Page 89 of The Masked King

I had a bad feeling in my gut that day, like I’d eaten some dodgy seafood, but I ignored it because… I felt I owed this favor to the person with the grudge against the Bratva.

If I’d known then that it would turn my life upside down and have me back at the scene of the crime a year later, I’d have walked away, gone home to Demi and made pasta, opened a bottle of wine, listened to Frank Sinatra.

I didn’t even tell Gio because I thought I could handle it.

It’s fair to say that I’ve learned a few lessons over the past twelve months.

Lesson number one: some fuckers are born twisted and belong in a cage. Or on a distant planet at the edge of the universe with a tank of oxygen and a single weapon for survival amongst all the other sick fuckers enjoying the same fate.

Lesson number two: when you find love, you don’t need to throw money and fancy things at it. All you need to do is listen.

Lesson number three: even superheroes can’t save everyone.

Deep down, I already knew the real Nyx. Was it luck that I chose her door the first time I entered JADED, or would it have made no difference? They could’ve placed Demi in whichever room I chose, dressed her up differently, given her a brand-new persona, and the connection would’ve been the same.

Because love is love, and once you discover it, your heart beats solely for the person who holds it in the palm of their hand, whether they want it or not.

Gio hasn’t called, and that’s more disturbing than seeing Malevsky with his arm around my woman. The pakhan has it coming to him. But silence is out of character for Gio; when I asked Megan to call him and get them out of the city, I was expecting a warning at the very least.

“Don’t let your emotions mess with your head.” I can hear his voice now.

The Fish shot Megan and left her for dead with a bunch of explosives for company. He kidnapped Amber and hid her in the bunker beneath our mountain lodge in Stowe, Vermont. He slaughtered our entire security team and almost killed Megan’s best friend Nikki. But somehow, my brother kept his cool until the very end.

We might carry the same genes, we might fall hard and fast when we meet the right woman, but that’s where our similarities end. There’s nothing calm and collected about me when it comes to Demi.

My cell rings, and my heart skips when I think it might be her again.

It’s Megan. “Enzo, have you spoken to Gio?” The panic in her voice is coming through loud and clear, and it’s contagious.

“I thought he was with you.” At least, that’s what I’d hoped. If he isn’t…

“I can’t get hold of him. I don’t know what to do. Should I take the twins and go get Amber on my way to the airport?”

Fuck, fuck, fuck! I need to chill the hell down; Megan and Demi need me to take care of them, and I can’t do that while I’m mentally turning Dmitri Malevsky’s body into a pincushion.

The Bratva got into my apartment like it was a kid’s maze to solve: follow the lines and reach the penthouse. They haven’t touched Gio’s family, yet, but they’ll be watching the building, and I can’t risk them holding Megan and the children hostage in a different part of town while I’m on a mission to save my woman.

“No, stay put with Bianca. I’ll send Luis for Amber and I’ll find Gio.”

The pause stretches a beat too far. “Bianca isn’t here,” Megan says in a small voice.

The fear in my gut is stirring like someone just prodded it with a stick. “Where did she go?”

“I don’t know. I went to check on the twins and when I came back, she was gone.”

“Okay, stay right there. Gio keeps a gun in the safe in the bedroom. I want you to get it and use it if you must but promise me you won’t leave the apartment.”

“Enzo, I don’t think I can…”

“You can do it for the twins and for Amber.” Motivational talks are not my forte, but I sense Megan needs more. “Aim for the chest; it’s the widest target, and you have more chance of keeping them down. It’s you or them, Meggie, you know how it works.”

“I-I’ll try.”

“Good girl. Remember what I said: don’t leave the apartment.”

“I won’t.”

I end the call and try Gio’s number; it goes straight to voicemail.