Chapter 7
Valentina
I wasn’t a na?ve woman. I hadn’t expected my fiancé to be a saint.
I certainly wasn’t. So, I had already guessed that Enzo De Luca must have had a harem of women.
A string of lovers to pick from whenever he wanted.
Yet when I had decided to pay him a visit this morning, I certainly hadn’t expected to find him with one of them so soon after our engagement.
It seemed he hadn’t been able to wait even twenty-four hours.
As I brushed past the security guard who had waved me through the building’s metal detector, I took a moment to size her up.
She was gorgeous, in an airbrushed sort of way.
Perfect makeup, including sheer pink gloss and false eyelashes.
Her hair was dyed a wine-colored red, and her outfit was tight enough to cut off all circulation.
And her heels were almost as high as mine.
We were complete opposites, and yet, I knew just by looking at her that this was the sort of girl who could get any man she wanted.
And based on the way she was clinging to his arm and sliding against him, what this girl wanted was Enzo.
Good, she can have him, I thought angrily to myself as retrieved my handbag from the second security guard and marched up to them. I wasn’t jealous. Not even a little bit.
I wasn’t jealous of how tightly they were holding each other.
It wasn’t jealousy that twisted my stomach.
It wasn’t jealousy that made me involuntarily grind my teeth at the sight of them.
The bitterness welling up inside me was not because I saw this woman as my rival.
These sensations I was feeling were due to Enzo’s lack of discretion.
As long as we were engaged, I expected some modicum of respect.
I was a Romano, for heaven’s sake. I would not abide any man connected to me publicly making a fool of me.
Anyone passing by the building could look in through the glass entrance and see Enzo with this woman in broad daylight.
When I stopped in front of them by the front desk, I gave Enzo a tight smile. “Good morning, Mr. De Luca, I do hope I’m not interrupting.”
“No, you’re not,” Enzo said flatly, the shock on his face vanishing instantly. “Cherry was just saying goodbye.”
My eyes narrowed at that, forcing me to widen my smile so they didn’t see my annoyance. “Long night?”
“Non-existent night,” Enzo said quickly. “Cherry dropped by this morning, but she’s leaving now.”
“Oh, don’t hurry off on my account,” I said, glancing over at Cherry.
Not that it was my place to judge a woman for having a liaison, but she couldn’t possibly let him humiliate her by blatantly throwing her out like this. She ought to have some dignity. I didn’t care how powerful Enzo De Luca was, there were limits.
“I’m not going anywhere until you hear the truth,” Cherry said to me.
“The truth?” I asked, suddenly intrigued.
“Your boyfriend has been cheating on you,” she blurted out. “With me. We were together one night a few weeks ago.”
“Enzo is not my boyfriend,” I said coolly.
My tone made Cherry pause. Then, she lowered her gaze for a second. She must have spotted the engagement ring on my finger because her eyes went wide.
Her mouth dropped open. “You’re his wife?”
“Wrong again,” I said, seeing the irony in her misjudgments. She’s been close, but fiancée wasn’t the obvious answer to most people. “Mr. De Luca and I are...coworkers. He’s very late for work today.”
I could swear that was a hint of relief flashing in Enzo’s eyes. Looked like he was glad to finally be getting rid of her.
“Oh wow.” Cherry suddenly looked a bit sheepish. “Guess he really was busy.”
“Enzo has been a very busy man,” I said sardonically. “He’s been busy with you and a whole slew of...others.”
The relief on his face vanished, replaced by a glare in my direction.
“Right. Should have seen that coming.” Cherry pursed her lips together. “Guess I’ll leave you to your work.”
The security guard at the front desk cleared his throat and said to Cherry, “Ma’am, your package.”
Looking flustered, Cherry reached for the box, the torn wrapping paper shifting to reveal the name of one of those trendy lingerie brands.
Too bad she’d missed her chance to model her purchase for Enzo, but she despite the look of bitter regret on her face she was currently clutching the box and storming out of the building.
“Well, I hope you had an enjoyable interlude with Cherry this morning,” I said. “Perfect way to celebrate your recent change in relationship status.”
“We didn’t have sex,” Enzo growled at me.
“Wish you had?” I asked, happy to stick the knife in.
