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They nod.
“Now, go do whatever the fuck it is you normally do.”
They hurry away, and I turn back to Carlo, who’s helping Enrico stand. “Why didn’t you help her?” I ask Carlo.
He frowns. “I warned them that you would be pissed if this happened.”
“And you were right. But you didn’t answer my question. You’re my second in command, Carlo, and you didn’t stop this. You should have come and got me. I’m so fucking disappointed in you right now.”
He bows his head. “I’m sorry, boss. It won’t happen again.”
“It fucking better not. Now, get Enrico fixed up. I’m tired of looking at his ugly-ass face.” I storm back inside and run into Antonio.
“Hey, boss,” he says, sobered up from before.
“What?”
He holds up his hands placatingly. “I just wanted to say that I had no part in what went down tonight. I was sleeping in my room.”
I stare at him for a moment, and he squirms under my gaze. “What? And you thought you could score some brownie points from me?”
“Well … yeah.”
I sigh. “Antonio, just … fuck, man. I don’t know. Just leave me alone right now.”
He scowls as I walk away, but he’s an annoying suck-up anyway.
I return to the bedroom where I left Adelina. While her tears have stopped, she’s still curled into a ball.
She jerks up when I enter the room. “Stay away from me.” She wraps the blanket around her body. I hate that she still fears me, but I can’t blame her.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” I raise my hands.
She flinches, and I glance down. My hands are covered in blood from beating up Enrico.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I repeat.
“You’re covered in blood,” she whispers.
“That’s because I beat the shit out of Enrico for what he did to you.”
She pauses, eyeing me out of the corner of her eye. “Why did you do that?”
“Why wouldn’t I? You’re my wife. He was assaulting you.”
“Like you tried to assault me.”
It’s my turn to flinch. “And I’m so sorry for that, Adelina. You have to believe me.”
“How can I? You’re still a stranger to me. You left me all alone, and look what happened!”
“I thought you didn’t want to see me.”
“I didn’t! But I also didn’t want to be assaulted by your men. You should never have brought me here. This is not how this night was supposed to go.”
“I know,” I say quietly. “May I?” I nod toward the bed.
“No.”
