Chapter 22
Enzo
It’s still dark outside when I put the T-shirt over my head and tug it down, but the sun will be up soon. It was hard to get out of bed without Constantine noticing, since he likes to sleep literally on top of me. But we had a long evening from the sex, so he’s out like a light.
I squat down and rest my chin on the bed to watch him sleep.
In the blink of an eye, he’s become precious to me.
Maybe if he hadn’t been so traumatized for so long, just needing to be seen and cared about, and maybe if I hadn’t related to him on a profound level, he wouldn’t really matter to me.
If he were any other man, he’d just be a fun fuck.
Not that I’m against relationships, but no one has really caught my eye long enough to settle down with.
Now here I am, taking care of this broken man, and it doesn’t scare me.
Constantine’s full lips are parted, and his hand is curled against his chest as he sleeps on his side. I reach out to brush away his fallen bangs, but I stop my hand. It’ll wake him up, and I don’t want to risk it.
With a quiet sigh, I stand and make sure the note I wrote is still on the nightstand. When he wakes up, I don’t want him to panic.
I quietly open the drawer and pull out the gun. I make sure the safety is still on before I tuck it into the holster in the back of my jeans. Once it’s nestled safely, I pull the T-shirt over it and grab one of my hoodies, pulling it over my head.
“Be back soon, baby,” I whisper before walking out of my room and closing the door behind me.
When I’m outside, I send a quick text.
Me: I have some news. Can I see you?
Alfonzo: It’s early, Enzo.
Me: I know you’re up already. You’re always up early. Please?
Alfonzo: Very well.
That right there tells me he doesn’t know about Mario yet. Or he’s holding his cards close to the chest.
I step into the lobby of the building over at Lakeshore East and walk up to the guard.
“Can I help you?” he asks as he sips his coffee.
“I’m here to see Alfonzo Valente.”
“Is he expecting you?”
“Yes.”
The guard calls up to Alfonzo’s penthouse, and Alfonzo must have answered, allowing me to come up, because he nods at me and gives me access to the elevator.
I head on up to the top floor of the luxury condos, and the elevator doors open directly into Alfonzo’s penthouse. Much like the inside of Mario’s place, it’s modern, cold, and stark. Why do some men of power equate this aesthetic with masculinity? It’s cold and boring.
“In here,” he calls out when I step into the foyer. I follow the direction of his voice directly into the kitchen. Alfonzo is sitting in a chair at the kitchen table overlooking the panoramic view of Lake Michigan. The sun is rising, and it’s stunning. It’s a view only the most wealthy can afford.
He’s already dressed for the day, wearing a pressed charcoal-gray suit, with a crisp white shirt, and no tie. His waves are perfect, and his neck and wrist are adorned with gold.
Alfonzo has built his small empire on the backs of bloody corpses and his army.
We’re all just cogs that keep making him a wealthy man.
That’s all we are to him. I realize that now, thanks to Constantine discovering the truth.
The people who uplift men like Alfonzo are nothing. We’re just ants to them.
“Good morning, Enzo,” he says without looking at me. “You have some important news, I take it. So important that it can’t wait until I get to the office later.”
“Morning, Halcón.”
“Would you like some coffee?”
“I’m fine. Is Marianna here?”
“She is visiting her sister in Santa Cruz.”
Good. One less thing I have to worry about. But even if she were here, it wouldn’t matter. It changes nothing.
He takes a sip of his coffee and looks my way as I sit down at the table across from him.
“What is the news?”
“That I know.”
The slight clenching of his jaw tells me he knows exactly what I’m talking about. “Know what?”
“That you and Mario killed Enrique,” I say flatly, desperately trying to keep my cool, or else I’m going to fucking kill him.
I don’t care if I’ve never killed anyone before.
Alfonzo can be the first if he doesn’t play his cards right.
As much as I want him dead, I want Constantine and me to leave town unscathed.
The biggest reason I wanted to meet him at his home is that he would be free of guards, allowing me to get inside with my gun. His wife hates not having privacy and demands that he send his bodyguards away. That doesn’t mean they aren’t watching the building, so I still have to be careful.
His eyes narrow at me, and he slams his coffee cup hard on the glass table, sloshing the coffee all over. “You dare!”
“I dare. I know for a fact that you gave the order to Mario to take out my fucking brother! I know you made a deal with the damn devil, Diego Da Costa! I know you did it for power and greed. Psh…” I shake my head, no longer afraid of this man.
He’s weak. Only loyalty keeps him alive.
If his people knew how he’s struggling and that he betrayed one of his own, they’d eat him alive. “Fucking pathetic.”
Alfonzo stands and slams his hands on the table. “You better choose your next words fucking carefully, Enzo. I may love you as a son, but you are treading on dangerous waters.”
I scoff at him. “A son? Please. You also planned to have me killed. Fucking hell, Alfonzo. Enrique just wanted to love Carmen. They had plans to run and escape. You didn’t have to take him out. There were other ways.”
