Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Kira
All the men in the room turn to me in shock.
“Kira?” my father asks. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“You kidnapped my husband and are torturing him. Of course I have the right to be here.” I storm forward and grab the knife from my father’s hand. “Stop this right now. You don’t have the right to kill Enzo.”
“He cannot keep you safe.”
“And yet, you married me to him to keep the peace and now you’re going to throw that all away?
Killing Enzo doesn’t achieve anything. It only makes things worse and you know it.
You’ve been trying to control me all my life and when you realized you couldn’t, you iced me out.
And now you want to come back into my life and be a protective father?
Dad, I’ll always love you. When I used to sneak out and go to parties, it was never to hurt you.
It was just me figuring out how to live my life.
That’s all. And now you’re going to hurt me if you kill Enzo.
Not when I feel like I’m finally getting to live a life I’ve always wanted. Not when I love him.”
Shock ripples through the air.
“You… love him?” Gregor asks.
“He’s my husband. He saved my life. What did you think was going to happen? That I was going to hate him forever? It’s a good thing I have feelings for Enzo. It will help keep the peace. But killing him is not the answer. Let him go, Dad. Daddy. Please.”
He flinches. “You haven’t called me ‘daddy’ in a long time.”
“That’s because I’m not a little girl anymore.
I’m a grown woman that can make up her mind and I’m telling you right now: I’m choosing Enzo.
We will deal with Marco Amato together. If the Mafia and the Bratva stand together, he doesn’t stand a chance against us.
But if you kill Enzo, you’ll only make things worse.
So Daddy, please let him go. Let my husband go. ”
“Kira…”
“I can make my own choices and I’m choosing Enzo,” I repeat. “You have to listen to me. For once in my life. Truly listen to me and hear my words: I want him in my life. Do not do this.”
“Listen to her, Gregor,” Nikolai says. “I don’t want you killing Enzo either. It’s going to lead to worse things. And I don’t want to kill you either. Death is not always the answer for us. Not when we want to keep the women in our lives safe. I have my wife to think about.”
“And so do I,” Maksim adds. “Dad, listen to Kira. Don’t do this.”
“But Enzo shot you in the back,” Gregor hisses.
Maksim sighs. “He did and I fucking hate him for it. I never wanted Kira to marry him. But… she’s clearly safe. He has protected her. He literally saved her life. If Kira wants this, then I’ll stand at her side.” And he does. I smile at my brother as he takes his place right beside me.
“Thank you,” I breathe out.
“What are brothers for?”
“My own children turning against me?” Gregor asks.
“We’re not turning against you, Dad,” I say.
“But Maksim and I have been ignored by you for far too long. You’ve always been so hard on Maksim and as for me, you treated me like your little princess without seeing me for the real me.
But the real me is standing before you and I am using my voice.
I am asking you to accept it. I want Enzo in my life.
I truly mean that and if you take him from me…
I’ll never be able to forgive you. And you will only hurt us more by plunging us into a war. So please, Dad. Don’t do this.”
“Gregor, don’t,” Nikolai says. “Listen to your daughter. Don’t kill Enzo.”
Gregor looks between me and Enzo strapped to his table. Enzo hasn’t said a word since all of this began. His eyes are glued to mine like he’s trying to see into my soul.
“You really love him?” Gregor asks.
“I do,” I say without hesitation. I know in this moment that I mean it with everything inside of me. “So don’t kill him.”
With a gasp, Gregor backs away from the table and stumbles against the wall. I rush to Enzo’s side and unstrap him from the table. With a groan, he sits up, still gazing down at me with wonder in his eyes. His chest is covered in small cuts.
“We should get you to the hospital,” I say. “Clean you up. I don’t want these getting infected.”
Enzo still doesn’t say a word as he gets to his feet. He sways and I help right him.
“If my sister says she loves you, then you must be doing something right,” Maksim says. “So, I’m sorry for my father.”
“I’m sorry for shooting you in the back,” Enzo says. “And for kidnapping your wife. I shouldn’t have done it.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.” Maksim’s voice is tight.
“But… I just want peace. I’m tired of all of this fighting.
So if my sister is vouching for you, then…
I’ll accept you as part of our family. Just don’t ever think to shoot me in the back again.
” He holds his hand out to Enzo and after a beat, Enzo shakes it. Nikolai does the same.
Enzo glances at my father but Gregor doesn’t say a word. My dad is a stubborn man and it will take him a long time to come to terms with all of this but today, he did the right thing. He spared my husband’s life.
“Come on,” I say, gently nudging Enzo forward. “Let’s get you to the hospital.”
We leave my father’s house. Enzo still doesn’t say a word to me on the drive to the hospital and it’s eating me up inside to not know what’s on his mind.
Enzo is brought into a hospital room right away when a nurse sees the blood seeping from his chest.
“How did this happen?” the doctor asks – a young man – as he comes into the room and starts looking Enzo over.
“This man mugged me,” Enzo says. “Cut my chest in the process to steal my wallet.”
