Page 11 of The Bond

“We have to keep them in the dark about the fire,” I reminded him. “If we want to catch whoever’s responsible, we can’t tell everyone the details of the past couple of weeks. That would a restart of the war between our families.”

“And we can’t afford that,” Enzo said, agreeing. “I get it. I’ll stick to working out security details for the wedding when I talk to my people.”

“So, looks like you’ve got a plan for today.” I paused to glance down at the rose gold-colored watch on my wrist. What Enzo didn’t know was that I’d had a whole day planned after my scheduled hospital visit. His unexpected arrival at the townhouse had thrown my day off. Which ordinarily wouldn’t have been a huge problem were it not for the fact that today was my final dress fitting. One last chance at alterations before the big day. “I’ve got my own plans so I should leave you to your breakfast.”

He stretched out a hand to me. “Valentina—”

I got up quickly, before he could touch my shoulder. The last thing I needed was to allow any contact that risked me falling into his arms. I’d made that mistake at the safehouse. Finally having sex with him at the safehouse had just revealed my undying love for him. I couldn’t surrender to those feelings ever again.

“I’m going to be out for most of the afternoon,” I informed him as I turned toward the guestroom door. “I’d rather not leave in a hurry now that you’re here, but these are last-minute wedding plans and they can’t be helped.”

“I get that,” he said tightly.

“You can still contact me if there’s an emergency,” I added. “I can get your phone from the lockbox in my study.”

“Thanks for securing it all this time,” he said.

“Well, I can promise that the lockbox hasn’t been opened and your cell phone hasn’t been tampered with in any way,” I swore.

“I trust you, Valentina,” he said then.

The way he said it almost brought on tears, but I rapidly blinked them away and cleared my throat. Worst of all, he trusted me but I could no longer trust myself. Not with all these feelings welling up inside me. “I should be back later this afternoon.”

Our exchange had been so stiff and formal that we might as well have been total strangers. Gone were all the times we’d shared together. All the times we had faced all that terror while leaning on each other. It was as if the past few months hadn’t happened at all. No, it was worse than that. We weren’t back to hatred and distrust. Enzo and I were so far apart now that we weren’t even enemies. Because enemies shared emotions. There were mutual feelings like hatred. All we risked sharing now was a cold distance. The thread connecting my heart to his was getting longer and longer. Eventually, it would snap and be severed entirely no matter how close we lived physically.

“See you when you get back,” he said.

I marched up to the guestroom door, my heart heavy with each step I took. Opening the door, I chanced a look back at him over my shoulder. That was when I saw regret flash in his eyes. But my heavy, fragile heart was beginning to harden in ways I didn’t know were even possible. Mixing with my heartbreak was the anger. The fury that I’d been so utterly defeated and humiliated that it was clear no matter how much of an advantage I gained now, Enzo and the De Lucas had won. Not just a few rounds but the whole game. My love for him had just made it harder for me to see the obvious.

Worst of all, he made me doubt myself. And I didn’t know how I’d ever recover from that.

Part of me wanted to spill my guts and confront him again. But that would be revealing too much. He’d see that I wasn’t merely angry at being conned. He’d figure out that my anger ran so much deeper than that. Enzo would discover the extent of my true feelings for him. If I didn’t find a way to check my emotions, it was only a matter of time before Enzo realized that I was in love with him. I couldn’t let that happen. Too much depended on him believing that my focus was on staying one step ahead of him while also tracking a would-be killer. Anything beyond those two goals would be a clue for him. I could not afford that under any circumstances.

“Goodbye, Enzo,” I said over my shoulder. Then, without another word, I opened the door and stepped out of the guestroom into the hallway outside. Somehow this felt like a last goodbye. One last farewell before I locked away my love for good. Because locking up all my feelings was the only way to keep him from ever seeing how much my heart yearned for him. I was in love with my fiancé and I could never forgive him for that.

Chapter 5

Valentina

After retrieving Enzo’s phone and placing it on a table right outside the guestroom, I stepped out of my townhouse. Once again forgoing my chauffeur, I chose one of my luxury sedans and drove down to the bridal boutique myself. A wedding dress fitting felt way too personal for me to rely on servants or staff. Besides, the fewer people who might see the dress before the big day, the better.

When I arrived at the bridal boutique, one of the sales associates led me to a large VIP fitting room. The fitting room was elegant, complete with full-length mirrors, plush chairs, and ample lighting. Everything to make a bride feel comfortable.

My mom arrived a minute after me, and the moment she spotted me, she hurried over to embrace me tightly. “I haven’t seen you in so long. How I’ve missed you.”

The tension that had settled over me started to melt away with my mom’s hug. For the first time in weeks, I felt a little lighter. Like I didn’t have to carry this enormous weight on my shoulders all the time.

“It’s good to see you, Mom,” I said, slowly pulling out of her hug so that I could get a good look at her. It had been weeks since I’d last seen her and she was looking like her old self.

As usual, my mother was perfectly coiffed, dressed head to toe in designer business attire. The last time I’d seen her though, she hadn’t looked like herself, all disheveled from the stress of taking care of Papa while he’d been recovering in the hospital. My mother had been so devoted to him that I was convinced it was her refusal to give up on him that had brought my father back from the brink.

Now that I’d spent weeks watching over Enzo in the hospital, I finally understood what it was like to keep vigil at the bedside of the man that I loved. The difference between us, however, was that my father loved my mother back. My love would be nothing like theirs. Instead, it would be a cold, lonely sort of love that would never be reciprocated.

“What’s wrong sweetheart? You look rather peaked,” my mother said, scrutinizing me with worry in her eyes.

Very little got past my mother. While I might be able to conceal the most intense of my emotions from Enzo, I wasn’t going be so lucky with Mom. I’d been able to fool her over the phone, but now that she could actually see me, there was nowhere to hide.

I swallowed hard and waved a dismissive hand. As much as I wished I could confide in her, part of me didn’t want to make her worry. It didn’t seem right for the mother of the bride to go into this sad as well. Maybe it was better to just give my mom some happiness after everything. “Wedding stress. No big deal.”