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“There’s no safety here. Not in this life.”
“I feel like I kind of know what happened to you, Enzo. Not the details, but the way you responded to me just now. It’s the same way you get sometimes when I touch you. Something similar happened to you, huh?” She pulled me into her, but I grabbed her wrists and pushed her away.
“None of that shit happened to me,” I lied. Even though she already knew the truth, I had to lie.
Atheist whined louder, sensing the change in my mood. He always knew when the shrapnel of painful emotions pierced me.
“It’s okay if it happened. It’s not your—”
“Nothing happened to me! Let it fucking go, Gia!” I climbed out of bed. What happened to me didn’t mold me like it had molded her. I was a product of my own choices, not everyone else’s.
* * *
Gia
I pushed too hard,I thought as I heard the shower running. I just wanted him to open up to me. My mind had wandered, unearthing the memories I’d buried. I knew bringing it up would remind me of every damn time I tried to forget, but it was worth the risk. He was suffering with a hurt that I recognized in myself, a trauma that took a piece of me that I wouldn’t get back. Like planks missing from a wooden bridge, only the bridge led to my soul, giving me no choice but to turn around and embrace my demons. That pain mocked me eternally, never letting me have true happiness. I had to be brave enough to leap and hope the person on the other side was willing to catch me. I’d been trying to jump, but Enzo wasn’t ready to be the other person. If he would just open up to me, he could see I was ready and willing to catchhim.
“Sorry,” Enzo said. I hadn’t heard him turn the shower off, too busy wading through the shit within my head. He brushed a hand through his hair, a towel tied around his waist.
“For what?” I furrowed my brows at him, wrapping the sheet around me protectively.
“Snapping at you...about things.” Enzo came over, grabbed the back of my head, and pulled me into him. I let my cheek rest on the taut muscles of his abdomen, still warm and wet from his shower. “Things happened to me too, Gia. Stuff I couldn’t begin to talk about. I’m just not there yet. But I'm here now.” His lips fell to mine, letting me breathe in his pain.
His hand wrapped around my neck, and he pulled me closer with a growl. “I’m sorry I fuck you the way I do. You’re the worst drug, and I just want to overdose on you.” His words were so genuine that it made heat rise behind my eyes.
“Enzo—”
“Don’t get too flattered. I still think you're a batshit crazy bitch.” He smirked as he pulled away from me.
“Yeah, and you’re still a dick.” I shrugged at him with a grin. I didn’t know if we were meant to love or hate each other, but it felt right to ride the line between both extremes. With a playful gaze, he dropped his towel, beckoning me to my knees with his eyes. We may have hurt each other, but we pleased each other just as much.
ChapterTwenty-Five
Enzo
Gia sat in the driver’s seat and crossed her legs as she buckled her seatbelt. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”
“Me either, but Bullseye set this whole thing up. Supposed to be an easy drop. My guys already got it over the state lines, so now we just need to get them home,” I said as I pulled out of the garage. It was gloomy outside, with a stagnant humidity that made my skin feel wet. Or maybe it was just the nerves causing sweat to leach from me.
“If it’s so easy, why isn’t he doing it?”
“Bullseye got called to handle another matter,” I said, unwilling to answer any more questions about this. I didn’t want to do it either, but there we were.
“How much are we picking up? Enough for you to take the damn SUV?”
I rolled my eyes at her, my fingers grasping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles were paper white. Dealing with guns was something I was vehemently against. I’d lost good people because of it. Like drugs, the elusive nature and desperation behind that trade made it that much more dangerous. It almost seemed more perilous than drugs, their trade depending on the use of those stolen guns with serial numbers filed off to hide their paper trail.
We pulled up to the docks, the water lapping at the shoreline in front of us. I put the car in park and we got out, letting the stagnant heat embrace us. I ushered Gia behind me and we walked toward the warehouse, our steps echoing on the wooden planks. The scent of fish lingered in the air. Aside from a few employees in blue coveralls and a man in a suit, his jacket slung over his shoulder, the marina was empty.
“Enzo Viglione?” the man said as we approached, rising from the case he was sitting on.
“Yes, I never got your name,” I said with a hint of suspicion. I didn’t recognize the man, and I knew everyone in this game.
“That’s not really important.” He flashed a smile as he shrugged on his coat.
“I don’t do business with ghosts.”
“Well, you’ll have to this time.” He gestured toward the large wooden crate beside him.
