Chapter 32 – Enzo
ENZO
Nazario led Caspien, Nonno, Eliseo, and me to the office.
“If you think I’m leaving you two alone in this house, you’ve lost your damn minds,” Nazario starts. “I’ve seen your daughter when she’s pissed, and quite frankly, I’m not going to have her threatening my life again .” That makes both me and Caspien smile.
“My daughter does have quite a vicious streak,” he says proudly. Nazario grunts.
“So, here’s what’s happened.” Naz explains how we came to be in Italy.
He tells Caspien everything from how Althea discovered her brother was still alive, to where he’s been this whole time.
We discuss Gianni and his fucked-up plan to take over the Venatti empire with the help of the Malgeri family.
We explained Gianni is no longer walking the earth, but that he managed to erase Annanias’s memories of everything prior to coming to the Academy.
Naz grabbed his phone and made a call. “Mauro, bring Daemon to the office.” Then he hung up.
“How can you be sure this man is my son?” Caspien asks, skeptical.
“Althea …” I start to explain, then decide to let him find out for himself. “You’ll see.”
There’s a knock at the door, and Mauro enters with Daemon strolling in behind him, and I see the moment Caspien recognizes his son. His eyes are wide. His chin hits the floor. It’s the same expression I saw come over Althea’s face the first time she saw Daemon.
“Jesus. It’s like seeing a ghost,” Caspien mutters. “Son?” He moves tentatively toward Daemon, who looks confused.
“Listen. I’m sure you’re all trying to process your own shit about the son you lost, and everyone seems to think is me, but I’m going to tell you like I told the girl,” Daemon announces.
“Even if I am this long-lost kid of yours, I don’t remember any of you.
I have almost no memory before I came to the Academy.
I’m sure that’s not what any of you want to hear, but it’s the truth.
And I can’t pretend to be someone I’m not just to ease your pain. I’m sorry.”
“Will you at least concede to coming to Vegas for a visit? Come learn about the family who loves you and raised you until you were brought here? Allow us time to get to know you again and vice versa?” Caspien asked.
It seems a reasonable request. One Daemon agrees to once he gets approval from Rossario to take leave.
“And what is to be done about Sebastian and his conniving uncle? Have they been found?” Caspien turns to Nazario for answers.
Naz scrubs his hand down his face, releasing a frustrated sigh as he leans back in his chair. “No. We haven’t gotten any leads on either of them yet, but I have something I’m sure Bash will be looking to get back, and the only way to do that is to face me first.”
“Must be something of great value to him then, yes?” Caspien leans forward, placing his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together.
“Let’s just say it’s the only bargaining chip he has left to play,” Naz smiles menacingly. “But he’s not getting it back.”
“You’re just going to dangle it as bait?” Nonno suggests sounding displeased with Nazario’s plan. “We’re talking about a person, Nazario. We don’t keep people against their will.”
Naz’s eyes flash with fury. His hand slams down on the desk. “I’m not keeping her against her will. It’s a mutual decision. She came to me for help. How we decide to negotiate our arrangement is between her and me.”
Caspien is watching the exchange between Naz and Nonno, then suddenly turns to me. “And what of your arrangement with my daughter? Did she enter into this marriage agreement willingly, or is this some scheme to bring the families together in some sort of power move?”
“It started out as a means to prevent a war between your family and ours,” I explain.
Caspien’s eyes narrow and his nostrils flare.
“But it has developed into something much deeper than that. I can honestly tell you, if you and Naz wanted to tear each other apart, I’d do my job and protect my cousin.
I’d much rather defuse the situation amicably.
” I smile when I think of how to say this last part.
“Because a war between you two would severely piss off my little devil, and as you said yourself, she has quite the vicious streak.”
“And do you love her?” Caspien asks point blank.
“I’ll burn everything to ash for her if she asked me to. But I won’t declare things to you I haven’t yet declared to my bride.”
