to Gino now, okay?” Uncle Toni added. “As soon as he gets back from Providence, you’re with him.”
I nodded at Uncle Toni, feeling a lick of anticipation zip up my spine.
Gino Lupo and his crew were what the Family called enforcers, and I was all too willing to get my hands dirty.
“Good, it’s done. You listen to G, follow his guidance, and you come back to us when you’ve worked through this shit, okay?”
“You got it, Boss.”
“You’ll be at Bella’s birthday party though, right?” Matteo asked. “She’ll kick your ass if you don’t show.”
“Like she could take me.” Matteo’s sister Arabella was a petite little thing with big blue eyes and a meek personality. “I’ll be there.” She was family. This wasn’t about turning my back on them; it was about dealing with some of the crap running through my head.
The deceit.
The lies.
The betrayal.
Vincenzo Marchetti had been many things: cold, cruel, angry. But he’d always been nothing if not loyal. He’d lived, breathed, and bled for the Family, for Dominion.
Or at least, I’d thought he had.
Fuck.
It was like my head couldn’t reconcile what my black dead heart already knew.
The restless energy inside me ignited into a firestorm. I needed a smoke. Some pot or a strong fucking drink. I felt like an addict tweaking for their next hit. I needed something—anything—to take the edge off.
“Breathe, son,” Uncle Michele said in a hushed voice.
Nicco and his father were arguing about me. Nicco didn’t want to let go; he didn’t want me to get involved with the likes of Gino and his guys.
“Nic,” I barked, my throat dry. “It’s okay.”
His head snapped up and his narrowed eyes found mine. “I don’t like it, E. I don’t like it one fucking bit.”
“I know.”
But it didn’t matter because I needed this.
I needed it whether he liked it or not.
The next day I was waiting outside the Verona County Transitions Initiative, a local community center in Romany Square. Nicco had asked me to swing by and pick-up Arianne after she got finished volunteering. I’d wanted to tell him no, I wasn’t a fucking babysitting service. But he was my best friend, and after Uncle Toni had dropped the bombshell that I was going to run with Gino and his guys, I figured it was the least I could do.
But when Nora appeared in the doorway, I knew I’d made a huge fucking mistake.
“Enzo?” Her eyes grew to saucers.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
Hurt flashed in her eyes, but I really hadn’t been expecting to find her here too.
“I decided to come help out,” she said, pulling her chunky knit cardi closer together. “What are you doing here?”
“Nicco asked me to give Ari a ride home.”
“Oh.”
The air grew thick around us, energy crackling between us.
“That’s nice of you.”
I snorted. “Yeah, real nice.”
“I know things are… strained between us,” she lifted her chin a little, “but you don’t have to be such an asshole about it.” Her hand went to her mouth. “I’m sorry,” sympathy glittered in her eyes, “that was uncalled for. I know you’ve been through a lot.”
She might as well have slapped me upside the head.
Before I knew it, I’d closed the space between us. Nora jerked back, pressing herself against the wall. “Enzo, what are—”
“Hey, oh,” Arianne appeared, and I immediately stepped back.
“Nicco couldn’t make it and I didn’t know…” My eyes flicked to Nora and her breath caught.
“Can you give Nora a ride too?”
“Doesn’t look like I have a choice, does it?” I grumbled, taking off toward my car.
“I can call Luis,” I heard Ari whisper. “We don’t have to—”
“It’s fine,” Nora said.
Because that was Nora. Stubborn to a fault. Well, she was barking up the wrong fucking tree if she thought there was anything left to salvage between us. Because that shit was done.
The girls climbed into my car, Nora taking the back seat, thank fuck. I quickly realized though it wasn’t anything but sweet torture, because every time I looked up, her face was right there. Taunting me. Reminding me of everything I could never have.
Things I didn’t even want.
The air had been thick between us outside the VCTI, but it was toxic now.
No one spoke the short distance to Arianne and Nicco’s apartment building. It was awkward as fuck, and I was counting the hours until I could get the fuck out of Verona.
When we finally rolled up outside of the building, Arianne turned to me and said, “Thank you. I’ll see you at Arabella’s party on the