“Why are you here?” Enzo frowned. “How the hell did you even find this address?”
I glanced over at the security guard, hesitant to say anything more in front of an audience.
Noticing my discomfort, Enzo said to the guard, “We’ll talk later.”
The guard nodded while Enzo placed a hand on my lower back to guide me toward the elevator.
Heat spread through the silk fabric of my blouse, his hand strong and possessive against me.
I trembled in spite of myself. Hatred and mistrust of this man didn’t prevent my body from responding to his presence.
If anything, that hatred only helped to heighten my reactions to him.
Inside the elevator I said, “We’ve known your New York address for some time. New York is our home base after all.”
“If you’ve known, why haven’t you taken your shot at me?” he asked as the elevator doors slid shut.
“Knowing an address doesn’t always lead to success,” I said. “You’d know that, considering your failed car bombing.”
“That wasn’t us,” he said immediately, lying so smoothly that I knew it was a talent for him.
I hadn’t figured out what his poker face looked like.
I still couldn’t quite tell the difference between a truth and a lie with Enzo, but I noticed that denials about breaking the law came very easily to him.
Far more easily than they did to me in my opinion. I stored that information for later.
“I don’t know why you bother with these denials,” I said.
“For the same reason you do,” he returned, his slender fingers gliding across the elevator buttons. “Are you here to case the joint?”
I gave a short, humorless laugh as the elevator started its ascent. “I’m very aware that your digital home security is second to none. The guards are just a window dressing.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Cameras, radar sensors, sprinkler automation,” I said. “Exasperated as you were with that Cherry girl, you would have had the place on lockdown if you really thought she was a threat.”
“One-night stand’s privilege. My women are pretty well vetted anyway,” he said. “You, on the other hand—”
“I’ve only made it this far because you’re escorting me?”
That got a smile out of Enzo, his chiseled features turning suddenly sensual instead of dangerous. “I knew you were smart.”
The elevator came to a stop, the doors sliding open.
I stepped out after him, following him down the hallway.
When we stopped at one of the doors on the other end of the hall, I said, “You believed me awfully quickly. How are you so sure that I’m not really here to hurt you?"
“You got through the metal detector,” he said, opening the door and stepping aside to let me enter first.
I walked into the luxury apartment, hating that I was impressed by the décor.
Ultramodern in dark, masculine hues. Spacious with a well-stocked bar.
I’d bet money that the leather sofas in the living room were pull-out sofas.
This place was the perfect bachelor pad for a man entertaining multiple women.
“I could still have a weapon on me,” I said. “I mean, a pencil could be a weapon.”
“Not as deadly as the weapon you tried to use on me last night,” he said, shutting the apartment door.
I stopped in my tracks, surprised that he was bringing it up.
Truthfully, I hadn’t planned on actually firing the gun at him.
Pointing it at him maybe, nothing more than that.
But his words about my Uncle Tony had been so cruel that I’d needed to channel the grief somehow.
I couldn’t very well start crying in front of him.
Crying was unacceptable for a woman in the mafia.
Men saw it as a complete and total weakness.
Better to reach for a gun to see the look on my opponent’s face than let him have the satisfaction of seeing the tears in my eyes.
So, I’d opened my purse to make a statement.
Luckily for the both of us, my family’s bodyguards had arrived, stopping me in time.
I spun around to face him. “You seem so certain.”
“You mean you weren’t trying to kill me?”
I shook my head. “I wasn’t.”
Next thing I knew, Enzo was right in front of me, the hardness of his body pressing against mine. Then he was backing me up, forcing me to stumble backward until my back hit a wall. I was caught between the hard wall and his solid, muscular chest.
Suddenly I felt heat between my legs.
Swallowing hard, I demanded, “What-what are you doing?”
“I don’t believe you Valentina,” he said, his breath fanning my skin and brushing a stray lock of hair from my eyes. “You wanted me dead. You still do.”
He wouldn’t believe me if I said no. Nobody would.
I had fantasized about vengeance for years.
Thought of the most violent, painful ways to kill every last one of the De Lucas.
Actually meeting Enzo last night had only spurred on that murderous rage.
The horrible things he’d said about my family, about Uncle Tony...
How could a petty emotion like jealousy hold up against that?