That seems to appease Caspien’s suspicions. “Then I only have one thing to say to you.” He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t ever hurt her. She didn’t get her knife skills from me. Althea’s viciousness is nothing compared to the wrath of her mother.”
Before everyone left the office, Daemon asked Caspien to take a DNA test, explaining it wouldn’t change the lack of memories, but it would at least give them both a sense of how they should move forward.
Daemon doesn’t want to invest a lot of time into a family under false hope for either side. Caspien agreed.
I don’t know how that story will play out, but it’s their decision to make from here on out.
My primary concern will be how it affects Althea, because she is one hundred percent sure Daemon is her brother, and if it turns out he isn’t, it’s going to devastate her.
She’s put all her hope into this being her lost twin, and getting her to release the survivor’s guilt she’s been holding onto is still a work in progress.
A false identity could set that back for her, but I won’t let her be eaten up by it again.
After everything was settled with Caspien and Nazario, as well as with Daemon, I headed back to our cottage in search of my little devil only to find she had been moved into the main house for the night.
When I stormed into the house to retrieve her, my aunt Vellas was touting some bullshit about it being bad luck to see the bride the night before the wedding.
I haven’t seen my little devil since dinner and I’m champing at the bit to get this wedding over with so I can throw her ass over my shoulder and haul her back here for the punishment she has coming after that bullshit she pulled jumping between me and Caspien. Putting herself in danger.
I’ve decided her ass will pay for all her poor decisions after the wedding is over.
Including allowing my aunt to talk her into not being in my bed last night.
I tossed and turned all fucking night. Dreaming about sinking balls deep in her sweet wet pussy and making her moan my name only to wake up to an empty bed.
My poor little devil is going to have a hard time sitting for a while.
But she needs to learn how much she means to me and how seriously I take her safety. It’s a nonnegotiable for me. Reckless behavior will have to be punished swiftly and severely. She’ll probably try to fight me on this, but I’m up for the challenge.
A heavy knock at the door pulls me from my salacious thoughts.
Hex is standing on the front porch of the cottage alone with a large leather-bound book in his hands.
“I told you I had something for you when I arrived, but it’s been a bit hectic.
And since today is your wedding day, I thought now would be a good time to bring this to you.
” I motion for him to come in. He’s not wearing his makeup, but I notice he has a satchel across his body and a knowing look in his eyes.
We head into the living room and take a seat. I lean back on the couch with one leg crossed over the other and pick up my tumbler of whiskey I’d left on the table and take a drink.
“Drinking for courage or just for flavor?” Hex asks.
“Drinking to stave off the need to steal my bride away and elope.” I nod.
“I wasn’t expecting all this fuss and a house full of people.
When we first got here and I told my aunt what I wanted for our ceremony, it was short and sweet.
But now there’s a whole fucking production happening in the house, and I’ve been instructed to wait out here until they call me. ”
Hex smiles. “Yeah, I heard your mother-in-law is landing soon. Caspien pulled some strings to get her out here. Probably a good thing for you. If she’d missed her only daughter’s wedding day, they might never have found your body in the desert.”
I scoff at that. “I do not fear the Drakos family.”
“It doesn’t matter what the last name is. Some things a mother won’t forgive, and as her son-in-law, you’re going to be responsible for most of them.” Hex laughs as I flip him off.
I watch as he places the leather book in the center of the mirrored coffee table, then moves his satchel around to remove it from his body. He rummages through the bag, pulling out a black mortar and pestle, one I know I’ve seen before. I huff out a disbelieving breath, and Hex smiles.
“You know I don’t believe in this shit. If you want to read someone’s palm or tell them their fortune, you should really find Giselle. It’s more her thing.” Hex doesn’t respond, just continues pulling out small vials of herbs and pouring them into the mortar.
Once he has everything he needs, he begins mixing and mashing the herbs together.
I drink my drink, closing my eyes, needing a moment to relax and gather my thoughts.