“We should call the police.”
“No. No police. It was just a wallet. We won’t find the man who did it. Just stitch me up.”
The doctor hesitates but then nods, sitting down across from Enzo and getting to work stitching up his wounds. I watch from the corner of the room as Enzo grits his teeth and pushes through the pain. Why hasn’t he spoken to me yet? Is there something wrong?
Once the doctor is done, he tells Enzo to rest for a few hours and then he can go home. He leaves the room, giving me and my husband space.
“Enzo,” I say. His eyes meet mine and they soften. It’s taking everything out of me to not know what’s on his mind.
He opens his mouth to speak when the hospital door bursts open and in walks Francesca. The sight of her startles me so much, it takes me a long time to process that my aunt-in-law is standing in the room with us.
“Francesca?” he asks.
“You’re hurt.” She huffs and turns to me. “Your doing, I’m presume? You first have the audacity to have an affair with my nephew’s friend and now you’re the reason he’s hurt?”
“Affair?” Enzo furrows his brow. “What are you talking about? What affair?”
“Between your friend, Matteo, and your wife. I caught them looking at each other and it was full of unspoken words. It was obvious to me what happened.”
“You think they had an affair? Francesca…” Enzo sighs with a shake of his head. “They did not have an affair. Besides, Matteo is dead.”
She blinks. “He’s… what?”
“He’s dead because he kidnapped Kira. That’s all you need to know.”
“So it’s her fault? Matteo was a good friend of yours. A good friend to the family. He never would have kidnapped anyone.”
“Francesca, just stop,” Enzo says. “Matteo was an asshole who betrayed me. He tried to hurt Kira and then kidnapped her. I saved her life and now he’s gone. Don’t speak good of him. I do not like it.”
She runs her hands down her dress like she doesn’t know what to do with her hands. “Well… I don’t know what to say. Surely, this is still Kira’s fault. She enticed him somehow.”
“Oh for god fucking sake,” Enzo grumbles, pushing himself to his feet.
“I’ve had enough of you bad mouthing Kira.
She is my wife and you will show her respect.
Kira did not entice Matteo. He was just someone who couldn’t keep his hands to himself and he suffered the consequences for it.
And good riddance. He was never my friend.
Not how he betrayed me. So stop talking nice of him. He and Kira did not have an affair.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because I trust my wife. Simple as that.”
Enzo’s words make me gasp. My father, once he found out I would sneak out to parties, never gave me his trust again. But Enzo is now. He’s the first one to ever do it.
“You can’t mean that,” Francesca says.
“But I do. And you have to accept it. I will not let you get between me and my wife. Not now. Not after she saved my life.”
All the color leaves Francesca’s face. “She… did what?”
“She saved my life. She’s the reason I’m alive right now and standing before you.” Enzo doesn’t tell Francesca that it was my father who tried to kill him. That would only make Francesca distrust me more even though my father’s actions do not speak for me.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say ‘thank you.’ To Kira.”
Slowly, Francesca turns to me and looks me dead in the eye with her scary intense expression. “You saved my nephew’s life?”
“I did.”
“Then… thank you.” She pinches her lips, hating herself for having to say it, I’m sure. I try not to smirk, knowing that would only make things worse. “I guess… you’re not as bad as I thought. I still don’t like you. I still don’t like that you belong to the Bratva.”
“I’m married to a Mafia man now. That’s all that matters.”
Francesca huffs but she doesn’t argue any more. “Well… just don’t kidnapped my niece ever again.”
“Gianna is a grown woman,” I say. “Twenty. She can make her own decisions. Stop controlling her life.”
“You don’t get to lecture me on how I raise Gianna. I took her in after her parents died. I’m more of a mother to her than her own mother was.”
“She will resent you forever if you control her life. Just think about that.”
“Enzo, listen to how she speaks to me!”
“Francesca,” he says with a tired sigh. “Just go. Take care of Gianna. There’s a war brewing and I don’t want her a part of it. So just go.”
With one last derisive look in my direction, Francesca storms out of the room, leaving me and Enzo alone.
“You stood up for me,” I say.
“Well, you did save my life.”
“Why haven’t you said anything to me until now? You were quiet on the drive here.”
He cups my face and I can’t help but lean into his touch. “Because you said you loved me and I was surprised. I didn’t know you felt that way for me.”
“I didn’t know either. Not until I saw you on that table and I knew I didn’t want to lose you.”
“I have a confession. I knew I loved you when Matteo took you from me and I was so worried I’d never get you back.”
“You love me?” I ask with a gasp.
“Why do you sound so surprised?”
“Because I wasn’t sure you had that in you.”
“I do,” he says with a small laugh. “I’m not a complete monster. And I love you, Kira. I’m happy to know you love me too.”
Unable to help myself, I grab the collar of his shirt and pull him down for a kiss. It’s a lingering, gentle kiss that neither one of us wants to break away from.
“What do we do now?” I ask.
“Now, we go home.”