Chapter 5
Chapter five
Present Day
“So that’s my plan,” I said after explaining the detailed operation that would have the Americans on their knees. It was risky and possibly the deadliest idea I’d ever had, but if we wanted to end this war, we had to show them how serious we were.
Alessio shook his head, pacing with his hands on his hips behind Enzo’s chair. My eyes were locked on my ex-lover, watching his every move. I hated that I still cared more about what he thought than about anything else.
“It’s genius, Finn,” he said, his crystal eyes gleaming like diamonds and his slow, evil smile spreading. My chest swelled with pride at his compliment, but I gave him a curt nod.
“It’s suicide. That’s what it is. No. Not happening,” Alesso growled, glaring at me from across the room. I knew he wouldn’t be happy. Not when I was putting myself in the firing line.
“How sure are you that we can do this? How reliable is your source?” Enzo asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. My eyes were drawn to the sun-kissed, smooth skin of his pecs, visible through the open buttons of his shirt. Damn, why did the fucker still have to be so fine?
“Very,” I said, clearing my throat and forcing my mind back to business.
“We’ve been following Don Joey Galiz and his consigliere, Frankie, for a while.
I hacked into two of their clubs’ databases and found one sex worker who was always around whenever Frankie frequented those clubs.
He’s one of Frankie’s favourites and was more than willing to give me what I needed to know for a price.
He’s probably one of the richest prostitutes in America now.
Frankie is a closeted gay man and power-hungry.
If we can blackmail him into a meeting and create a truce, this all ends.
And he will know who I am. He will meet with me alone. ”
“But surely Joey is the man who holds all the power? He’s the bloodthirsty one set on avenging his father?” Enzo asked.
“Joey is young and easily manipulated by this man.” I stabbed my finger at the photo of Frankie, his uncle and consigliere. “Frankie holds all the power and is the brains behind the brawn. Joey will flounder without him, so if we target Frankie, we will have a better chance of negotiating terms.”
Alessio huffed, dragging his hand down his face because he knew I was right. We’d talked about this before. Frankie was the key. He didn’t give a fuck about revenge. He just wanted power and money. But Joey wanted justice for his father. If we tore the two apart, we’d have a better chance.
“Enzo and I will fly to America and use my connection to ambush Frankie in a one-on-one meeting, consigliere to consigliere.”
“I don’t like it. So much could go wrong,” Alessio exhaled. “I’m coming too.”
I chuckled, leaning back in my chair. “You know that isn’t going to happen. You’re the Boss of Italy. You’re too important. You’re staying here, Precious.”
The glare my best friend shot me should have put me six feet underground. “You’re a fucking asshole, Finn Rossetti. You think I’m going to let you go without me?”
“I do. Because one of us needs to stay on Italian soil, or they will see us coming.”
He slammed his hand against the wall, knowing I was right.
“Alessio.” Enzo’s voice was deep and serious, drawing our attention. “I’ll die before I let anything happen to Finn. I know you love him, but I love him too. He’s the only thing in my life I’d gladly die for.”
What. The. Fuck.
Alessio’s gaze snapped to mine, his jaw firm, his eyes hard. I swallowed, still reeling from Enzo’s words. I didn’t like the way they penetrated the shield around what was left of my heart, trying to stitch the pieces he’d broken back together.
Alessio stormed towards Enzo and grabbed his throat, forcing the chair to balance on its two back legs.
I jumped up instinctively, not knowing who I was coming to the defence of, but needing to move in response to the sudden hostility in the room.
But when Enzo stayed in his chair, allowing Alessio to choke him, my panic eased a little. He wasn’t going to fight.
“That…” Alessio growled. “That’s exactly why I don’t trust you, Aiani. If you die, you leave him alone and vulnerable. That can’t fucking happen. You both make it out alive, or this goes to shit.”
“Understood,” Enzo wheezed, caught in Alessio’s vice-like grip. Alessio growled, baring his teeth, then released him. He glanced at me as I stood there, staring between them.
“You had better know what you are doing, Finn. You shouldn’t trust him either. Pretty words only get you so far. It’s actions that take you further. You know that,” Alessio warned me, and I nodded, a silent understanding passing between us. Don’t fall for him again. It won’t end well.
