Chapter 28
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
ENZO
Istare at her, blinking like a fucking moron. What she said can’t be true. Rafael is unhinged and borderline psychotic, but he’s my kid brother. He would never betray me like that. Not only were he and Rayne close back then, but he and I have each other’s backs. We always have.
Rayne’s hazel eyes are filled with tears. “I told you that you wouldn’t believe me,” she says sadly.
Fuck, of all the things she’s told me in the past twenty minutes, that my younger brother might have betrayed me isn’t even the worst of it.
That Ethan raped her and filmed her is too painful to contemplate, like someone pouring battery acid into my DNA and letting it burn me up from the inside.
But what is more agonizing is what I did.
I didn’t even give her the chance to tell me.
She was in so much pain, and I called her a cheating whore.
I saw the cum stains on the bed and assumed…
My kind, sweet, incredible girl, and I fucking abandoned her.
I’m overwhelmed with guilt and with nowhere to go, it quickly turns to pure blistering fury.
The rage bubbling up is so vicious and insistent that it clouds my vision.
I can barely see straight, but she doesn’t need that version of me right now.
For once, I’m determined to be the man she needs.
I force air into my lungs, feel it soothing enough of the molten rage that I can speak. I reach for her hand and gently squeeze her fingers in mine. “I believe you, Rayne.”
She gives me a sad smile, and it cracks my goddamn heart wide open.
I would have always believed her, wouldn’t I?
After I’d calmed down and started thinking straight.
But I get why she didn’t think she could tell me, and the fact that she sacrificed her own reputation to protect me only makes me feel more guilty.
I had the most incredible woman in the entire world, and not only did I let her go, I let her down—spectacularly.
“Are you ready to go home?” I ask.
She nods, wiping some dust from her jeans.
I jump up and hold out my hand to help her, grateful when she takes it.
She looks so pale. So vulnerable but strong at the same time.
So fucking amazing in every single way. And I can’t help it.
I pull her to me, enveloping her in my arms and holding her tight to my chest. She rests her cheek against my jacket, letting me hold her even though I have absolutely no right to.
I rest my lips on the top of her head, letting her sweet scent fill my senses. “I’m sorry.”
She snakes her arms around my waist. “I know.”
My apology changes nothing though—she doesn’t have to say that for me to know it’s true.
As soon as we get back to the penthouse, I send a message to Rafael to get his ass here as soon as possible. And then I check on Rayne, who headed straight for the den—the place where she seems most at home here.
“I just wanted to let you know Rafael is on his way and—”
“You’re bringing him here?” I can’t tell if she’s annoyed or scared, maybe both. I take a seat on the coffee table in front of her and resist taking her hands in mine.
She’s exactly the same woman she was a few hours ago, but now she seems so small and fragile.
I know it’s my guilty conscience, because she’s neither of those things.
Still, I can’t help it. Even looking at her is breaking my heart into fucking millions of pieces.
Thinking about the pain and the humiliation she endured, and how I, the man who was supposed to protect her, hurt her even more than that piece of shit did, almost renders me immobile.
So, I shove it away to be dealt with later.
“You don’t have to see him, but I have to talk to him.”
I have to talk to her too. There’s so much I need to say to her, so much I need to apologize for, but I don’t even know where to begin.
There are no words in the English or Italian language that could even begin to heal some of the pain I’ve caused her, or explain how truly fucking sorry I am.
For now, I will focus on the things I can do something about. Kill Ethan. But first…Rafael.
“He won’t admit it, Enzo. What if he…?” Her eyes are filled with fear, which isn’t something I’m used to seeing in her. It brings out my protective instincts—the ones I should have paid attention to six fucking years ago.
“He won’t hurt you. I promise.” I swear to God, nobody will ever hurt her again.
She shakes her head like I misunderstood her. “But what if he hurts you?”
Her concern for me is adorable, if misplaced.
Whatever Rafael is, or has done, he would never intentionally hurt me.
While I believe her when she said that message came from him, I can’t believe he would betray me like that.
Or her for that matter. He loved her like a sister once.
“I can take care of myself.” And you. “But I need to speak to him and find out who betrayed us. And I need to figure out what the fuck this has to do with Carmine.”
Is this why he suddenly wants me out of the picture? Because if the Bertellis had proof that Rayne was raped by Ethan, then it was only a matter of time before I found out about it. He’s worse than a fucking snake. He knew what happened to my girl and he let me…
“Okay,” Rayne says quietly. Too quiet. But it brings me back to her and out of thoughts of all the ways I’d like to kill Carmine Falcone right now.
“Do you need anything? Some tea? Food?”
She looks up at me, blinking. Fuck, I wish I could make everything better, but I have no fucking idea where to start. “I have some of that cherry pie you used to like in the fridge,” I tell her.
A hint of smile that reaches her eyes. “You got cherry pie?”
“Yeah.” I ordered it in this morning and was planning on telling her that I got it because Angelo was coming for lunch, but the truth is I got it for her. Because she loves cherry pie.
She used to love me. And now I feel like I can’t breathe. Fuck! How did I not see any of this?
“I’m good for now. Maybe later though.” Once again, her voice brings me back from the brink of imploding.
I drop a kiss on the top of her head, inhale the scent of her hair and let it soothe this raging beast inside me that’s foaming at the mouth to be let loose. But not just yet. I leave her to her book and go to the kitchen to wait for my brother.
Rafael shrugs off his jacket and hops up to sit on the kitchen island. “What’s with the urgency, bro?”
I roll my neck and remind myself this man is my brother. We’ve always been there for each other. He knows what really happened to Tommy, and there’s no way he would have stood for what went down if he was involved. “You remember the day Tommy disappeared?”
