59. Enzo
FIFTY-NINE
ENZO
“ I t’s OK,” I repeated to Rosalie for the tenth time since we’d gotten home.
She was beside herself the moment we came in.
We’d beat the shit out of the guy E had captured on the streets and had gotten next to nothing on information.
He’d only confirmed the hit on my father came from a Russian.
That was it. He had no name. He was just a lower-level henchman looking for some extra cash.
He wasn’t important enough to know who was behind it all.
There were lots of Russians in the city.
The Ivanovs were top dog, but many lower-level men worked and tried to make a name for themselves.
It could be anyone at this point. I knew if I were trying to make a name for myself, I’d pick the baddest dudes on the block and fuck with them under the guise of their enemies.
The one we captured died for being a stupid fuck, my bullet splintering his skull.
“It’s not OK!” She pressed a gauze to the wound on my chest. The moment I’d walked into the house covered in blood, she’d nearly lost her mind.
“I’m fine, Sunshine. I swear I am. It just grazed me.”
“A bullet. It fucking grazed you! Why do you not have an issue with that sentence?” Her voice was shrill as she tried to doctor me up.
“Baby. Stop.” I gripped both her wrists tightly. “Stop.”
Tears streamed down her face. “Enzo, you almost died. Again.”
“But I didn’t. I’m fine, baby. I’m fine. Come here.” I pulled her into my arms, her tiny body trembling against me. “Anson is here, too. He’s fine. Everyone is OK.”
She sobbed harder, and I held her through it, hating that she was feeling this way. Hating that in her heart, I knew she’d been worried about the asshole I’d just hired to work for me.
Fucking damnit.
The night had been a complete shit show.
“Hey,” Fox said, coming into the room. “Everyone is settled in. Mostly. It’s a damn mess out there, though. There are so many people here. Are we letting them all stay?”
“We are,” I murmured, continuing to hold Rosalie. “We need to get people settled in. Feed them. Make sure Bianca is OK. We don’t need her to lose those babies. Is she awake yet?”
“No. E’s shit took her out. I’m worried because she’s still not awake,” Fox said.
I nodded, hoping we hadn’t overdosed her and hurt the babies. Dominic would kill us.
“E knows what he’s doing. We tested it. It’s fine,” I murmured, wanting everyone to settle down. We needed some calm.
“Come here,” Fox said, taking Rosalie from me. “Rosie, it’s OK. Breathe, baby.”
She nodded against him, following his instructions to breathe with him. I gave him a grateful look as Cole came in.
He was quick to take Rosalie from Fox and hold her.
“Rosebud, please. Can you help Bianca? The babies,” Cole choked out.
My heart went out to him. Anything to do with kids always reduced him to a puddle of goo.
She nodded and pulled away from him.
“Come on,” he said, taking her hand. I watched as she steadied herself and held her head high.
God, she’s a strong woman.
My woman.
“Dominic is going to lose his shit when we tell him the truth,” Fox commented as Cole and Rosalie left the room.
I rubbed my eyes. He wasn’t wrong. We’d arranged for Drake last week to take Bianca “out.” I knew shit was tense with the kings dealing with all the shit they had going on.
It was my way of helping. After a long night of thinking about what Rosalie had gone through, I’d called Drake over.
I liked Bianca and the kings. They deserved their best chance.
Plus, and I hated to admit it, if Dominic were out of the way, I’d own the whole city in just months once I got a handle on the Ivanovs and Matteo.
I’d be fine if Dominic wanted to stay in the game.
I knew we’d come to an understanding on how to divvy up the city.
E had created a sugar tranq. We’d shot each other with it.
It hadn’t been a pleasure cruise because it fucking burned like hell.
We’d even shot Drake with it, so he knew what we were dealing with.
It was just a living death. It knocked your ass out and was painful, but death needed to be believable.
The plan was for him to “kill” Bianca. He said he had an order to do that anyway from Matteo, which pissed me off.
So, this was a good way for everyone to work it out.
Dominic could decide what he wanted to do with the information once we gave it to him.
He may want Bianca to stay “dead” this time.
He may want to join her. The option was there for him and his men.
As for Anson, he hadn’t given me any information on shit going on with Matteo.
When asked, he said there was nothing to tell.
That Matteo hadn’t shared shit with him.
