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He goes from staring at the wall to staring at me like I’m something he’s never seen before. It’s enough to make my skin crawl, but I force myself to take it without reacting.
“What, we’re friends now?” he scoffs, shaking his head. “I’d be in pretty bad fucking shape if I had to go to you for advice.”
At least he’s not threatening me or anything like that, but the cruelty behind his words hurts just the same. Like he’s so much better than me? Where does he get off?
Steady, girl. Right. I can’t afford to let my temper ruin things for me. I’m already screwed as it is.
“I’m just saying. It seems like whenever you talk to whoever that is, they end up upsetting you. I’m sorry that keeps happening.”
“Yeah, I’m sure your heart is breaking for me,” he mutters before snickering. “I’m sure it keeps you up at night, wondering if poor Enzo is doing okay after a phone call from his grandfather.”
Now I know for sure who it is if only so I can keep things clear in my head. I hate the feeling of never knowing who I’m dealing with. “It doesn’t keep me up at night. A lot of other things do, though.”
“Yeah, I’m sure they do.” He ignores the bowl in front of him, standing and pocketing his phone. “Hurry up. Finish eating so I can put you back in your room.”
My heart sinks, and I can’t hide it. “Really?” I ask with a sigh. “Do we have to keep doing that?”
“Last time I checked, I let you walk around here freely, and you tried to run away. What, I’m supposed to trust you now?” Before I can come up with a defense, he shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. I have to go out and deal with some things, so it’s not like I would leave you unlocked anyway.”
So much for my brief bit of freedom. I’m finished eating, so I take the bowls from the table and put them in the sink. That’s as far as I’m willing to go. I’m not the maid. He doesn’t seem to care—all that matters is getting me locked away so he can take care of business. Which is exactly what I’m sure my life would be like if we were ever married. I would be an afterthought, somebody to tuck away somewhere while he lived an actual life.
And I don’t care how good it feels to be touched by him or how he seems to know exactly how to undo me.
I am never, ever going to let that happen.
18
ENZO
“Ihave his strict assurance this time. No fucking around. No leaving you hanging.”
All my grandfather’s assurance makes me do is laugh bitterly from my seat in the car. “Sure. Why would he go back on his word now? He has exactly what he wanted.”
“You gave him exactly what he wanted, remember? By taking his daughter in the first place.”
I wish I could explain it in a way he would understand, but I doubt it would be possible no matter how hard I tried. He wasn’t on the phone with the man when we set up that second meeting, the supposed face-to-face meeting at the hangar. The man was enraged and frantic, and he couldn’t stop going on and on about me taking what belonged to him. How much he needed it back, how I would pay for what I had done.
Then he turned around and decided to use her as a pawn. He wanted her back, but then he didn’t. And he still doesn’t—this meeting is supposed to be a means of setting the terms for how we’ll move forward. Either he was pretending all along, or somebody put this idea in his head. After all, he had already struck the first blow by not appearing at the warehouse. It could be that one of the more intelligent, levelheaded members of his crew suggested he use Elena’s kidnapping to his advantage rather than huffing and puffing and threatening to blow the penthouse down.
It doesn’t matter, really. I don’t trust the man. I never will. And I’m about to step into a restaurant with him and make nice when I would prefer to lodge a bullet in his skull.
“Keep that temper of yours under control, and we are home free,” Grandfather assures me. “We hold all the cards here, remember. He needs us much more than we need him, but this is a good alliance. Perhaps one of the best we could hope for. Do not fuck this up.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“From what you’ve shown me lately, your best may not be good enough.”
I close my eyes and force myself to take a deep breath before the temper he just acknowledged flares to life and gives me no choice but to tell him exactly what I think of him and this entire situation. I respect the man, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with him or his methods.
“Very well. I’ll report when it’s over.” After ending the call, I look to my left, where one of the guards’ Grandfather vouched for waits behind the wheel of the car. He kills the engine while the two men behind me exit the vehicle and do a quick check of the surrounding area before signaling that it’s safe for me to leave the car. There’s no avoiding flashbacks to Prince’s shooting as I climb out. At least now I know I have men watching my back.
Besides, it’s in Alvarez’s best interest to leave me alive and well. He can’t marry his daughter off to a corpse, can he?
The restaurant sits in a strip of similar establishments, all of which are in the process of opening for the evening within the hour. Behind the plate glass windows, staff members rush around, setting up tables and making sure the bar is well stocked. I’ve been down here at night more than once and have enjoyed myself immensely. Never would I have imagined the day I’d visit to meet with my future father-in-law during one of those drunken nights.
I step inside and notice this is the only restaurant without staff running around. Aside from the four men guarding him, Alvarez sits alone at a table, his hands folded atop the white tablecloth. In his linen suit and blood-red shirt, he makes quite the impression.
“Mr. Alvarez.” I approach with my hand outstretched, but I’m quickly swarmed by his men.
