Chapter 12
Valentina
We took a detour to the forensic lab, where we discreetly dropped off the bottles and glasses of wine before finally making it back to my townhouse.
Inside, I wearily headed up the main hallway toward the living room.
“You need to pack your bags, Valentina.” Enzo’s hand was suddenly on the small of my back, steering me away from the living room in the direction of my bedroom.
The weight of his hand on me sent heat through my entire body, though my flaring desire did nothing to calm my temper at his audacity.
“Don’t even think about ordering me around, Enzo,” I warned, spinning around to face him when I got to the threshold of my bedroom. Losing the heat of his touch only brought on more sexual frustration as I struggled to stand my ground. “Pack my bags and go where, exactly?”
“We need to get the hell out of the city,” he said firmly. “I have a safehouse upstate. It’s secure. No one for miles around.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “You expect me to abandon my family? At a time like this?”
“I expect you to listen to reason,” he said flatly. “Somebody tried to poison you. Just as I’m no good to you dead, you’re no good to your family dead either. You can feel noble about staying but it won’t protect you and it will not fucking help your family.”
“My father...” I blinked back tears. Just the thought of leaving him behind right now wracked me guilt. “I have to warn my parents, my mother about the poisoning. About everything. The bombing—”
“No, forget that,” Enzo said, shooting me down. “They’ll have heard about the bombing on the news. They don’t need to know that you were close when it happened.”
“I don’t want to scare my mother, but if I’m going to leave, she has the right to be well informed so she can protect herself and my dad.
” Emotions flooded me. Anger at myself for knowing that Enzo was making the right call for us to leave and hating it anyway.
Anguish over abandoning my family. The near hysterical, borderline irrational fear that if I left the city, I risked never seeing my parents again.
Fleeing felt so final. Like an admission that the walls were closing in and there was no option left but to try to escape before getting utterly destroyed.
I was fleeing everything I had ever known and putting my future in the hands of a man who should have been my enemy.
My world was changing so completely that I no longer recognized anything.
I had no father to protect me. No mother to hold my hand.
That left me feeling vulnerable and afraid.
The composure I’d managed to regain after seeing Enzo try to drink that poisoned wine was wavering.
My nerves were frayed. In that moment, I’d give anything for someone else to be in charge.
For me to just hand over power and let someone strong like Enzo take the lead.
But that was the easy, coward’s way out.
I was no coward. Not even when my fear threatened to tear me apart.
Finally, Enzo heaved out a sigh. “Fine. Tell them. Just as long as you pack your bags.”
“I don’t take orders from you,” I threw out defiantly. “Don’t ever think you can cross that line and get away with it. An engagement ring will not turn me into an obedient robot for you to command.”
He clenched his jaw in frustration. “So, you’re not coming with me?”
“You’re the one who will be coming with me,” I informed him with a firm tone. “You are my companion at my pleasure. On my say so.”
My words must have set off some sort of chemical reaction because the angry flicker in his dark eyes transformed into an explosion of golden fire. Flames burned behind his eyes. As if a furious inferno was beginning to blaze beneath his skin. The place between my legs tightened. Heat pooled.
The way he was looking at me, pinning me in place with a stare so intense it felt like it singed my clothes. My own desire made me easy prey for him. Much as I defied him, in that moment, I would have let him do anything he wanted to me. Anything.
Enzo’s gaze burned whatever fabric was protecting me and it felt like he was taking in my exposed body, bared for him and him only.
“Then I’m yours to command, princess,” he said then, gaze lingering on my mouth before sliding down to my breasts, and then, lower still.
Damn, I hated the way he called me princess then. All low and silky smooth. Like a caress. Like a promise of things to come. In a slight mocking tone that made me want to slap him and undress for him all at the same time.
The heat rising between us nearly made it impossible to think straight. Nearly. It took several seconds for me to remember what I’d planned to do next, but I inhaled deeply enough to finally get ahold of myself.
“I’m going to contact my parents now,” I said emphatically, letting him know that he was never going to take control from me. “Whether you like it or not.”
Enzo’s jaw clenched in what was clearly irritation, but he knew as well as I did that in my agreeing to leave with him, there would be no room left for negotiations. I would speak to my parents regardless of what he thought or what he ordered.
