by L A Cotton
I screwed my eyes shut, trying to push down the tidal wave of emotion battering my insides.
“Time’s up, brother,” he sneered. “Say goodbye to your heart.”
Chapter 29
Enzo
He was going to kill her.
This motherfucker was going to kill the only girl I’d ever loved.
And I did.
I loved Nora.
Maybe not in a conventional way, but she owned my heart… and I think deep down she’d taken mine the first time I’d ever laid eyes on her.
Nora wasn’t like most girls. She was strong and selfless and sassy, unapologetic and feisty. She went after what she wanted with zero fucks given.
And she’d wanted me.
Nora Abato had seen past all my darkness and found the sliver of light buried deep inside my soul.
A mistake she was going to die for.
Fuck.
Vinnie yanked her over to a table and folded her over it, dropping his free hand to his belt buckle. My blood turned to molten lava as I watched him claw at her lounge pants, pulling them down enough to reveal her ass.
“Don’t,” my voice didn’t sound like my own as I stepped forward.
“Make a move and I’ll end her.” He still had the blade pressed right to her throat. Her big brown eyes silently pleaded with me, but I was paralyzed, watching as he grasped his dick and slowly fed it into her.
Nora’s cries filled the room, cracking my chest wide open.
“NO!” I yelled. “Please…”
“God, she’s tight,” Vinnie grinned at me as he thrust into her over and over. “I can see why you fell hard for this pussy. Fuck me, she’s squeezing my dick so tight.”
His fingers gripped her hips tightly, making pain flare in her eyes, but my strong, brave girl didn’t flinch. She took it all while I stood there powerless to do anything else but watch.
Fuck.
FUCK!
A violent storm raged inside of me. I wanted to tear this fucker limb from limb, to rip his heart from his chest and watch the life drain from his eyes. But I was powerless. If I tried to shoot him—and I had a fucking perfect aim—he could still hurt Nora, or worse.
I couldn’t take that risk. I had to wait until he was distracted.
His grunts of exertion filled the room as he pounded into her. Bile rushed up my throat, but I forced it down. It was my fault Nora was in this position. The least I could do was be there with her in this living nightmare.
Her eyes remained locked on mine, tears dripping down her face.
“Now,” the word formed on her lips and at first, I didn’t understand, but then realization slammed into me.
In his vigor to hurt her, to ruin her, Vinnie had let his hand at her throat relax, enough for the knife to drop away from her throat a little.
It was risky, but it was now or never.
“Do it,” she mouthed. “Do it.”
“Fuck yeah, take it, bitch. Take it like a good little whore.”
I slowly reached into my jacket and grasped the butt of my pistol. My heart crashed against my rib cage, blood roaring in my ears, as I whipped it out. “Hey, brother?” I called and Vinnie looked up, fear stunning him. The shot rang out through the room, reverberating through me. “Tell our father to go fuck himself.”
Vinnie collapsed in a heap and Nora scrambled away, tripping over his body. I rushed to her side and pulled her into my arms. “I’ve got you, Gattina. I’ve got you.”
“Oh my God.” She clawed at my sweater. “Is he—”
“He’s dead.” It was a kill shot and I hadn’t missed. “It’s over…” The words felt like ash on my tongue. Because Nora should never have been in the middle of this in the first place.
“Enzo?” Voices rang out in the building and Nora flinched, pressing herself closer.
“Relax, Gattina, it’s just Nicco and Matteo.”
“It is?” Her body melted against mine, the adrenaline leaving her and shock kicking in. I gently pulled her to her feet and straightened out her clothes. Nora was like a rag doll in my arms as I picked her up, cradling her against my chest.
“In here,” I yelled back.
They burst through the door seconds later, a string of expletives leaving their lips as they took in the sight before me.
“Is she—”
I shook my head. Nora was barely conscious. “I need you to take her,” I said to Matteo. “Take her to Arianne and call the doctor.”
“How bad?” He gently eased Nora into his arms.
“Bad.” My eyes shuttered as anger drenched my veins.
“Fuck. Yeah, okay. Backup is on its way.”
I gave my cousin a sharp nod, and he turned to leave, but Nora murmured my name. “Ssh, Gattina.” I gently stroked her face. “You’re safe now. I promise.”
“S-stay with me.”
“I’ve got to take care of some things here, but I’ll be there soon. Matteo and Arianne will be with you. Luis too.”
“M-Maurice?”
Nicco shook his head and I swallowed the truth. “He’s okay.” The lie soured on my tongue, but she’d had enough to deal with for one day.
“Go,” I said to Matteo, watching as he carried her out and away from me. From this absolute clusterfuck.
“What the fuck happened?” Nicco asked.
“He raped her… he fucking—” I grabbed the nearest chair and launched it across the room, kicking the one next to it. Pain skittered through my foot, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted to destroy everything in eyesight.
“E, breathe. You need to bre—”
“He was my brother.”
“W-what?”
I nodded. “Vincenzo Marchetti’s long lost bastard child. By the sounds of it, he and daddy dearest were pretty tight.”
“But how—
“Your guess is as good as mine. He knew everything, Nicco. He knew about Nora, about me… what I did. It was all about revenge.”
