Chapter Three
Enzo took her to a fancy café, complete with white tablecloths and small little plates and cups filled with tea.
Harper felt so out of place. She was the only woman in the place that wore a pair of jeans.
Other women wore skirts or dresses, and it all clearly looked designer.
She sat, feeling like everyone was staring at her, judging her for not quite measuring up to what everyone else was wearing.
This was a nightmare.
She looked down at the menu, but even though she kept reading the titles of the food, there was absolutely nothing registering in her head.
There were sandwiches, snacks, and pastries, and they all sounded wonderful, if she could figure out what they were.
It was like she suddenly lost her ability to read.
“Stop panicking,” Enzo said.
“It’s kind of hard not to.” She didn’t want to point out the obvious.
Enzo lowered his menu, and she held hers so she was able to see him.
“Do I look like I give a fuck?” he asked.
She stared at him. “No.” She shrugged, and it made her feel even more childish.
“Exactly. You’re with me, and it is my opinion that should matter to you. No one else’s. Do you think this is the first time I’ve been here?”
“I don’t know.”
“I had brought another woman here, who dressed the part, and trust me when I say this, she acted the part, but underneath, she was a real monster,” he said. “I’d rather be here with you, in jeans, not looking the part, than with one of them.”
Okay, that made her feel slightly warm inside.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Stop worrying what they think of you. They had already made their minds up about you the moment you walked through the door. They’re a bunch of vultures.”
She already knew she’d been seen and passed off as not important. She was not part of Enzo’s world. She was nothing more than his cleaner, and it would seem his companion, or perhaps his friend. She wasn’t sure exactly which.
The waiter came, and Enzo ordered some food for himself, and she just closed the menu and asked for the same. She was not comfortable at this table.
“Relax,” Enzo said.
“It’s easy for you to say. You’re used to this, aren’t you? I’m not.”
“You’re with me, so no one is going to say anything, no one would dare.”
She clasped her fingers together and leaned forward. “Are you as terrifying as I imagine?” she asked.
“It depends, what do you imagine?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Just what I’ve heard. That you’re one of the most feared men within the Villa Mafia, and no one would dare defy you.”
“Men have defied me. They’ve betrayed me. Women too. To be where I am, you don’t play nice, and you’re never a saint.”
“I get that.”
“Do you?”
“Yes. I also understand it.” She took a deep breath. “My dad and my family never ran in ... normal circles. They were always looking for easy ways to make quick money.”
“Does it bother you?”
“It’s not something I really think about. They’re my family, and it’s what they do. They don’t like working too hard.”
Their conversation was cut short by their food coming in, which consisted of two steaks and some potatoes.
“Wow, you’re hungry,” she said, with a little laugh. This was not awkward at all.
She looked past his shoulder, and several men entered the café.
Enzo didn’t change, didn’t flinch. She counted six men, and none of them looked small.
She picked up her knife and fork, and she was a little nervous, as they looked in Enzo’s direction.
She also noticed the way several women left checks and made their way out of the café.
Staff moved behind the bar, and Harper just sat there and cut into the steak, which was rare, and she hated her steak rare.
The sight of the blood made her feel a little sick.
“Would you care to swap the steak for your potatoes?”
“You shouldn’t be here,” the largest of all six men said, grabbing a chair and pulling it up to Enzo’s table.
“I eat where I want to eat.”
“But I thought I told you—”
He didn’t get to finish his threat, and Harper tensed up as screams erupted.
Enzo had pulled a knife out of his jacket and imbedded it into the man’s hand.
He’d slammed it down so hard, there was no way it was coming out easily.
She tried not to panic or feel sick, but that was a little hard to do, seeing as blood seeped out.
Harper couldn’t help but lift the cloth that covered the table, and look beneath to see the tip of the blade had gone through the wood.
By the time she sat back up, Enzo also had a gun pointed at the man’s head, while the other five men had guns pointed at him.
This was not good. This was going to end badly. There was a chance she was going to die today.
“What have I told you about telling me what to fucking do?” he asked.
The man growled. He was clearly in pain.
She didn’t know what was happening. All she knew was Enzo was clearly the one in control. He cocked his gun, and the man flinched.
“All right, all right, all right,” he said.