He simply nods. No hint of panic or anything else to arouse my suspicions.
“Rayne told me what happened.”
He plucks an apple from the fruit bowl, takes a huge bite, and stares at me like he’s wondering what the point of this conversation is.
“She got a text telling her that someone had some information for me.”
He takes another bite of the apple. “And?”
“Did you ever think it was a huge coincidence that I happened to show up that day and caught the two of them like that?”
He shakes his head. “Of course it wasn’t. You were supposed to catch them. That much has always been obvious, hasn’t it? Why else would someone send you those pictures?”
“Do you remember we were supposed to be going to L.A. that day, and at the last minute Carmine sent us to the dog track to collect some money?”
He closes one eye, like he’s trying to remember. “Yeah.”
“So, why did the plan change?”
Rafael shrugs. “No fucking idea. You’re the boss. I just do what I’m told. What the hell is this about?”
“Rayne came back for a video, Raf. A video that shows a very different story than what I was led to believe happened that day. It wasn’t Tommy on those pictures I was sent. It was Ethan.”
He frowns. “His scumbag older brother?”
“The very same.”
“So what the hell did we walk in on?”
“You tell me, Raf.”
His eyes narrow in suspicion. “How about you tell me what the fuck is going on and stop asking me dumb questions? Because I have no fucking clue what you’re talking about.”
I take a deep breath. “Rayne told me someone sent her a message telling her that Ethan had some important information for me. That’s why she let him into the house.” He still looks as confused as I feel, and he’s not that good of an actor. “She said it was you, Raf.”
He sucks on his teeth, not overly rattled by that statement. “Well, you already know she’s a lying fucking bitch.”
“No, she’s not, Raf. And I believe her.”
That rattles him. He jumps off the counter and squares up to me. “So, you think I’m lying to you? You believe that whore over your own fucking brother?”
I push him hard in the chest and he staggers back. “She’s not a whore, and if you ever call her one again I’ll cut out your fucking tongue.”
He dusts himself off, snarls at me and then takes a seat again. “She fucked your best friend’s brother.”
“No, she didn’t.”
He blinks at me and I see the moment he realizes what I’m hinting at but would never say aloud. That’s Rayne’s story to tell, not mine. “Fuck,” he mutters, shaking his head in confusion. “Are you sure you believe her?”
“Yes, I’m fucking sure. I should have believed her six fucking years ago, but I never even gave her the chance to tell me.”
He shakes his head, grunting something unintelligible.
The thing with Raf is, while he is unhinged and one of the scariest motherfuckers I know, he’s never been good at lying.
He was always the one we deliberately gave minimal detail to whenever we were up to something as kids because he’d fold like wet paper as soon as he experienced the slightest bit of pressure from Mama or Papa. “I didn’t send her any message, bro.”
I believe him, but I also believe her.
“So someone else sent it? From your phone?”
“Maybe, but I sure as fuck didn’t send it.”
“Did you even have your phone that day?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t fucking know. I was always leaving it lying around places I shouldn’t. Remember Pop used to get so pissed at me about it.”
True. And now I’m burning with pent-up rage, practically foaming at the mouth to get some answers. “I need to go and take care of something. I want you to stay here and watch her.”
He pulls a disgusted face. “Fuck, Enzo. Really?”
I grab him by the shoulders, forcing him to look at me. “Listen to me, she didn’t betray me, okay. Someone used her to get to me, and they hurt her, Raf. Really fucking hurt her.”
He snarls, the unpredictable anger never far from the surface simmering in him. “Ethan Fiorelli?”
I try to keep a lid on my own temper. “He was part of it. But he didn’t act alone. And I’m going to find out who the fuck put him up to framing his own brother.”
“Then let me come with you. They set me up too.”
I shake my head. “I need to do this alone. And I need you to look after Rayne for me. I’ll be back in a few hours. Do not fucking mess with her, Raf, I mean it.”
He rolls his eyes. I tap his cheek, getting him to focus on me again. “I fucking mean it. Play. Nice. If you upset her, I will kick your fucking ass.”
He holds out his hands in surrender. “I’ll be nice.” He flashes me his shark-like grin. “Promise.”
“Just fucking behave. Okay?”
I find Rayne in the den, holding a book in her hands.
From the way she’s staring blankly at the pages, she’s not actually reading it.
I crouch down in front of her, wanting more than anything to take her in my arms and tell her how truly fucking sorry I am.
But I know her too well, and my empty apology means nothing now.
Not after I let her down so egregiously.
“I have to go somewhere. I’ll be back soon, okay?”
Her eyes meet mine and she nods. She’s shrewd enough to know exactly where I’m going, but she doesn’t press me for details.
“Raf is going to stay here—”
“Raf? Really?” She slams her book closed and glares at me. “He’s my prison guard now?”
Christ, I want to carry her to my bed right now and show how sorry I am, promise her that I will never let anyone harm a single hair on her fucking head ever again, but I know I don’t have the right.
And it’s too soon. Too raw for her. “He’s not here to watch you, Rayne.
He’s here to keep you safe. I know everything you told me was true, baby, but he says he didn’t send that message, and I believe him too.
I think someone used his phone because they knew you trusted him.
I know he’s an asshole, but he loved you too. ”
She mulls that over, and after a moment, she nods like she can accept it. At least for now. “He’ll be on his best behavior. And if he’s not, there’s a Glock in my office. Feel free to shoot him if he gets too annoying.”
She closes her eyes and gives a single nod of her head. “Fine.”
“I’ll be back soon.”
She keeps her eyes closed.
I stand, and, unable to stop myself, I drop a kiss on the top of her head. She still doesn’t open her eyes, but she doesn’t punch me in the nuts either, so I guess that’s something.