The door slammed shut, and I was left alone with the man I needed to keep my distance from.
“What the fuck was that?” I hissed, walking to the window and pressing my forearm against the glass. My body burned, his words echoing in my mind. How dare he say such things after ten years of silence?
“What?” His voice was closer, his heavy footsteps behind me. They stopped, but I could tell he was near. Without even touching me, I could feel his heat and scent wrapping around me. I closed my eyes.
“You know what. You can’t say shit like that. Not in front of Alessio. Not to me. Not ever.”
“Why? It’s true.” His tall, hard body pressed against mine, forcing me flush against the floor-to-ceiling glass of my office.
His nose dragged along behind my ear, his warm breath against my neck, and I felt myself melting into a pool of heat.
No. Fuck, no. I twisted, turning to face him with a lethal glare, and shoved his chest away.
“Fuck off, Enzo.”
His blue eyes blazed with determination, and he stepped straight back into me, cupping my face in his hands and pressing his forehead against mine. I pushed him again, but not hard enough to make him budge.
“I meant what I said. I’d die for you. I love you, Finn. I’ve never fucking stopped.”
“Don’t!” I hissed, fury warring with the insane, powerful fire of desire that burned my skin. “You don’t get to say that to me. You lost that right ten years ago.”
“You think time takes that from me? No. You were mine then. You’re mine now. Time doesn’t get to take love away. That isn’t how it works.”
“What the fuck are you doing? I walked away, Enzo. And you let me go.”
“And I’ll drag you back, piece by piece, if I have to.”
Suddenly, my office door burst open, and bouncy black curls darted into view over Enzo’s shoulder. I pushed him away more forcefully this time, causing him to stumble back as he turned to see my three-year-old daughter bounding towards me.
“Papi!” Nerina squealed, her hands covered in paint, as I bent down and scooped her up. She slammed her wet hands on my face as if I were a canvas for her to smother, and I chuckled. “I’ve been painting with Elle!”
“You don’t say?” I laughed, knowing my expensive designer shirt would be ruined by the paint she was covered in, but I didn’t care. “What did you paint?”
“A rainbow,” she beamed. “Come and see!”
“I will, sweetheart. I just need to finish talking to my… friend.”
For the first time since she entered the room, I glanced at Enzo. His eyes were fixed on Nerina with a strange expression I couldn’t decipher. He swallowed hard and blinked as she turned her gaze to him, realising we weren’t alone.
“Ciao, what’s your name?” She smiled at him, always so confident and charming.
Her small world was limited to the soldiers she saw around the house, who indulged her and played her silly games, as well as Alessio, Elle, and their twins.
Whenever she met a new person, she instantly wanted to be their friend.
He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair. Did he look… nervous? Fuck, why was that so endearing?
“Enzo. And what’s yours?”
“Nerina,” she said, slapping her hand on top of my head and smearing red paint through my hair. “And this is my papi. Do you want to see my painting?”
He smiled, all the harshness of years of savagery dissolving from his face. “I’d love to see your rainbow.”
“You don’t have—” Before I could free him from the obligation, Nerina slipped from my arms and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the door.
I sighed as he chuckled, following her. The sight of them, holding hands and smiling, made my chest ache, and I didn’t like it.
I wanted to snatch Nerina away and slam the door in Enzo’s face so he couldn’t hurt us, but that would be dramatic.
To Nerina, he was just an exciting new potential friend, someone to dote on for a few minutes.
I followed them out into the corridor and towards the playroom.
Enzo’s attention was solely on Nerina as she chatted about the song she knew that taught her the colours of the rainbow.
She shoved open the playroom door, where Elle and the twins were each at a canvas, painting.
Elle twisted around with a smile, which dropped as soon as she saw Enzo and my irritated glare.
She mouthed an apology for not realising I was with him when she let Nerina come to me.
“This is mine!” Nerina shouted, rushing over to a white canvas streaked with colours that resembled a rainbow. “Papi, look!”
“It’s amazing, Stellina.” I kissed the top of her head. “So clever, and you remembered the order of the colours. Brava!”
“Do you like it?” She looked at Enzo, twisting her body in her glittery blue tutu from side to side.
