Enzo
Heads were going to roll.
The men knew they had made mistakes, which was good, but I needed to know what went wrong. Who did I entrust with Serena’s safety? Who had failed?
It seemed that, though I made it clear I was not one to be screwed with or attacked, someone wanted to test me. Like they wanted to see how far they could push me before I snapped.
They were skilled killers: their approach said as much.
Questions circled in my head as I drove. Was this an attack on me? The second the thought popped into my head, I knew this had nothing to do with me. They went straight to my room, where she’d most likely be.
Which meant someone had escalated from causing fear to doing real harm. But who was it?
Too many questions, not enough answers. I had my suspicions, but I wasn’t ready to share them with Serena.
If I could go back and shoot those idiots who ruined what was the best date in the history of dates, I would.
We were at our second stop, hours earlier than I anticipated. Unfortunately, this was the hand I was dealt. I only hoped it didn’t scare Serena away.
She was shivering and quiet, and I could see she had a thousand things running through her head.
Merda, she held a gun. One that I gave her to protect herself and feel safe. I had a feeling she’d never held one, let alone known how to use it. I needed to talk to her about that and remedy it quickly.
I pulled the dinghy to the dock and helped Serena off, the sunrise casting a warm glow on the expansive back lawn.
While my home in Queens was impressive, it was still a brick monstrosity I’d built because it was what people expected a made man’s house to look like.
My villa had touches of my home country in every detail. Outside, whitewashed concrete, red-tiled roof, and shutters. Inside, color, mosaic tiles, and arched Moorish doorways.
If I could, I’d spend all my time here, but this place wasn’t meant to be lived in daily. It was an oasis I’d built as a side project once the money started flowing into the brotherhood again.
We walked up the flagstone path, Serena quietly holding my hand.
I pulled out my phone, brought my arm around Serena’s shoulders while keeping hold of her hand, and dialed Rafael’s number.
“Sí,” Rafael answered. I opened my mouth, but never got the chance to speak before he continued. “I heard. I’ll take care of it. Take care of Serena. Enjoy your time together.”
“It’s all screwed up,” I huffed, speaking in Italian. I didn’t need Serena to listen in. “It was perfect. Now it’s fucked to hell.”
“Everything that you hoped for?” Rafael teased me about what a romantic I was being with her, but I didn’t care.
He could tease me all he wanted. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do, no lengths I wouldn’t go to, for Serena to know how special she was to me.
In the last few hours, she was faced with the cold reality of what it meant to be in my world.
I only hoped it didn’t scare her. Something of this magnitude was bound to push her into reconsidering.
“Yes.” I watched as she ventured further into the house. It was an open floor plan, so I could watch as she walked around, taking in the grandness of the rooms. “But none of it matters if they scared her away.”
I saw her walking away with vivid clarity, Harper in tow, because this was too much for her. The idea of it created ice-cold fear in me—that I couldn’t do my job, could make her feel safe enough to stay.
I would understand if that was her choice, but I’d do everything in my power to convince her otherwise.
Rubbing my thumb against Serena’s knuckles, I tried to use the feeling of her hand in mine to ground me. Remind me that she hadn’t turned and run away. Yet.
“Call in reinforcements. I want eyes on every angle with her,” I said, not wanting to say Harper’s name. Serena might not know Italian but she’d home in on me mentioning Harper. She hadn’t brought her up yet, and I had to assume it was because she was still in shock and not thinking clearly.
There was some yelling, muffled voices, and the phone call beeped. I pulled it away and saw I’d been hung up on.
Serena walked ahead of me, slipping out of my embrace to the balcony that overlooked the pool, yard, and ocean beyond.
There was a breeze, making Serena’s hair and dress flow behind her. With the sun rising, she looked like an angel.
My phone rang once, then stopped. It rang again seconds later. Martina.
“Sí,” I said, ready for her to read me the riot act.
“Give the phone to Serena,” Martina ordered. “Rafael put you on speaker. I heard every word. Give the phone to her.”
“Serena,” I called out, walking to where she stood on the balcony. She turned and gave me a small smile.
I held the phone out. “It’s for you.”
Confusion twisted her face as she took the phone. “Me?” I nodded and pointed to the name.