Seriously, I’m surprised I’m not aiming the gun at his head right now. I’m way too calm. More calm than I should be.
“Who’s spewing these lies to you?!”
“They’re not lies, and you know it. Constantine overheard you the night of the fight. And we both… got the full truth from Mario.”
He stiffens, looking like he wants to kill me on the spot. “What do you mean you got the truth from Mario?”
That’s my cue. I pull the gun out from behind my back and point it at him. “Sit down.”
“You dare!” he booms again.
I just roll my eyes. “We already had this conversation. Sit down.”
“You’re not a killer.” Despite his words, he does as he’s told.
I lift a shoulder, keeping my gun steady on him. “There’s always a first time. I mean, Mario’s dead, and as much as I wanted to do it, Constantine was happy to give me my Christmas gift—Enrique’s killer.”
His dark eyes pop out of his head, unable to hide his surprise. “What do you mean he’s dead?”
“We killed him last night. He’s lying in his own pool of blood, trussed up like a Christmas present under the Christmas tree.
Constantine’s so sweet. Mario admitted what he’d done without a bit of fucking remorse.
” I smirk and raise a brow. “Oh, but he did beg for his life and tried to bribe me for it. Life for a life. Blood for blood. Right, Halcón?”
“I-I don’t believe you.”
“Yes, you do. Besides, you can easily verify it when you send someone to Mario’s home.”
Alfonzo looks out his window, his body tight, and his jaw clenched hard enough to break molars. No doubt he’s assessing his chances of escaping me. And when he does, he’ll find a way to make me die painfully. But I won’t let that happen.
When he finally turns back to me, he asks, “What do you want?”
“I want you dead, but what I want more is for you to allow Constantine and me to leave Chicago and leave us the fuck alone for good. Oh, I can tell by your facial expression that you want us dead, but you don’t need us dead.
You can tell everyone that we are, if you need to maintain your control.
” I chuckle and stare out the window as the sun gets higher and higher.
More boats are dotting the water. I can’t imagine wanting to be on the lake in the dead of winter.
“Anyway, you’re already losing your grip on your power.
Eventually, the Da Costas will push you out or outright kill you.
You made a mistake when you made a deal with them.
That makes you weak. Eventually, this family will see that. ”
“And if I don’t let you go?”
“Ha! I’m sorry, do you not see the barrel of my gun?
I am not a killer, but really, I have no problem taking your life.
It’s weird. I’m really calm about this—dead set in my choices.
And you have choices too. Die, or let us go and leave us the fuck alone.
And I mean it. You cannot come after us, or I will return and hunt you down.
Or I’ll just sic Constantine on you. He’s the true killer around here.
More than you or Mario ever hoped to be. ”
I have to play it up that Constantine is sinister and not some damn needy twink. Okay, a needy twink that you can’t help but adore.
I can see it in Alfonzo’s eyes that he’s suddenly curious about Constantine. He wants to ask, but he’d rather be a defiant prickhead.
“Constantine is the serial killer everyone’s been looking for these past five years.
Oh, and he’s killed way more than five people, too.
Twenty at least. He may not look like much, but he’s intelligent and tricky.
Deadly. He nearly killed me, and you see how big I am compared to him.
I was his target recently. But he couldn’t resist me and fell in love instead.
You see, he’ll do fucking anything for me.
Even murder. And I will do anything to protect him. What do you think about that, Halcón?”
He eyes the gun that is still steady in my hand and aimed right at his head. Oh, he wants me dead so badly. I bet he regrets listening to his wife about not having guards around their home now.
Alfonzo’s eyes dart over at the counter where his phone is resting, and I know instantly what he plans to do.
Just as he stands and rushes to his phone, I’m ready. I reach him just in time before he grabs his phone, and I take a fistful of his hair. I yank him back and down to the ground before I press the gun to his head.
“Tsk. Naughty. Naughty. Do you really want to die, Halcón? You may be in charge, but at the end of the day, I’m the one with the weapon. I’m the one who’s stronger than you. I hold all the cards. Right now, I’m giving you more of a choice than I gave Mario, only because he pulled the trigger.”
I press my foot to his throat hard enough to turn his face red and make him gasp for air. “Tick-tock. Do you want to die or let us go?”
When I shove my foot down harder, he wheezes, desperately trying to remove it, but he has no leverage or strength.
I ease up, and he glares at me. “Fine,” he rasps. “Fuck you! Go. Get the fuck out of my house and out of my sight. I never want to see you again.”
“Good choice. If I see anyone trying to find us, they’ll return home in pieces. Then I’ll be coming for you. That’s a promise.”
I tuck the gun back into the holster and leave his penthouse. It’s time to get back to my guy and quickly pack up and leave this city. Maybe Constantine and I can move somewhere sunny and warm.