Chapter 11
Valentina
I woke up with Enzo’s arm protectively wrapped around my waist. Yawning contentedly, I got up to put on some night clothes before slipping into the bathroom to remove my makeup and unpin my hair.
Smiling to myself, I took off the tiara, setting it down on the bathroom counter.
In our mad desperation for each other, I’d forgotten to take it off.
When I stepped back into my room, the beam of light from the bathroom landed on Enzo. He was awake. I grimaced apologetically.
“What time is it?” he asked sleepily. His dark hair was deliciously disheveled, and I swear, even after sleep, Enzo still looked unbelievably handsome.
“About two in the morning,” I said, checking the clock on my bookshelf.
“Can’t sleep?” he asked, sitting up right against the headboard.
I took a seat at my vanity where gently pushed aside the boxes of wedding presents that had been delivered earlier today.
I began to open up some bottles for my nightly skincare routine. There was something wonderfully intimate about being able to go about my routine in Enzo’s presence. It made me feel like we were truly at home with each other.
“The attack during the wedding has put me on edge,” I admitted. “I know everyone wants a memorable wedding, but a shooting was not what I had I mind.”
I could still hear the sound of thunderous gunfire and glass shattering all around us in the church. The hitman had almost ruined our wedding, but Enzo declaring his love for me tonight prevented that. As long as Enzo and I had each other, nothing could ever be truly ruined for us.
“When I get my hands on the bastard, he will pay for this tenfold,” Enzo said darkly.
I shivered, knowing full well that I wouldn’t want to be in the gunman’s shoes. Enzo had a darkness to him that called to me. Drew me in. Because it reminded me that we were kindred spirits. We would stop at nothing to protect our loved ones and that made us dangerous people.
With Enzo, I didn’t have to keep up appearances to seem like a normal young woman or like an in control mafia enforcer. I was simply myself, no more, no less. He gave me the freedom to be exactly who I truly was, and I loved him for it.
I reached for a bottle of serum and started applying it to my skin, needing the routine to calm me down. “You know we never made any concrete plans for after the wedding.”
“What did you have in mind?” he asked me.
“Where are we going to live?” I asked. “In my townhouse or your apartment?”
“Wherever you want,” he said. “Home is where you are, Valentina.”
I smiled at that. “Well, how about we buy a new place? Somewhere that we both choose so we can start our new lives together.”
He returned my smile. “I could sell the apartment, move into a bigger place with you.”
“You want a big place?” I asked, my heart rising with hope.
“Yeah, we could have enough space for you and me, our future kids,” he said. “Plus, knowing our family members, they’re going to visit every damn day. They’ll be in and out of the house constantly.”
“That’s Italian families for you,” I said with a laugh, my heart soaring at the prospect of having children with Enzo. It was like something out of a dream being able to plan a future with the man I loved more than anything on earth.
“We gotta get a place with a big backyard,” he said.
“So you can play catch with the future kids?” I asked.
“Doubt I’d be any good at that sports stuff,” he said with a laugh. “I was thinking more for having family barbecues. That kind of thing.”
I brightened at that. We could plan entire family activities together. Get togethers. Outings. Special bonding time. I was already in heaven contemplating it all.
“My dad would be more than happy to teach the kids how to cook,” I said, giddy at the thought of Papa becoming a grandfather. “He’s picked up a few things from the restaurant business.”
“See that I’m good at,” Enzo said, getting out of bed to put on his boxer briefs. “I could teach the kids to slice some pieces of pork—”
“You’re not teaching our little ones to chop up pork,” I said with a gasp.
He smiled ruefully. “Okay, when they’re older. Or instead of pork, I could show them how to take real cuts of beef.”
“You know normal kids learn to play catch or ride a bike,” I said with a groan, knowing full well that he was messing with me.
My husband walked over to me to press a series of kisses up and down the column of my neck. I quivered at this touch, basking in the glow of his attention.
“If you wanted normal kids, you should have married a normal man,” he said.
“Sounds boring,” I said, making a face at the mirror.
“Damn, how are you so beautiful?” he asked then. “It’s like you get more gorgeous by the minute.”
“It’s this,” I said playfully, holding up the bottle of moisturizer.
It was taking a lot of willpower on my part to tear my eyes away from his sculpted chest. He was getting muscular again now that he’d been out of the hospital, and it was both a relief and a mouthwatering experience to watch him regain his old strength.