“Get your men to put down their guns, and they are to fucking leave right now,” Enzo said.
There was a pant, and she watched the man nod at his own men to do as Enzo said. One by one, they put their guns down and did as Enzo requested.
“You can leave,” Enzo said, and he pulled the blade from his hand. “But the next time you come to where I’m eating and attempt to threaten me, I’ll cut your dick off, do you understand me?”
The man didn’t say a word, but he nodded.
Any appetite she had was gone. Enzo cut into his steak and took a bite, chewing it before spitting it out.
“Disgusting.” He dropped his cutlery, and held his hand out. “Come on. I’ve got a better place to go.”
Harper couldn’t do anything other than slide her hand in his and follow his lead. He was the one in charge, and she felt a little terrified, but it was kind of exciting.
They left the restaurant, and the men were already gone.
Enzo put her in the passenger side of the car, and she figured they would drive off, but instead, he put the car into reverse and backed it into the café, smashing the windows and damaging furniture along the way. She had no idea what was going on.
“I think we can find a better place to each lunch.”
She just turned to look at him. “What the hell was that?”
“Irish Mafia, they decided to open a little café, which I told them to close down, but they insisted on keeping it open. Today, they were sent a message. They do as I tell them, or they get hurt.”
“Irish Mafia?”
“Yep, they’re small, but they’re growing, and they think they can take from the Villa Mafia, but not on my grounds.”
“Did you have any intention of eating there?” Harper asked.
“It would all come down to the steak, and it wasn’t succulent. It was chewy. They were attempting to fob off sirloin steak for that used in fucking casseroles and charge premium prices. Not fucking happening. Ah, here is a much better place.”
It was a drive-thru burger place. Not a large chain, just a couple spread throughout the country.
“Do you have any preference?” Enzo asked.
She shook her head. “Just order me what you think I might like.” She didn’t consider herself a picky eater, but so far, this had been more excitement than she wanted to ever experience.
****
Enzo was not going to have Bradley Taylor in his home.
He wasn’t going to have that bastard near Harper, so he organized a meeting at a dinner in the middle of nowhere.
The food was good, the coffee even better, and the man a loyal member of the Villa Mafia, who was happy to have his diner used for the more exclusive meetings.
He’d gotten all of Harper’s bank statements, and her account was empty.
The dates and time stamps when money was taken out showed him she was telling the truth.
She had no control over her money. This pissed Enzo off.
Eighty grand, and she’d not seen any of it.
Two hundred dollars of her own money, that was all. Her father had taken all of it.
The man was a vulture. He kept poking, trying to find the right person to give him the fucking lifestyle he so desperately craved. No one trusted him. Bradley was the kind of man that would turn for the right title and pay packet.
Enzo watched as he walked into the diner, chest puffed out, as if he had some kind of leverage and was some important person. There was nothing important about this little fucker. He hated him with a fucking passion.
“Enzo Castelli, it was a pleasure to receive your call.” Bradley slid into the booth and put his glasses down on the table.
He noticed several gold rings on his fingers, as well as a couple of chains around his neck.
“To what do I owe the pleasure, is there anything you need?”
“I want your daughter’s bank card,” Enzo said.
Bradley looked around at the diner, and he let out a little laugh. Enzo watched as he licked at his bottom lip. There was a slight twitch to the eye.
“You don’t need to worry about any of that. If Harper is giving you trouble, let me take care of it.” He reached out as if to touch him, and Enzo grabbed his arm and twisted it. All it would take is another inch, maybe two, for him to snap his wrist.
Bradley let out a little squeal, but no one came to his rescue. No one even blinked an eye.
He groaned. “Damn, dude, I have no idea what your problem is, but my daughter gave me her card, and she is crazy about money, loves the stuff. So, I’m saving for her future.”
“Do you know what I hate more than lowlifes who like to suck on the tit of those that feed them?” Enzo asked.
Another cry, and he had enough. Clearly, Bradley thought he had power, and all it took was another inch, and the bone snapped.
The man before him started screaming. He’d tortured a lot of people in his time, and there had been those who had wrists broken, who gritted their teeth and kept their screams in so he didn’t hear them. Bradley was nothing like those men.
He grabbed the man’s other wrist and twisted it.