When I open my eyes, the room is filled with smoke, and Hex is sitting back against the couch with his eyes closed and his hands open toward the sky.
“The fuck are you doing?” I ask, concerned the asshole might actually be burning down the fucking cottage. But the voice that answers in the haziness is not Hex. It’s a woman.
“I asked Oliver to help me reach out to you, son.” My mother’s voice comes through the cloud of smoke, and I find myself frozen with disbelief.
Am I drunk? Did he lace my drink? Is this a dream? Did I fall asleep on the couch?
My thoughts are scrambling with possibilities.
“You’re not dreaming, Enzo. It’s really me. I wanted to reach out sooner, but Madam Bourdeaux and I thought it best to wait until you were ready to hear the truth.”
“The truth about what? I don’t understand. What’s happening? How-How are you doing this?” If this is another one of Hex’s parlor tricks, I’m going to beat the bastard to within an inch of his life.
Soul can’t do anything to Nazario or their agreement if I didn’t actually kill him, right?
But Hex hasn’t moved from his spot. His eyes are filled with gray storm clouds. His face appears almost vacant, and he’s sitting with his palms up. He’s here. I can see him physically sitting on the couch, but he’s not here .
The fuck?
“Relax, Enzo.” I hear Mama say. “I know this is weird for you. But trust me. If nothing else, trust your heart.”
I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and listen intently.
“For a long time, you’ve believed you were incapable of giving or receiving love.
But you’re wrong. You’ve always had a special ability to make people feel like they were the most important person in the room.
Your protectiveness, your inability to allow Giselle to stray from her dreams—all of these are ways you show love, Enzo. ”
“Protecting my family is my job.”
“No, baby. You made it your job. Because you’re good at it.
But it’s who you are at your core. And you need to know that you are worthy of love.
Not just from me and your sister, but from those who care about you.
Your family. They love you, but you don’t feel it because you push it away.
You feel guilt over your father’s mistakes, but they’re not your mistakes.
You avenged me. You protected your sister.
You did what was right, and you did it out of love.
I don’t hold anything against you or the little boy inside you who came to his mama’s rescue. ”
“But I failed you. He killed you anyway. I was too small. Too afraid. Too late.” My chest hurts. A sharp stabbing pain thrums in the place where my heart beats.
“You didn’t fail. You were a child. And you were not responsible for your father’s lies or his actions.
” An overwhelming warmth comes over me, soothing the sharp pain in my chest. “Let it go, Enzo. Let Gianni go and let Althea love you. You deserve to be happy. And she deserves to know that you love her too.”
I gasp when I open my eyes. The smoke has cleared, and Hex has left the cottage.
Did I dream it?
I start to pick up my half-empty glass of whiskey but notice the leather-bound book sitting on the coffee table where Hex left it.
I lean over, reaching for the book, and notice my face reflecting in the mirrored table.
On top of the book is a handwritten note that reads, “Don’t touch your makeup.
It was the bride’s request.” Signed Hex.
Sitting back down on the couch, I open the cover of the clearly warn book and start reading. My eyes glass over when I realize whose book this once was.
February 14, 1996
Today I discovered I’m with child and I couldn’t be happier.
I haven’t even met you, but I am already so in love with you.
You came at a time when I was feeling so alone and unwanted, without a purpose or a reason to direct my path.
But then I saw your tiny heartbeat on the screen in the doctor’s office.
It was just you and me in that dim little room.
Our hearts beating together. Yours was fast and flashed so quickly. Mine was steady and full of excitement.
I don’t know what will come of my life or my marriage with your father, but you don’t need to worry.
You are my purpose now. Seeing to your happiness, loving you, and watching you grow is all that matters to me now.
Even if he leaves us, we will be all right.
If he threatens us or tries to steal us away from the rest of the family.
I will protect you and love you through it all.
I know your father isn’t the man I once thought he was, but it won’t change who we are. We are Venatti. We are family, and we protect our own.
Love,
Mama