again. He was the only person in the world that I gave a damn about. It took losing him for me to realise that.
“If you have any chance, it can’t be like last time, Enzo.”
“I know.” I nodded before a slow, hopeful smile appeared on my face. “So you think I have a chance?”
She snorted. “I think you’ll be grovelling and begging on your knees before he even gives you the time of day.”
My smile grew. I was prepared to do both and more. “So what I’m hearing is, I have a chance.”
She laughed, climbing off her stool. “You men are all the same. You hear what you want to hear. What I’m trying to say is, don’t get your hopes up, Enzo. Finn isn’t the same man he used to be.”
“Neither am I.”
I wasn’t. I was just a boy back then. Scared and insecure.
But losing Finn changed me. It hardened me and made me determined to become the man he deserved me to be.
I’d spent the last ten years making damn sure that boy turned into a man—a man who earned the respect and fear of his men in equal measure.
A man who built an empire, becoming the most successful arms dealer in Italy.
But it all meant nothing when he wouldn’t look at me the way he used to.
None of it mattered if I couldn’t get him back.
She leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “If that’s true, make sure you want to go down this road and don’t mess with his heart. You won’t get another chance.”
She left, waltzing into the restaurant with an air of confidence and poise, like the queen she was. She was right. This was my only chance, and I’d waited long enough to take it. I’d let Finn walk away from me once, but I wouldn’t let it happen again.
My burner phone buzzed in my pocket, alerting me to the call I had been waiting for all night. I glanced at my men standing by the door as I answered, subtly letting them know we were leaving with a nod of my head.
“Pronto.”
“Found him, Boss. I’ll send you the address.”
“Grazie.”
I hung up, rose from my chair, and threw back the remainder of my drink.
Adrenaline rushed beneath my skin as I stepped outside and climbed into the back of my hired car.
I gave them the address of a bar three hours away, and they didn’t ask questions.
They had been on enough of these late-night crusades with me over the years to know better.
When we arrived at the back of the dive bar in a small rural village on the other side of the island, I put my gun in the back of my trousers and my flick knife in my pocket. “You know the plan.”
“Si, Boss.”
I climbed out of the car alone and made my way to the front of the bar.
It looked like any other dilapidated local dive, but the real decay was in the souls of those drinking inside.
As I slipped through the front door, the blast of loud music and the stench of sweat and stale alcohol assaulted my senses.
I scanned the room in search of the man I’d come all this way to see.
I found him in the corner, drinking with two men. All three of them were round-bellied from years of overindulgence. Their gold-plated teeth flashed as they laughed. Vultures.
“Gentlemen,” I smiled, pulling out a chair at their table and taking a seat without an invitation. They all glanced at me as if I were insane, which, of course, I was. “I’m looking for Bruno Silvestri.”
This man had been almost impossible to find. He’d changed his name more times than his underwear and gone completely off the grid since Alessio and Finn had taken control of Sicily’s underground. It may have taken me years, but I knew my best tracker would find him eventually.
“Who’s asking?”
I dropped the leather bag I was carrying at his feet and unzipped it slightly to reveal the thousands of euros stacked inside. “Someone who needs ultimate discretion.”
“And what makes you think I can help you with that?” he asked calmly, but he couldn’t hide his temptation.
“You used to go by the name Ettore Grimaldi.”
His eyes narrowed, and he looked away. “Never heard of that name, Pretty Boy.”
I tsked, leaning back in my chair. “Shame. I’ll have to take my business elsewhere.” I reached for my bag and stood up, ready to leave. His greedy eyes glittered as he peered over his shoulder.
“Sit down.” He nodded to the other two men at the table to fuck off before turning back to me.