Page 30 of The Bond

“Do you really see Enzo as one of us?” I asked pointedly.

Papa sat down on the opposite end of the desk, the expression on his face turning serious. “Where is all this coming from? I feel as if I’m being interrogated. Enzo, didn’t I tell you that night in your apartment that I was going to entrust you with my daughter?”

Enzo cleared his throat. “You did, sir.”

“So what has changed?” my father asked.

“Enzo hasn’t changed,” I said. “He hasn’t gone back on his word.”

“Well, if he hasn’t gone back on his word, then that must mean you believe that I am the one who has gone back on his word.” My father frowned. “That is a very bold accusation to make against me.”

I heard the warning his tone. It said, careful, because if you’re going to do this, don’t make the mistake of shooting and missing.

My stomach was in knots at the prospect of making the accusation I had come here to make. If I said it out loud, nothing would ever be the same between us. Even if Papa turned out to be completely innocent, he’d know that I doubted him and I had no idea how we could ever come back from that.

Enzo glanced at me, and seeing the state I was in decided to act as backup. “Mr. Romano, when you came to my apartment, you said that there was a mole. Someone selling you out to the authorities. Did you ever discover who that traitor was?”

My father shook his head while giving Enzo a sideways look. “No, I haven’t discovered the identity of the mole. But the more information they feed the federal government, the worse it could get for me. I’ve worked to shield my family from law enforcement, which has left be exposed.”

“I see,” Enzo said.

“No, I don’t think you do,” my father said. “The FBI has been monitoring me in ways they haven’t before. With someone constantly feeding them intel about our business dealings, it’s only a matter of time before the inevitable.”

“No,” I shook my head vigorously. “No, you can’t go to prison. I won’t let that happen.”

“I’m sure that with a lawyer as good as Frankie, I’ll be looking at two or three years at most,” my father said.

“At your age? No, I’m not accepting that.” I shook my head again. “We’re going to stop that from happening, but we need your help.”

My father arched an eyebrow. “My help? I think I’ve done all I can—”

“Papa, did you send an arsonist to hurt Enzo when we were at the safehouse?” I asked, unable to hide my suspicions any longer.

Staring at me with a stunned look in his eyes, my father said, “I would advise you not to make accusations, Valentina.”

“She isn’t really the one making the accusation,” Enzo said. “I am.”

My father’s expression hardened as he looked from me to Enzo. “You accuse me of trying to kill you?”

“Yes,” Enzo said, without flinching, his tone clear and even.

“And what do you think, Valentina?” my father asked quietly.

“I think I would have a hard time forgiving you if you did this, because I love him.” My voice cracked at the end and my vision blurred, forcing me to lower my eyes to hide the extent of my pain.

“You love Enzo,” my father said in disbelief.

“More than anything,” I breathed out.

I saw my dad slump back in his chair then, his face the picture of total misery. Papa sighed. “If that’s how you feel about him then you deserve the truth.”

“What is the truth?” I asked, still fighting to hold back my tears.

“Enzo is right,” my father admitted slowly, his gaze shifting to look off at something in the distance that I couldn’t see. “I did send a someone to come after him when you were at the safehouse.”

“Why?” Tears started to stream down my face then. Enzo had been right. I was supposed to be the clever one, but I hadn’t seen this coming. I had been so blind. “Why would you do that?”

“I thought you were in danger,” my father said desperately. “I thought he planned on marrying you so that he could use you for his father’s ends. Make you his father’s puppet so that your life wouldn’t be your own. I thought I was freeing you from the mistake I made. The mistake of forcing you to marry him. I thought I was saving you from being a slave to the De Lucas.”