Chapter 35 These Are The Moments
These Are The Moments
Please respond to me. I can’t handle the silence. —Heartbroken, Izzy
Enzo
“Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you? Can you get it through your thick fucking skull? I swear to God, Kai, I’m not speaking gibberish. Listen. Use your fucking ears.”
I try to stifle a laugh, which only earns me Tess’s death glare. She jabs a finger in my direction. “And you! Don’t even get me started!”
I hold my hands up, palms out. “What did I do?”
She bursts into tears.
My eyes widen. What the fuck am I supposed to do?
I take a step closer, but she only cries harder.
Kai steps in, running a soothing hand down her back and murmuring softly. “You want some fish fingers and custard?” he offers.
I gag. “Why the hell would she want that?”
He shoots me a look. “Tess thought it’d be a good idea to watch an old Doctor Who episode. Ever since, she’s been craving this combo.”
I can’t even pretend to understand the sentence he just said, but I nod anyway, pasting on a smile as Tess calms.
Kai heads off to prepare her weird craving—plate or bowl, who even knows—while I inch closer again.
“So… pregnancy?”
She glares at me. “Seriously?”
I shrug, laughing. “I don’t know what else to say.”
Across the room, I catch Izzy’s eye. We’re at Carina’s birthday party—well, ‘party’ might be generous.
It’s more of a get-together: Nate, Tess, Kai, Izzy, me, and the birthday girl herself.
Izzy’s chatting with Carina, who looks far too pleased with herself.
God only knows what kind of bullshit she’s feeding my girl.
My girl.
I can’t wait to call Izzy my wife.
But first, Lucas Delaney needs to be six feet under. The second that bastard’s gone, I’m dragging her to the nearest courthouse.
Unless she wants a big, fancy wedding. Then she’ll have whatever she wants.
Tess’s eyes twinkle. “You love her.” It’s not a question.
“More than life itself,” I answer without hesitation.
“She loves you too?”
I nod, throat thick.
“Good.”
Kai reappears, presenting her with the abomination of a snack. Tess eats it with a smile, like it’s a fucking delicacy.
“Your dad’s been texting me daily. Always asking for updates,” Tess says between bites.
“He’s your dad too.”
She winces. “I know. It’s just…”
“I get it, Tess. You barely know him.”
She deflates, clearly relieved by my understanding.
“He’s stepping down,” I say.
Her brows knit. “Stepping down?”
These idiots I call family may be lethally dangerous—and willing to kill for each other—but they really have no idea how my world works.
I roll my eyes at her. “Mafia shit.”
She sucks in a sharp breath.
“He wants to be closer to you,” I add, nudging her with my shoulder.
She smiles. “I guess that could be nice. Maybe he can help babysit when he’s around.”
“Not sure he knows much about babies, but maybe.”
Papa wasn’t around for my childhood. Mamma raised me on her own until he showed up when I was fourteen and whisked me off to America. The idea of him changing diapers is laughable.
Tess just laughs. “I don’t know anything either.”
Izzy wanders over, looking so fucking sexy despite the woolen jumper dress and thick tights to fend off winter in England. She wraps her arms around my waist, smiling up at me.
“You look happy, Cuore mio.”
She sighs. “I am. But I’m nervous.”
I cup her cheek. “Why?”
“How did they find us? Was it Lucas that broke in? Someone else? What does he want other than my life?” Her words tumble over one another.
I shake my head at her. “Have some faith. You think I haven’t been working behind the scenes?”
“What do you know?”
My face crinkles into a frown. “It was Lucas that orchestrated both break-ins. But he wasn’t actually there for either of them.”
“As for how he knew where to find us?”
Now I smile. “I have a theory.”
“Are you going to tell me?”
“Not yet. Once we’re home.”
Her lips part. “We can go home?”
I fucking love that she calls our place home.
“Soon, baby.”
“Seriously? This is where you wanted to be on your birthday?” I side eye Carina, taking in the dark forest and barely lit cabin in front of us.
She nods, excited. “Fuck yes. This is exactly where I want to be.”
“What are we doing anyway?”
She doesn’t answer, just pushes the door open to the cabin and motions for us to enter before her. Tess stayed home as she was feeling sick, which meant Kai stayed with her, so it’s just the four of us.
Izzy steps in ahead of me. Then stops dead.
“Holy shit,” she breathes.
I step around her, freezing in place when I take in the scene.
Now, this makes sense. This is Nate’s cabin.
There’s a man strung up, dangling from the ceiling, his shirt already torn and dried blood cracking his skin.
Carina and Nate float into the room.
I raise a brow.
Nate smirks, looking incredibly smug. “Turns out, this guy was working with Dominic back in the day. Found him a couple days ago.”
Dominic was Carina’s father—we killed him two years ago after he kidnapped her. The man was a fucking predator, selling his thirteen-year-old daughter to the highest bidder.
Carina smiles, saccharine and sweet. “We’ve been having our fun with him. Now it’s time to end it.”
“Shouldn’t Kai be here to clean it up?”
Kai’s their cleanup guy—disposing of bodies, washing away the scene.
“He’s gonna swing by tomorrow. Tonight—” Nate grins, “tonight is for fun.”
We spend three hours torturing the bastard. Even Izzy joins in—not that I should be surprised. There’s a lightness to her eyes as she carves into his flesh that should be concerning but instead just serves as a reminder of why she’s perfect for me.
Carina slits the man's throat in her signature style as the rest of us watch what little life he had left fade from his eyes.
Blood splatters the walls, dripping onto the white floor below. All of us are coated in crimson liquid, clothes ruined.
We shower here quickly before heading back to the house. Exhaustion presses behind my eyes as I crawl into bed beside Izzy.
We have a lot to do. A lot of darkness yet to bury. But these moments of quiet, where we can be us without the facade of responsibilities? These are the moments that make the rest of it all worth it.
“Are you really okay with who I am now?” I ask Izzy in the quiet darkness.
She shifts, placing a hand on my chest. “Of course. Why would you ask that?”
I swallow hard. “I don’t know… tonight… my friends…” My voice trails off. “Most women would’ve run screaming.”
Izzy lets out a soft laugh. “I joined in. I’m not scared of you. Or your life.”
“Why not?”
She reaches over and taps the lamp, filling the room with a soft glow. “You know how I like a little pain?” She wiggles her eyebrows.
“Yeah, what’s that about?”
She rolls her eyes. “That wasn’t my point. I like it because it makes me feel alive.” I nod, already understanding. She goes on, “And it’s the same feeling I get when I’m hurting someone else.”
“Is torture a regular hobby for you?” I tease.
Izzy shakes her head, lips curving. “No. But now that I’ve done it… I like the way it makes me feel. The justice of it.”
“How much pain do you want, Cuore mio?” I murmur, rolling us so she’s beneath me.
Her hips lift, brushing mine. “A lot.”
“What else are you into?”
She bites her lip. “The rougher, the better.”
Hm.
Interesting.
She yelps as my fingers brush her nipple, pinching it. Hard.
"I can work with that."