Without wasting another moment on his disapproval, I whipped out my phone and went into my bedroom. Enzo took that as his cue to step back, leaving me alone to contact my mother.
I decided to video conference my mother and she answered immediately.
“Oh, Lena, thank goodness,” my mother said, her voice emotional. She looked exhausted with bags under her eyes.
The strain in her tone frightened me. She looked flustered and bleary-eyed with her hair tangled, all out of place.
My heart started to pound, and dread twisted itself through my body. I shifted, uncomfortable, from my place sitting at the edge of my bed. “What’s happened?”
“I’ve been trying to call you all afternoon,” she answered frantically. From the angle of her phone camera, I could see that she was seated next to a hospital bed, stress evident in her facial expression.
I had put my phone on silent during the tasting and while in the car. In the chaos of the attempted poisoning and its aftermath, I hadn’t thought to check my notifications. Not to mention, it had been impossible to check my phone while I’d been holding onto the wine.
My fear raged on. “Please tell me what’s happened.”
“It’s your father,” Mom answered. “He’s awake. He gained consciousness a few hours ago. I’ve been trying to call you all afternoon with the good news.”
Relief flooded me. I was suddenly a thousand pounds lighter as a great weight was lifted off my shoulder. I let out a long exhale. Papa was finally conscious. It was better than good news. It was the best news I’d heard in years, and my relief became a hopeful sort of joy.
“Does that mean he’s going to be okay?” I asked, clutching my phone tightly.
My mom nodded, smiling for the first time in days. “Yes. They’re keeping him here for observation for a few more days and then he’ll be discharged to begin recovery at home.”
“Oh, thank the maker.” I paused. “You look so tired, Mom. I think you’re going to need recovery time for yourself too. Please get some rest.”
“Well, I’ve been running around all afternoon trying to make sure your father gets the right food, so that might explain how tired I am,” my mother said. “But he hasn’t eaten solid food in days, so he will be getting dinner later this evening.”
“I’m so glad to hear that,” I said. Tears pricked the back of my eyes. Happy tears. Tears of gratitude that my father was going to heal. He was going to come home.
“I promise I’ll rest, darling.” My mother’s smile widened. “I’m so glad to finally be able to tell you. I was getting a little concerned when I couldn’t reach you earlier today.”
That was when I remembered why I had called. My heart, which had lifted with the news, was now sinking. How could I ruin my mother’s happiness with such awful news?
I heard my father’s voice then, thin and hoarse, but somehow still strong enough to be heard. “Bridget, aren’t you going to let me speak to our daughter?”
Mom repositioned her phone so that the camera captured both her and my father as she leaned in closer to him in his hospital bed. Papa looked a little pale from days being unconscious, but his eyes were alert and he granted me a smile that filled me with so much relief.
“Papa!” I returned his smile, wishing I was there to hug him. “I’m so glad to see you.”
“It’s wonderful to see you too, Lena,” my father said, his eyes lighting up. “Now I have my two best girls with me.”
That nearly brought on a round of tears, but I fought them, knowing that I still had a mission.
Somehow, I was going to have to find the courage to rip off the Band-Aid and just tell my parents the truth about what was going on.
Somehow, I had to tell them that I was leaving them behind to run off with Enzo, our enemy.
My father must have noticed the look on my face because his smile vanished. “Something wrong, Lena?”
“Yes, you look troubled,” my mother said.
There was no hiding much from my parents. They knew me like I knew them. “I have to tell you guys something.”
My parents exchanged worried glances.
“Go ahead,” my mother said to me, her tone a mix of encouragement and anxiety.
I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly going dry. “I’m leaving New York City. I don’t think I’ll be here to welcome Papa home.”
“What? Why would you leave at a time like this?” Mom asked.
“It’s not that I want to leave...” Taking a deep breath, I started to explain the terrifying events of the past few days. The multiple cars burning at Enzo’s family dealership. The bombing at the bank when Enzo and I were close by. The taunting text messages. That afternoon’s attempted poisoning.
When I was finished my father forcefully said, “Lena, you must leave New York.”
“Yes, now that I see what’s been happening, I agree with your father,” Mom said. “So even though I cannot believe I’m going to say this, I think Enzo is right to want you to leave.”