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Enzo and I had been close friends in high school. But after the whole ordeal with his father leaving the Society and Rex’s dad taking over, he became distant and even resentful. We never treated him like an outsider because he wasn’t. He walked away because he couldn’t stand the fact that Rex was next in line to be king of our secret society, and not him, like we always thought.
Thanks to Rex’s marriage to Enzo’s sister, Caterina, Enzo was back in the fold. He’d even accepted the offer to be the Don of the Alfera family. I was happy to have our friend back, but he had a long way to go before he could let the past be the past.
“Is sweet Lucinda giving you hell already? You should’ve let me have her when you had the chance.”
The image he planted in my head was a shock to my entire system. I saw her on his lap, her tits out, and his hands in her red hair and then all over her ass. Anger pooled in my gut and spread through me like a runaway train. I burst off my seat and clocked him in the face. My reaction took him by surprise. He glared at me as if trying to figure out if I had punched him or not. Before he reacted, I grabbed him by the lapel of his suit jacket and shoved him against the wall.
By then, he had recovered from the initial blow and came back at me with a perfect hook to my temple. “What the fuck?”
“She’s mine. Do you understand?”
“What?”
“Luce. Whatever ideas you have about her, get rid of them now.”
“Holy shit, Santino. It was a joke. Why so touchy?” He rubbed his jaw, looking at me like he didn’t recognize me. He furrowed his brows, squinting at me. “Well, fuck me. You really are in love with her.”
“She’s my wife.”
“Okay.” He put his arms up in surrender. After a few seconds, he picked up the chair that had fallen over and sat. “I need a drink.”
As soon as he said the words, Cherry appeared with a bottle of Pappy and three tumblers. She obviously knew something I didn’t. I glanced at Enzo when she set the glasses down and poured.
“Rex is on his way. He wants to meet with me.” He shrugged.
“I came to the Crucible for some peace and quiet.”
“Seems an odd choice to find serenity.” He knocked back his drink and poured himself another two fingers.
“This isn’t cheap tequila.” I took a sip of the whiskey. Oddly enough, the burst of anger and the quick release left me feeling more at ease. I downed the rest of my drink to drown out the sad look in Luce’s eyes when I left her earlier.
“Rex can afford it.” Enzo poured into the two tumblers again, then sat back, resting his elbows on the arms of the chair. “So, what’s going on with you and your lovely wife?”
I glared at him for a good minute before I answered honestly, “I don’t want her to die.”
“That’s normal, I think. Who’s trying to kill her?”
“No one. Yet.” I drank some more.
“Ah.” He nodded.
Enzo knew the whole story with Luce and the Irish. He knew that, sooner or later, what I did to them would come back to bite us in the ass. I killed their leader. Revenge was in order. If they were coming only for me, I wouldn’t give them more than a second thought. But in our world, the innocent always paid the price. When the time came, Luce would be their target.
“I wouldn’t worry. No one can get to her in that ivory tower of yours.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him because someone had gotten to her a few months back when she was under my protection in my own goddamn house.
“Except for that one time, of course,” he corrected.
“The problem is, she doesn’t want to stay home. And I don’t blame her. She wants a normal life. And I can’t give that to her.”
“Surely she understands the danger she’s in.”
I met his gaze, then released a breath. “I might’ve forgotten to mention how pissed off the Irish in Harlem are. Rex has done an outstanding job at keeping them unorganized. Without a leader, they’re all scattered. But sooner or later, they will find someone to bring them together, rebuild the crew. And then, they’ll come looking for their pound of flesh.”
“You need to talk to her. Jesus, Santino. She needs to know what she’s up against.”
I had hoped she’d be happy in our home with just me—that she wouldn’t want more. Of course, I was wrong. She needed to have a normal life, leave the house, and have a purpose. Though I had to admit, I did fantasize about being her only purpose. Thinking of her at home, waiting for me, fed a basic and feral need inside me. I wanted her all to myself.
