Chapter 5
Enzo
I knew she was asleep when she started breathing rhythmically.
Her chest was pressed up against me, rising and falling steadily.
She was warm and soft, her skin fragrant with a floral, feminine scent.
I liked the look of her in my shirt. A shirt that size shouldn’t have been remotely flattering, but Valentina pulled it off.
The fabric skimmed her curves instead of swallowing her up, and the hem had lifted slightly, giving me a glimpse of her bare, supple thighs.
The second look at her thighs for the morning.
Hard to get the image of her sliding her gun into her thigh holster out of my head.
Valentina being on the verge of shooting me shouldn’t have been a turn-on, but honestly, it fucking was.
It was one of the few times that this dangerous life had actually felt like a thrill instead of the trap of going through the motions.
She sighed softly in her sleep and the contrast between this vulnerable angel and the woman capable of killing me was stark.
She snuggled closer to me in her sleep. Damn, she was perfect. Stunning even in slumber. With Valentina in my arms, I could feel my cock stir to life. A sure sign that I needed to get the fuck out of here. Slowly, I got out of bed and left my bedroom to let Valentina sleep.
I spent the rest of the morning searching for any indication that word about Don Romano’s shooting had gotten out.
Nothing came up, which meant that for now, neither the authorities nor the public were aware of the attempt on his life.
Which should have meant that nobody in my family knew either.
But Valentina’s accusations kept me from certainty.
What if my father had sent a hitman to get rid of Don Romano?
It wouldn’t be the first time he made a reckless move without consulting me.
Loyalty, however, kept me from revealing that kind of information to my bride.
As sincere as I had been about my offer to help her, I was going to avoid betraying my family if at all possible.
After the morning search, I made sure that there was food for Valentina and I ducked back into my room to check up on her.
She had rolled over on her side, her huge blue eyes wide open. Valentina smiled when she spotted me, a sight so dazzling that it hit me like a fist to the chest. She was so fucking beautiful. More beautiful than even she could possibly know.
Sitting up to stretch, she yawned softly as I approached her. Her blonde hair was disheveled, and yet I swore she had never looked as gorgeous as she did in that moment. Ten wasn’t a high enough number for a woman like her.
“Sleep well?” I asked her.
“I think so,” she answered, her voice low and husky.
I decided to join her in the bed, leaning back against the headboard as I sat down next to her. “This isn’t going to stay secret for long. Pretty soon, word about your father is going to get out.”
“I know,” she said softly. “Papa’s men can keep quiet, but eventually people will notice that they haven’t seen my dad in a while.”
“What’s the story?” I asked, knowing just as well as she did that letting word about the attempt on her father would just weaken him in the eyes of his enemies. She’d have to come up with lie to account for his absence.
“I haven’t decided yet.” She edged nearer to sit up straight, the heat of her body already tempting me. “I need to know the truth though. About the shooting. The more I know, the better I can plan.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Why didn’t the gunman shoot you?” she asked, taking the time to roll up her sleeves.
“Pretty sure he tried,” I told her.
“What?” Her mouth fell open.
I thought back to the previous night, making sure I had the timeline in order. “He came in through the balcony, shot your dad, I figured I was next, so I fought him off. That’s when he escaped out the front door.”
“If he planned on killing you as well, then your father couldn’t have sent him,” Valentina said. “Your father might be able to punish you severely, Enzo, but he wouldn’t outright try to kill you. Remember, I’ve done my homework on your family.”
“Does that mean you’re ruling out my family?”
“No,” she said fiercely. “Your father isn’t the only De Luca. There’s your uncle, for starters.”
“Why the hell would my uncle send someone after me?” I demanded.
“You’re engaged to me. Your uncle can’t be too fond of either of us right now,” she said. “News about our upcoming wedding might have angered him. I’ve heard that he has rages.”
“Temper tantrums,” I said. “He’s harmless.”
“My family took your uncle’s hand,” she confessed, not a sign of remorse in her blue eyes.
My guts churned then. With her asleep in my bed it had been easy to think of her as a damsel in distress. A harmless angel who posed no threat. But she was no such thing. Valentina was a dangerous woman and she had just admitted it.
“You denied it when I confronted you,” I reminded her.
