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“Unreadable.” Enzo glanced at me nervously. “And I'm pretty good at reading people most of the time.”
“Well maybe you'll be able to read him a little better once you're face to face.”
“Yeah.” Enzo seemed distracted and in his own head about the meeting with Ludovic.
He had worked hard on the campaign, putting in a lot of time, effort, and money. Guilt gnawed at my insides at having put that at risk. I reminded myself that it wasn't my fault. That I couldn't have known the man was Romano or that he would kidnap me. But I had run away from Enzo instead of talking to him about what I heard. I told myself that I was just removing myself from the situation so that I wouldn't cause a scene but in reality, I ran away because I was hurt and angry. A small part of me wanted to hurt Enzo the way his words hurt me, but after finding out the truth about why he’d said the things he had, I felt terrible at the trouble I caused.
We pulled up to the club and Enzo helped me out of the car.
“I thought it would be best to keep things social this evening, so I invited Matteo, Alessandro, Luca, and the girls you went shopping with, but Luca and Alessandro are the only ones who are going to be able to make it on such short notice.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. I would have liked a chance to see the girls again.” Enzo led me through the door of the club, and we were greeted by the hostess who quickly led us to Enzo’s reserved table.
He pulled a chair out for me, and I took my seat. “So, you all got along well?”
I nodded as he helped me scoot my chair in. “They all made me feel very welcome.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Enzo took the chair beside me.
“Do you know how to play poker?” Enzo asked as he took a flute of champagne from the waitress and handed it to me.
I shook my head. “I never had a reason to learn.”
He took his glass of amber liquid and swirled it once before taking a drink. “Do you want me to teach you?”
“I’d love that...sometime. But not now. We have enough to worry about tonight.”
“Okay, then you can just be my lucky charm.” He winked at me in a playful, flirty way that made butterflies form in my stomach.
I giggled and shook my head at him before taking a sip from my glass. It wasn’t long before Alessandro arrived, followed shortly after by Ludovic.
“Ciao, gentlemen. I hope I’m not late.” Ludovic took a seat on the other side of Enzo.
“Not at all. We are still expecting one more but there’s no reason we can’t get a hand in before he arrives.”
“Sounds good.” Ludovic handed the dealer cash, and he handed him back five large stacks of chips.
Enzo motioned for one of the waitresses to bring drinks and I lost myself watching the guys playing poker. I was just starting to catch on when Luca arrived.
“Ciao. I’m sorry I’m late. I had some business I had to take care of.”
“No problem. Take a seat. We’ll deal you in on the next hand. Until then you can order a drink.”
“Sounds good.” Luca turned from the men to smile at me. “Buonasera, bella.”
“Buonasera.”
“How are you doing...you know...after everything?” Luca nodded toward the bruise on my cheek I’d failed to fully hide with my makeup, and I self-consciously lifted my hand to cover it.
“I’m okay. I was lucky. It could have been a lot worse.”
“Sì. That was some mess at the Venturi hotel last week,” Ludovic said between hands.
“About that,” Enzo took a breath and while he appeared confident on the outside, I knew that he had been anxious about the conversation. “I want you to know that the only reason that I withdrew was because Romano and his men had Aurora. They threatened to kill her if I didn’t do what they said.”
“I figured as much once things went crazy.”
“So, I’ll still have your nomination for a spot on the council?”
