“Was? So you know she’s dead?” I ask with a sinking feeling in my stomach.
“Yes, I killed her.”
“And I’m going to kill you,” I tell him keeping my tone calm. His laughter vibrates through me as he drags the woman around in front of him. One of his men keeps a knife to her throat as tears fall down her cheeks. Switch shifts from one foot to the other as I look around at the men he brought. I don’t recognize any of them but then again, why would I?
“We have come to strike a deal with the Ricci’s. One of which Lorenzo has already agreed to.” My eyes widen and my breath catches in my throat. He wouldn’t do that. He knows what this asshole did to me.
“What?”
“Don’t look so shocked, daughter. You don’t understand the rules of this life.” My head whips around to look up at Enzo. His face is unreadable. He’s standing there so stoically that I can’t tell if this is his plan or not.
“You wouldn’t dare,” I hiss.
“We do what we must in this world, Tessa. You will learn that quickly. Family always comes first, aside from present company,” he sneers looking at Rozano.
“You’re letting him walk free after what he did to me? To Gaia?” I yell in his face.
“You wouldn’t understand, Tessa. Now please, calm down,” Enzo says looking at me with dark eyes. I will kill him too. If that man walks out of here I will kill all of them.
“That’s better. Now, open the gates and your cousin here is free,” Rozano says. Enzo pulls out his phone and passes it to me.
“Open the gates, Tessa,” he says harshly. With the phone in my hand, my heart hammers in my chest.
“No.”
“I said, open the gates, Tessa!” He roars this time. My hands tremble as I pull up the security. I’ll chase him. I will shoot when he turns his back on me. No one else knows I have this gun. Only Gaia. Taking a deep breath through my nose, I punch in the code and listen as the gates slowly begin to creak. Rozano shoves Enzo’s cousin forward, Switch stepping up to grab her. He drags her back and shoves her behind him which is the tell-tale sign that this isn’t over. I count to five in my head before pressing the lock button on the screen. The gates come to a halt and switch direction, closing once again. Rozano turns and looks at me as I smirk.
“You thought you were getting off that easily?” I ask cocking my head to the side.
“Lorenzo, we had a deal. You need to control that girl before I have her shot and killed this time!”
“I also had a deal with Tessa.”
“Which is?” Rozano growls.
“No one leaves alive,” I say pulling the gun from the back of my jeans and firing before he can even blink.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Enzo
The front yard looked like a bloodbath. It looked like a scene out of a horror movie. Thankfully I have ways of covering it all up. No one will miss Rozano or his men. No one will come looking for him. Turning my head, I glance over at Tessa where she still seethes in the corner. She’s been there for days. Her eyes rest on the now cleared front yard and it makes me wonder what’s running through her head. She hasn’t spoken to anyone, not even Tino. Gaia has tried and it pisses me off that she’s ignoring me as well. I’m not sure what to do with her.
“She will come around,” Tino says sitting next to me on the couch.
“Will she? It’s been days. I’m afraid that all the work that she and the shrink have been doing is coming undone inside of her,” I admit.
“I don’t know what to say, Enzo. She isn’t talking to anyone.” Nodding my head, I already know this. She’s lost, or so it seems. I see Switch walk into the room looking pissed off. I’m not sure what the problem. He reaches down and grabs Tessa’s face in his hands and Tino starts to stand. I wave my hand, gesturing for him to sit back down. He sits back next to me as we watch the interaction between the two. We can’t hear what he’s saying since he’s keeping his voice low but the look in her eyes shifts and changes. She stares at him, her mouth falling open. Switch shakes his head and squeezes her face harder. I wish I knew what was being said but I can see something change in her. She nods and shakes her head, her little lips curving into a smile. Switch pulls back but doesn’t stop talking as Tessa climbs to her feet. She says something to him, resting her hand on his chest as a growl lodges in my throat.
“She isn’t doing it to piss you off,” Tino adds with a chuckle.
“It pisses me off anyway.” The two talk for a few more minutes before they both turn and look toward me.
“Think they are planning your death?” Tino laughs.
“It’s possible,” I grumble under my breath. Switch shakes his head when Tessa says something else but the smile that crosses her face as she looks at me melts my insides. She’s so goddamn perfect in ways I never saw coming. She’s the opposite of everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman but she’s perfect for me. It’s a strange concoction, the two of us but we mold together. We see things in a different light when we’re together.
“Shit, she looks happy,” Tino adds.
“Is that a bad thing?” I never pull my eyes from hers as Switch keeps talking. She never looks away from me either.
“No. It’s the best thing I’ve seen in a long time.” Having seen enough of Switch and her talking, I shove off the couch and stand. Adjusting my jacket, I’m about to walk away and let them have their time but as soon as I turn my back, I hear her.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Looking over my shoulder, she eyes me. I turn fully to face her and watch the look on her face.
“I was going to give you some time with Switch,” I tell her. Tino snorts a laugh before he stands and walks toward her. Pressing a quick kiss to the side of her, he walks away.
“What makes you think that I want time with him?”
“You haven’t spoken to anyone in days until now.”
“He didn’t give me much of a choice.”
“So I should have forced you?” I ask. She shakes her head.
“I needed that time. I needed to let her go, Enzo. I can’t keep living in a made up life. I can’t keep pushing my own fears and hurt onto someone, something that isn’t real.” God, I love this woman. I step toward her, ready to grab her but I stop myself.
“I can help you.”
“I know you can. And you do. And you will but I need to say something.” I nod my head and wait for her to finish. “Our love…it’s the deadly kind of love, Enzo. The more I’ve thought about things, the more I know that I will kill for you.” I swallow hard at her admission. I take the last few steps between us and wrap my hand around the back of her neck, pulling her toward me.
“You would kill for me?” She nods her head and I can see it in her eyes. She isn’t lying.
“In a second.”
“I’ve never in my life had a woman that was willing to kill for me, Tessa. It isn’t your place,” I tell her watching the shift in her eyes but I’m not done. “With that being said, you are right. Our love is dangerous, deadly. Because if it comes down to it and you try to betray me with another, I will have no problem putting a bullet in your head.” Her eyes flicker with that fire I love about her. Fuck, she is just too perfect.