“Yes. Just like you denied your own family’s crimes.” She tucked her legs under her, holding her head up like she was a queen sitting on a throne. “If we want to find the hitman, we can’t keep things hidden anymore. Any clue, no matter how small, could lead us to him.”
As good as it was for my ego to be proven right about Valentina and her family, her confession was a warning.
I could never let my guard down with her.
Not even after the wedding. I stared at her, needing to remind myself that someone that beautiful was capable of a hell of a lot of ugliness. “You took my uncle’s hand.”
She lowered her eyes then. “It was my father’s idea to sever his hand. I just suggested that we send it gift-wrapped in the mail.”
“What the hell, woman?”
“Judge me all you want. You’ve still done worse Enzo,” she snapped, lifting her gaze to glare daggers at me.
“Have I?”
“Your family killed my dad’s best friend,” she accused. The angry expression on her face suddenly vanished, her eyes shining with unshed tears, her lower lip trembling. “Uncle Tony was like a second father to me. I would never gotten this far without him. He believed in me when no one else did.”
My chest tightened painfully. Against all sense and reason, I found myself feeling sympathy for her.
She’s already lost one loved one. Now somebody was hunting her father.
With her old man out of commission, she had nobody else to turn to.
At least, nobody as strong as me and my family.
Without her father, the Romano clan would be rudderless.
That left Valentina to take over. Seizing control must have been everything she had ever wanted, but I doubted she wanted to acquire power under these circumstances.
Somehow, I sensed that she would much rather have her father than have untold power.
Maybe she wasn’t completely heartless after all.
“That wasn’t my idea,” I finally said. “My father ordered the hit. I didn’t know until it was too late.”
She gave a bitter, humorless laugh. “Am I supposed to believe that you would have saved him if you’d known?”
“No, but I would have given him a fighting chance,” I said truthfully. “I prefer settling scores man to man. With my fists. Face to face. None of this shadowy bullshit.”
Anthony Sullivan, Don Romano’s best friend and right-hand man, didn’t get that fighting chance from my father.
My old man had sent some assassins after him when he’d gone to church for confession.
He’d come out of the confession booth, and a pair of hitmen had shot him in the back like real fucking cowards.
“And the car bomb that was meant for my father?” she demanded.
“My old man didn’t give me any prior warning about that either,” I told her. “He’s a reckless bastard. I spend most of the time cleaning his messes. A thankless fucking job.”
“You sound like you want to quit this life,” she observed, her stare unyielding.
“Some days it wears you down,” I said.
“Yes,” she said almost wistfully. “Some days are like that.”
“You really want to pin this on my uncle?” I asked gruffly.
“I saw the way he hid his arm at the engagement party. Losing his hand is understandably a sore subject for him,” she said. “So, he’s at least a suspect. I assume you won’t be telling him?”
“No, I’m not going to tell him,” I said through clenched teeth. “At least give me a chance to clear his name.”
“Fine. If we can find a better suspect, then we’ll strike your uncle from the list,” she said briskly.
“Got any other suspects?” I asked.
Valentina hesitated. “There might be...”
“You’re the one who said we can’t keep secrets anymore,” I reminded her.
Sighing she said, “My cousin Frankie.”
My eyebrows went up. “Holy shit. The lawyer?”
“Yes,” she answered. “Frankie knows everything about the business.”
I’d briefly spoken to Francesco Grant-Romano the night I had first met Valentina. He’d seemed sure of himself then. Willing to sell Valentina to me without her knowledge, which was pretty fucked up. But then, her father had done the same.
Her entire family had seemed willing to barter her like she was merchandise or something. Not that I had much room to judge. I’d fucking agreed to the engagement after all. Sold both of our futures away so that our warring families could finally make peace.
“You think your cousin would use his knowledge to try to take over?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she said, forcing out another sigh. “I just can’t help feeling like he’s been acting weird lately.”
“Okay. Add Frankie to the list,” I said. “Anyone else?”
“There are a few of our associates who recently got out of jail,” she answered. “One of them might have a score to settle. Somebody angry that they had to do time on behalf of the family. Papa and I wondered if one of them was the mole.”
“Could have decided to turn informant for a reduced sentence,” I suggested.