That meant he either didn’t know Matteo’s plans to kill Bianca or he was withholding information.
If I had to guess, his old man didn’t overshare with him because he associated with us. At least, I hoped that was the case.
He was forthcoming, though, about Drake working for Matteo.
Anson had no answers to anything we asked regarding it, and when we questioned Drake, he said he was doing what he had to do to stay alive and in the game. Drake had his hands in a lot of pots.
I respected that.
I’d kill him if he fucked any of us over, though. He’d be a tough target, but I’d find him eventually if he ran and take his ass out. So far, he has proven to be a valuable asset to us and the kings. Knowing he was head over heels for the kings’ girl didn’t take a genius.
There wasn’t a doubt in my mind he hadn’t fucked her at least once. A man didn’t risk his life for a woman he didn’t love in some capacity, and Drake Petrov was sticking his neck out on this one.
Shit needed to come out. Dominic and the kings needed to know, but I wasn’t going to be the one to bring Drake and Bianca’s sins to light.
I assumed Dominic would lose his mind, but on the other hand, because he’d done his fair share of fucking around, he may be more welcoming than he would have been six months ago. At least, I hoped he was.
“What’s the plan?” Fox asked. “E is downstairs going through his stash to see if he has anything to wake her up with.”
I nodded. He said he thought he had something.
“We just get everyone settled in.” I taped a bandage over my wound, hissing as I did so. It was definitely tender.
“You almost died,” Fox murmured, watching me toss the tape aside. I grabbed a clean shirt and pulled it on.
“But I didn’t,” I said gruffly. “And my parents are safe.”
Fox shook his head. “This is the second time. We don’t need to do this shit, Enzo?—”
“We do. You know we do,” I said.
He sighed and scrubbed his hand down his face. Thankfully, he didn’t pursue it. I knew where he was coming from. It was the same place Rosalie came from. I hated losing him to his fears, but he had to know I would do everything I could to keep us all safe.
“We need to gather everyone together. Get on the same page,” I continued.
Fox sighed but nodded. “OK.”
“Everything is going to be OK,” I said, coming to Fox and staring at him. “I promise. It was just a bad night.”
“Enzo, we have more bad than good. You know that. If this shit is happening to your parents, it’ll happen to us. Someday, they’ll be racing to Rosalie. They’ve already started. Is this the life you want for her?”
I swallowed hard at his words. It wasn’t the life I wanted for her. The life I wanted for her was at the top. I just had to fucking fight and climb to get us there. It was the same old song and dance.
“I know you think being at the top will save her. That it’ll save us all, but man, come on.
The journey isn’t worth it. It’s not. Someone could die.
You saw how E just jumped out tonight and walked through gunfire.
I saw his face. He was a man who was fed up and over it.
Part of me thinks he did it in the hopes he’d die.
Think about all this shit. We can walk, man. ”
“I can’t walk. My family. My father?—”
He clapped me on the shoulder. “Just think about it, OK? That’s all I’m asking.”
I nodded. “OK. I’ll, uh, think about it.”
The look on his face told me he wasn’t expecting a different answer from me, though.
Fox was changing. I knew him most of my life, and this was a guy who was slipping away.
It terrified me because he was one of my best friends.
If he left, I’d lose Rosalie. I wasn’t stupid enough to think she’d stay with me if he were gone.
He was the glue in this whole thing. Without him, none of us would have had a chance with her.
It was an ugly thought, but there it was. Always looming over my head.
Such was my life as of late.
“Have a seat,” I said to Vincent as he stood in the office. I went to the bar in the room and poured us some whiskey as he settled on the end of the leather couch. I handed him his glass and took my seat in my chair.
We were going to have a meeting and get shit sorted. That was the plan. Drake was here so that it would clear up a few things.
“How’s Bianca?” Drake kept his eyes on Vincent.
“Sleeping.” Vincent cast him a quick, cursory look.
“Has she woken at all?” E sat forward. He said he didn’t have a reversal for the drug, but he had no issue trying to brew one.
“Uh, Dom said she was awake for a few minutes before she dozed off again.”
A look of relief swept over E’s face. I knew he was stressed about it. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit concerned.
“Can someone explain what the fuck is going on?” Vincent demanded.
I cleared my throat. “Ah, well. A lot, actually. Where should I begin?”