“Oh boy,” she muttered and brought the phone to her ear. “Hello,” she said, wincing. Martina’s voice was loud enough that I could hear it from a foot away, though I couldn’t make out the words.
After a moment, she laughed, eyed me, and walked into the house. She paused in the kitchen, looking left and right, before turning left down the hall toward the small bathroom at the end.
I followed her, standing back to give her space as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door.
I tried not to worry about what Martina was saying to her. It was hard.
Martina was straightforward, never one to mince her words to save someone else’s feelings. She wasn’t cruel and was always there to offer a hand to help after you were able to digest her sometimes harsh delivery.
I walked to the door, ready to barge in, begging for another chance to do this day right, but stopped myself.
Serena needed space to process this. If the last time were anything to go by, she’d recover quickly. Hopefully, whatever Martina said didn’t make Serena reconsider being with me.
“No, I’m fine,” Serena said, her voice echoing. “I’m glad Harper’s okay, but it’s early, and I don’t want to wake her up.”
I should leave, give her privacy, but I needed to know what she was thinking. I braced my hands on the doorframe and leaned in. Thank god for tiled bathrooms and their acoustics.
“I had to hold a gun. That would freak anyone out,” Serena said, her voice getting louder. “No. Should it matter that I didn’t use it?”
Serena went silent. What was Martina saying? If only she had put her on speaker.
“I don’t blame him at all. It’s not like he asked to get attacked,” Serena said. I had rarely seen her get annoyed, only with her ex, but I could hear the annoyance in her tone now.
“Like I said, I’m not mad at him. I’m a little freaked out and tired,” Serena said. “No. I am not talking about that. But if you’re not going to leave it be, it was,” she trailed off and then laughed.
The twisting in my stomach eased. Laughing was a good thing.
“I’d never felt so cared for. He was,” she stuttered. “Yes, I want him. I’m not an idiot, but I’m also worried he’s doing all this extravagant stuff to win me over, and then what if, once he has me, he shows me who he really is?”
My head dropped as I took my first real breath since being woken up. She wanted more. Everything else was secondary. Trust took time to build. She’d been burned in the past. I was moving into familiar territory.
“He’s what?” she gasped. “Why would he think that?”
Listening to one side of the conversation was killing me. Martina seemed to be helping, but it was hard to know how much from Serena’s responses.
“What do I do, then?” She laughed, and it almost brought me to my knees. Her laugh was everything. “Yes, that’s where we are.”
I waited, seconds ticking by, but didn’t hear Serena speak again.
Standing there, I gripped the doorframe, trying to talk myself out of ripping the door off its hinges and begging her to talk to me.
It felt like half the day had gone by when the door opened again. Jumping back, I stared at her, preparing myself to go along with whatever she wanted, even if it ripped my heart out.
“I saw there was a hot tub outside,” she said, handing me the phone as the call with Martina ended. “Can we eat something while we’re in there? I’m a little hungry.”
I replayed her words as she moved past me.
Staying where I was, I watched here move down the hall, praying this wasn’t a dream. When she reached the end, the straps of her dress slipped from her shoulders, the dress pooling at her feet.
She was naked, her long blonde hair flowing down her back. The sun shone through the windows, highlighting her body.
The sight of her went straight to my cock.
“Are you coming?” she asked, winked at me, and disappeared into the living room.
I sprinted after her, ripping my boxers off as I went.
Martina was getting whatever she wanted when I saw her. A private island? Done.
I heard Serena’s flirty giggle, the one that made my chest ache.
She picked up her pace, nearly making it to the steps before I caught her by the waist. I swept her up, her laughter echoing as I carried her down the steps toward the jacuzzi.
She squealed, her laughter filling the air, easing the panic and worry that had consumed me earlier.
I stepped into the jacuzzi, holding her in place as I sat her on my lap.
There was a fruit and cheese platter waiting for us; the men on the grounds knew to stay out of sight.
I took a piece of melon and held it out for Serena to bite. She straddled me, my stiff cock notched between our bodies.
“What did Martina say to you?” I asked as she ate from my hand. Cazzo, I was going to feed her like this for the rest of the day.