“I love it. It’s a masterpiece.”
Her face lit up, and she picked it up from the table. “It’s for you.”
The emotional look on his face nearly ripped my soul from my body. “Are you sure?”
“Si. I don’t mind.” She shrugged her little shoulders, and he bent down to take it from her.
“Grazie,” he said, staring at the picture as if it were an original Michelangelo, not a finger painting by a three-year-old.
Then she did something that took us all by surprise.
She hugged him. My gaze snapped to Elle, who stared at me with wide eyes as Enzo knelt, frozen by my daughter's onslaught of affection. It was all too much, seeing him with her. Two worlds that I wanted to keep apart collided. Letting him close enough to break me was one thing, but I’d protect her until my dying breath.
“It’s time for Enzo to go,” I said sharply when they broke apart. “Say goodbye, Nerina.”
“Ciao!” She waved at him and dashed over to where Isotta was busy creating something in the arts and crafts corner.
Enzo slowly stood back on his feet, still holding that fucking picture, and glanced at me. His eyes were soft, softer than I’d seen them in years, and it took me back to the man I used to know. I turned my back to him and opened the door, gesturing for him to leave.
Once we were outside, I walked ahead, my body tense and my mind flustered.
He didn’t speak, but I could feel his gaze on me; the hairs on the back of my neck stood up under his attention.
Why did my body still react this way? Why, after all these years, did I still feel anything for this man? It was infuriating. I didn’t want it.
He grabbed my elbow, yanking me back before we reached the staircase that would take us down to a more public area where Barbieri soldiers stood on guard.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered into the shell of my ear. I spun around, twisting my arm free from his grasp.
What exactly was he sorry for? The years he kept me a secret?
Trying to marry my best friend in a fake arranged marriage?
Asking me to accept it while he fucked me on the side?
Or the fact that, ten years later, he’d shown up, said he still loved me, and accepted a gift from my daughter, making my heart tear open again?
“No,” I growled. He flinched back, clearly hurt and confused by my sudden fury, but I couldn’t stop.
It had been brewing inside me for years.
Every time I’d tried to take another lover, I’d compare them to him.
Every time I’d tried to tell myself I was worth being loved in the light, I’d only been reminded that I didn’t want anyone else’s love. Only his.
“You don’t get to come to my city, to my house, demand my help, and then do this!
What did you think would happen, Enzo? That I was so naive I’d fall into your arms when you told me you still loved me?
That you could worm your way into my daughter’s life to make me weak?
Fuck off. I’m this close to backing out of this plan against the Americans because of you!
The only reason I’m even doing this is because they will keep coming for our families, and I can’t have Nerina in their sights.
Do you understand that? I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for her.”
He licked his lips, his blue eyes shining in the sunlight pouring through the window, making my pulse quicken.
Hurt flickered across his face before vanishing like a closing book.
But I stood my ground. Once, I would have given in.
This kind of passion, fury, and addictive toxicity had been my downfall, but not anymore. Not now that I was a father.
He glanced away, looking out of the window, and exhaled, his body rigid. “I don’t think you’re naive or weak, Finn. I just… fuck. She’s… the image of you. She’s amazing. I’d go to war for her, too.”
I shook my head, stepped back, and gritted my teeth. Enzo had always been dangerous to me. But this version, the one who said shit like that with such genuine feeling, he was lethal.
“This is business, Enzo. I mean it. If we can’t work together, this will fail. I have too much at stake for this to go wrong.”
He stepped back, shoved his hands in his pockets, and nodded. “I know. Fuck, I’m sorry. Business only.”
We stood metres apart, yet the distance felt like an ocean.
Why was it that the moment he stepped back was exactly when I wanted to pull him closer?
I couldn’t allow this man to have any control over me again.
If we hoped to stand a chance against the Americans, we had to keep this strictly professional.
“I’ll go back to the North. Get shit ready. Call me when it’s time, and I’ll be there,” he said, his voice hardening.
“Will do.”
He nodded, then hurried down the stairs, his impressive muscles rippling beneath his clothes until he disappeared from sight. I leaned back against the wall, glancing up at the ceiling.
Fuck. This was going to be harder than I thought.