Nicco made a derisive noise in the back of his throat.
“He’s in a bad place, Nor.” Ari took my hand. “It’s better you don’t—”
“He really didn’t leave?” It wasn’t supposed to matter. Part of me knew it didn’t. But the other part clung onto Alessia’s words, letting them grow into something else entirely.
He stayed.
He stayed… for me?
But he was still punishing himself.
“I need to see him.” The words spilled from my lips without thought.
“Nor, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“You’re probably right, but I need to see him, babe.” There was still so much left unsaid between us. Things I should have told him. Things I should have made him hear.
“Arianne is right, now is probably not—”
“Will you help me?” I asked Matteo.
“Oh, come on, Nora, don’t put me in this position.”
“Weren’t you the one who said not to give up?”
“Fuck,” he muttered. “I really need to learn not to open my big mouth.”
“Will you help me or not?”
He ran a hand down his face and blew out a steady breath. “I will. But I warn you now.” His expression dropped, making my chest constrict. “You might not like what you find.”
Chapter 31
Enzo
“I’ll have another one.” I slammed my glass down on the bar, and the bartender, a guy named Billy, shook his head.
“I should cut you off.”
“But we both know you won’t.” My brow arched and he shrugged.
“Suit yourself man, but you’re going to feel like an ass when I have to call Matteo or Nicco to drag your drunk ass out of here.”
Here was L’Anello’s. It was Saturday and the bar was crammed full of people looking for a good time. But I wasn’t here for anything other than to find solace at the bottom of a glass.
It had been days since I’d seen her.
I couldn’t even think about Nora without a huge pit carving through my stomach.
I should have left. I should have gotten in my car and driven far, far away from Verona County. But when it came down to it, I couldn’t do it.
I needed to be here, just in case she needed me. Just in case—
Fuck!
My fist curled against the sleek chrome counter. Nora didn’t need me. She probably hated me. I didn’t blame her. I was a fucking mess.
After the shitshow with Vinnie, I’d spent a couple of nights avoiding her in the day only to sneak into her bed at night to hold her. I think I’d always known she wasn’t really sleeping, but I hadn’t wanted to talk, and she seemed content in lying there in silence.
I knew it couldn’t last though. She would eventually want answers, answers I didn’t have. So I’d taken the coward’s way out.
And now I felt like a boat adrift without an anchor. Because that’s what Nora was to me, my anchor. She was my North fucking Star in dark, dismal skies, and I’d walked away.
Again.
I could imagine my old man and my brother looking down on me, reveling in my misery. I’d killed them both, exterminated them like the vermin they were, but somehow, I was the one still here suffering.
I just needed it to stop. I needed them to get the fuck out of my head.
“Hey, Enzo.” A brunette stepped into my line of sight, laying her hand on my thigh. “You’re looking good.”
For a second, I had to blink through the liquor haze clouding my thoughts. It wasn’t Nora, I knew that. But if I squinted a little and didn’t focus too hard, she bore some resemblance.
“You look lonely, you should buy me a drink and I’ll keep you company.” She batted her eyelashes, smirking suggestively.
“Not tonight.” I removed her hand from my thigh. “Take a walk.”
She pouted, twirling a finger around a lock of hair. It was longer than Nora’s, and a lighter shade of brown.
Upon closer inspection she wasn’t anything like my Gattina.
Her pet name on my tongue slayed me. I hadn’t even spoken the word, but it was right there. Taunting me. Reminding me of everything I wanted and could never have.
“Another.” I flagged Billy down, ignoring the girl. Eventually, she took off, moving onto the next available guy.
“Not your type?” he asked.
“Nah.”
“More of a blonde and fake tits kinda guy?”
“Something like that.”
Or at least, I used to be. Until Nora had swept in and blown everything I thought I knew to shreds.
“I need to piss.” I drained my fresh drink in one and wiped my mouth with the back of my