“Fuck.” Nicco stalked over to Vinnie’s dead body and kicked his leg. “He tell you anything else?”
“Doesn’t matter. He’s gone now and I hope he rots in hell with our father.”
“There’s no sign of Bianco.”
Just then, a knocking sound filtered down the hall.
“What is that?” I said, drawing my pistol again as we moved through the abandoned building on the outskirts of La Riva. All this time, Vinnie was holed up right on our doorstep.
After Lucii had given us Nate’s number. He’d pointed us in the direction of Isaac’s apartment. We’d found a copy of a rental agreement for an industrial unit alongside the river. It was almost too easy. Now I was beginning to wonder if it wasn’t just another clue, all part of his game.
It didn’t matter now, he was gone. And Nora and I were still here.
Fuck. Nora.
“Hey.” Nicco gripped my shoulder and then moved ahead of me.
“H-help,” a voice said, and we followed the moans into a small room at the back of the building.
“Stay alert,” he ordered, and I raised my pistol into the air, taking aim should any more surprises jump out on us.
But when Nicco pushed the door open, I dropped my weapon, my mouth hanging wide open.
Because there in the corner of the room, half-conscious and bound was Luca.
It turned out Luca wasn’t an accomplice. Isaac had blackmailed him with threats of going after his ex in Pawtucket. Much like me and my family, he knew things about her. Her address, her place of work. It was enough to spook Luca into doing his bidding, and for as much as I wanted to put a bullet through his brains for ever putting Nora in danger, part of me got it. Because there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do for the girl I loved either.
Fuck, it felt weird admitting that.
But it was the least of my problems as I pulled up outside Nicco and Arianne’s building.
Thanks to mine and Nicco’s handiwork, the emergency services were attending to an anonymously reported blaz
e on the outskirts of La Riva. Soon, there wouldn’t be anything left of Vinnie to find. We’d need to figure out a story to tell Lucii and Nate, but that could wait until morning.
Right now, there was only one place I needed to be.
Arianne greeted me at the door.
“Enzo, thank God.” She pulled me into her arms and hugged me tight. “I’ve been so worried.” Ari released me with an awkward smile.
“Thanks,” I clipped out. “How is she?”
Her expression fell. “She’s sleeping right now. Doc checked her over, took some blood, and gave her some pain pills.”
I sucked in a harsh breath. “Can I—”
“Of course. She was asking for you the whole time.”
My chest squeezed.
Nicco had gone to the hospital with Luca. We needed to get his story straight and he knew I wasn’t levelheaded enough to do it.
“Can I get you anything?” Ari asked me as I followed her into the apartment.
“No, I’m good.”
I wasn’t.
I felt like I’d woken from a nightmare, unsure of what was real and what wasn’t.
“I’ll give the two of you some space, but if you need anything…”
I nodded. It was all I could manage. As I walked the short distance to their guest bedroom, my heart was in my throat. I’d watched that fucker rape her. Heard his moans of pleasure, witnessed her tears as he broke her.
How the fuck was I supposed to go in there and hold her?
I didn’t know how to do this, to be the hero who comes to save the day.
“She’d want you to go to her,” Ari said, and I glanced back to find her watching me.
“This is all my fault.”
“You know she won’t blame you. Isaac… I mean Vinnie,” sympathy shone in her eyes, “made his choices. It’s the only thing we can control, Enzo. How we choose to respond to something. That’s what counts. So you can walk away and prove to her and everyone else that you don’t deserve her, or you can be the guy we know you can be, and go in there and just be with her.”
“You’re different, you know.”
“Love changes you,” she said with conviction. “I know you think it makes you weak, but it doesn’t. Love makes you strong, Enzo. It gives you something worth fighting for.”
“I’m glad Nicco has you.”
“And I’m glad Nora has you,” she said. “I’m trusting you with her heart, don’t let me down.”
Too stunned for words, I slipped into the bedroom. Nora was curled up on her side, in a fitful sleep. She whimpered and I wanted to go back to that building and kill my brother all over again.
Fuck.
My brother.
It was going to take some time to wrap my head around that. But until Tommy dug around to unearth my father’s secrets, I knew answers would have to wait.
“N-no,” Nora cried, and I rushed to her side.
“Ssh, Gattina. I’m here. I’m right here.”
“E-Enzo?” Her eyes flickered open. “You’re here.”
“I’m here.”
That settled her and she slipped under again. I quickly removed all my weapons and stripped down to my boxer briefs and climbed in beside her. Even in her sleep, Nora gravitated to me, nestling her body in the curve of mine. Slipping an arm around her, I closed my eyes and focused on the sound of her breathing.
And before long, fell into a dreamless sleep.
When I woke up, it was to dark brown eyes staring at me.
“Hey.” She smiled weakly. The usual fire in her eyes had dimmed and her skin was pale. And fuck, if it wasn’t a stark reminder of what had happened.
“Hey,” I replied over the lump in my throat. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I was kidnapped by a psycho… again.”
Heavy silence filled the space between us.