“Doubt it.” He kissed my neck again and then disappeared into the bathroom for a few moments while I layered on the moisturizer.
When he came back out, he leaned against the doorway, somehow seeming both lazy and in command at the same time.
“You haven’t asked about the honeymoon,” he said.
My eyes widened. “Oh, my goodness, I completely forgot. Did you really plan it?”
“Yup. Guess where it is,” he said.
I paused to think. “Tell me it’s near a beach.”
“You bet it is,” he said with a smile. “A whole shoreline.”
I perked up at that. Already, I was thinking of me and Enzo walking hand in hand on a sandy beach. Or sipping rum and Cokes at a beach bar. Maybe even going skinny dipping in the sea.
My insides fluttered at the thought of all the romantic possibilities. “Is it California?”
He snorted. “We are getting the hell out of the States.”
“Mexico?”
“Close enough,” he said. “How does Spain and Portugal sound?”
I gasped. “Are you serious? I’ve always wanted to go.”
“We’re going to do the whole Iberian peninsula,” he said. “Eat the best food. Drink the best wine. I got the idea from the sangria you were drinking at the engagement dinner when our families got together for the first time.”
I turned around to face him, my heart going all soft and fluttery at those words. “You remembered that I was drinking sangria?”
“Well, I ordered it for you,” he said smiling.
“I know,” I said, blinking back happy tears. “But still. I can’t believe you remembered that.”
“We were trying to figure out where to go for a honeymoon during the engagement dinner, so I when I got the sangria for you, I made a mental note—”
“I love you so much,” I interrupted, too overcome to stay quiet.
“I will never get tired of hearing those words,” he said to me. “I love you, Valentina. My Valentina.”
My entire body went warm, my heart suddenly lighter and freer with the knowledge that he loved me too. This was more than I could have ever dreamed of.
Enzo looked down at the pile of presents I had pushed aside. “More wedding gifts?”
I nodded. “They just keep coming in. Some get delivered to our headquarters and you’ve seen the rest arrive here these past couple of weeks. Too bad we haven’t had a chance to open many of them.”
“Let’s open some of these ones,” he said, coming over, his muscular frame towering over me, making me feel safe, loved, and protected.
I reached for one of the bigger boxes. Opening a larger one first might make the pile smaller much faster.
Getting excited, I tore open the wrapping paper and lifted the lid. Inside was a sparkling crystal figurine. I took several moments to admire the way the light hit the crystal surface, making it glimmer from all angles.
“This is beautiful,” I gushed.
Soon, I was opening boxes and cards to reveal everything from expensive wine to sandwich makers to gift certificates to New York’s Michelin Star restaurants.
When I got to an unwrapped lavender-colored box, I slid off the glitter ribbon that was holding the lid in place.
There was a card attached so I opened that.
The message was written in big, bold marker, the handwriting messy.
The opposite of the elegant box it came with.
As I scanned the message, I gasped in horror, flinging the card away as if burned.
“What the hell?” Enzo picked up the card, bringing it closer to his face.
I didn’t need to see the card again to remember the chilling words scribbled in big, bold marker.
Your time is running out. You cannot run and you cannot hide. One by one I will pick you off until the name Romano is forever erased.
My mind was spinning. I clutched my chest as the fear made my heart clench.
Panic clawed down my spine, cold and oily.
Someone out there had gone through a lot of trouble to threaten us on our wedding day.
First the shooting, now this terrifying message.
Thankfully, no one had been killed during the shooting, but based on updates at the reception, there were injuries.
Guilt flooded me. I’d spent so much time thinking about my safety and Enzo’s safety, but I had lost sight of the fact that our guests might be in a dangerous situation from being around us.
I couldn’t help feeling like I had failed my extended family and our friends.
There had been a breakdown in security and I was going to have to accept the blame, even if my father had volunteered to handle all the communication related to the shooting.
Papa hadn’t wanted us to be inundated with calls about a shooting as newlyweds.
“This sounds like the text message you got the day of the bank bombing,” I said, my thoughts coming back to the present moment.
“Son of a bitch,” Enzo muttered, tossing the card back onto the surface of my vanity. “That shooting wasn’t enough for him? He has to terrorize you in your own home now? I’m going to kill him.”