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Paolo is no different than Lucio. He didn’t care for her for twenty years and when it’s about his legacy, he converted back to his old selfish ways and dragged her to a war she didn’t need in her life.
She was supposed to stay hidden until her last fucking days.
A shadow spills from the still-open door. I grab my knife and get to my feet, hiding in the dark. I kill the cigarette on the ground, ruining the wood.
If Stephan and Marco returned, I’m going to fucking murder one of them. Let it be a war announcement on Lucio.
“You’re slow,” a slightly Italian accented voice muses as he strides inside. I pounce on him the second his foot steps in.
He pushes me against the wall with a gun to my chest.
Fuck.
I continue pointing the knife at his throat, anyway. If he shoots, I still have the fraction of second to cut him.
He steps back, letting the gun dangle from his forefinger as he puts both hands up. “I’m not here to kill you.”
“Enzo.” I step back, hitting the light switch.
“Jasper,” he echoes.
I eye the businessman closely. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Enzo Morelli is one of the Costas biggest partners, they handle their shipments from Sicily and back. They’re the business arm of the Costa empire and since most of it is legit, I have absolutely no contact whatsoever with that side.
I’ve met Enzo countless times at banquets Lucio had me attend, but we kept contact to a minimum. Besides, Enzo is an office man, and I never once saw him carry a gun. He always jokes that they aren’t for him. What’s the fuck with his sharp reflexes just now?
“Is that a way to greet an old friend?” he asks.
“We’re not old friends.”
“We share Costa love, yes?”
He readjusts his tie. Enzo is always in sharp elegant suits that complement his whole Italian upbringing. His dark hair is styled back and his shoes are Italian, Sicilian, locally made as he likes to brag.
His eyes are weird, they have heterochromia so you never know if they will change to green or gray.
“We share nothing, Enzo.” I point at the door. “Get the fuck out of my place.”
“I would argue that.”
I twirl the knife in my hand, “If you have a point, reach it because I have no time for you.”
“You have time to be beaten up by Lucio, Yes?”
“Your point, Enzo.”
He steps closer and I tighten my hold around the knife without pointing it at him.
Enzo stops a few steps away from me, the hand with the gun lying by his side and the other in his pocket. “You’re not a dog, Jasper. Stop living like one.”
“What?”
“Lucio Costa didn’t save you, just like he didn’t save me.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
He retrieves his hand from his pocket and passes me a business card. “Join me if you want to find out.”
“Pass.”
He places the card in my jacket pocket. “I believe you know what I mean deep down, Jasper… or wait, that’s not exactly your name.”
My grip on the knife doesn’t loosen as he brushes by me, stepping on the thug’s blood without a care in the world.
“I’ll be waiting for your call.”
Well, he’ll be waiting for a long time.
Enzo is the last thing I need right now.
Only one person matters and it’s the slender girl across the street who begged me not to leave her alone.
Maybe, just maybe, her wish will come true.
Once and for all.30JasperI lean against the counter, my back to it and my arms crossed over my chest.
My little Petal stands at the threshold, clutching her empty cup of coffee. The fact that she’s coming for a refill means she didn’t sleep all night.
And she doesn’t intend to.
“What are you doing here?” She hides her surprise and tries to brush past me toward her coffee machine.
I clutch her by the arm, causing her to stop in front of me. My little Petal, Georgina, or Joseph, or whatever the fuck her name is, stares up at me with tears welling in her eyes.
It’s like she’s been holding on for a long time and it’s now catching up on her.
“What do you want from me, Jasper? Just what the fuck do you want? You said the fun is over, so what the hell are you doing here again? Why did you send your boss to tell me how much of a monster you are? Do you think that will magically make me hate you?”
She’s panting after her outburst, cheeks flaming and pulse rising in the blue veins beneath her translucent skin.
I remove the mug from her shaking hand and place it on the counter beside me. If she breaks that, she’ll never forgive herself – or me.
“Forget about Lucio,” I say.
She sniffles. “Aren’t you the one who sent him?”