“I am so fucking sorry, Gattina. I keep thinking that if I’d have just—”
“Don’t.” Nora pressed her finger to my lips. “Nothing you say or do will ever make me think any of this was your fault, so I’m asking you… no, I’m telling you, don’t.” She pinned me with a hard look. “Maurice, is he—”
I couldn’t lie to her, not now. Earlier in the building had been different. But Nora was safe now.
She was here, and she was safe.
But it’s too late. He already ruined her.
“He didn’t make it.”
“God, no…” Her pained sobs were like a knife to the heart.
“I’m so sorry, I’m so fucking sorry.” My hand curved around the back of Nora’s neck, anchoring her to me while she broke apart.
“I can’t believe he’s gone,” she murmured through the deluge of tears.
Panic had me in a chokehold. I didn’t know how to do this, to be who she needed. Not when I was the source of her pain and anguish.
Nora cried and cried. She cried until there were no tears left to cry and her breathing slowed. When I was certain she was asleep, I slipped out of the bed and pulled on my clothes.
It was early, a little after six, but I found Nicco sitting at the breakfast counter, nursing a coffee.
“Couldn’t sleep?” I asked, joining him.
“Figured someone should keep an eye on you.”
“I told her about Maurice. I had to.”
“I know.”
“How do you do it, Nic? How do you live with yourself knowing that you’ve pulled her into our world?”
“You just do. Love isn’t fair. It doesn’t play by the rules, E. It’s emotional warfare and Arianne conquered me. She fucking slayed me until I knew I would never be able to let her go.” He took a long sip of coffee. “So now I spend my days not worrying about what our love will cost, but how to protect it.”
“You’re a better man than me,” I murmured. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget watching him—” A lump got stuck in my throat.
“You need to focus on Nora. She’s going to need you over the coming days.” He levelled me with a dark look. “She needs you, Enzo.”
I heard his words, felt them attack my heart like bullets.
Nora needed me.
But it was me who had gotten her into this mess.
Me who had put her in the firing line.
Vinnie wanted to make me pay for killing our father. He wanted to take something from me, the way I’d taken it from him.
I leaped up. “I need to get some air.”
Nicco let out a heavy sigh. “I’m begging you, don’t do this.”
“I’ll be back,” I said, but I could tell from his grim expression he didn’t believe me.
As I grabbed my keys and walked out of his apartment, I wasn’t sure I believed me either.
Chapter 30
Nora
“Nora,” Arianne peeked her face around the door. “I brought you something to eat.”
“I’m not hungry,” I said.
“Oh, Nor. You’ve got to eat.” She left the plate on the dresser and came over to me.
“I had some crackers this morning.”
“It isn’t enough.”
“I just can’t, babe.” I felt too sick. It wasn’t a physical side effect like a stomach flu, it was something much worse.
It was a symptom of my broken heart.
It was two days since I’d woken up in Nicco and Arianne’s guest room, cold and alone.
Enzo had left.
He’d left me.
And although he climbed into bed with me every night after he thought I’d fallen to sleep, I knew he was trying to find the words I didn’t know he’d ever manage to say.
We were done.
Tears pooled into the corners of my eyes as I croaked, “How is he?”
“He’s… okay.”
“You’re a terrible liar.” A weak smile played on my lips.
“He comes back every night. He just needs time.”
Yeah, and I needed him.
I needed him so damn much.
Something inside felt broken, inexplicably altered. Arianne had tried to get me to talk about it, but I wasn’t ready.
So I spent my days in bed, watching mindless TV, waiting for Enzo to slide in behind me and draw me into his arms. Because despite the fact he was slowly shredding my heart apart, being close to him was the only time that peace found me.
I could still vividly remember Vinnie rutting into me, his fingers digging into my hips and his dirty words lashing my insides.
“I hate this,” I cried. “I fucking hate this.”
I wasn’t weak.
I was Nora goddamn Abato. I didn’t want to let some psychopath like Vinnie break my spirit. But I got it now. I understood what it was like to have your dignity torn to shreds, to have your body used, and your soul stained.
Because that’s what it was, a stain on my soul I wasn’t sure I would ever forget.
“Nora, you know I—”
“Don’t. Please, babe, just don’t.” I wasn’t there yet. I wasn’t ready to hear her words of encouragement and reassurance, even though she knew what I was going through.
“Okay. But I just want you to know, whenever you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here.” She gently squeezed my hand.
“Thanks. I’d feel better if he was here, and not out there doing whatever he’s doing,” I confessed.
“Nora, you know how he gets. Enzo had a full plate with the stuff with his father but throw in this revelation about Vinnie and you getting hurt…” She let out a small sigh. “It’s going to take time.”
“I just wish he’d talk to me.”
I’d been so sure he would walk away the second he found me, but he hadn’t. Sure, he wasn’t around during daylight, but he came back to me every night. I knew the fact he came in darkness and left before sunlight wasn’t exactly conventional, but nothing about us ever had been.
I pulled the cushion closer, taking comfort in its soft fluffy casing. Arianne leaned over and brushed the stray hairs from my face. “I hate to see you like this. Why don’t you come and watch some TV in the living room? It’s just the two of us. Nicco is… out.”
Code word for Nicco was trying to talk Enzo off a ledge somewhere.