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“What happened?” I put my phone away and shifted my weight to face him.
“Nothing.” He shook his head once. “Just one of those days.”
“Enzo. I’m sorry.” My heart ached for him. He’d been doing so well. “Hey.” I tapped on the driver’s shoulder. “Pull over up here.” I pointed at a small pizzeria with a guy on the window flipping dough. “How about a slice of pizza and cheap wine.”
“Sure.”
The car rolled to a stop. I scooted over to the door and climbed out. Slow as can be, Enzo followed me. When he got into a rut like this, he was like an empty shell. He would do as I asked without question. He’d eat, and even smile, but inside, I could tell he was numb.
I chose a table in the back of the small restaurant and ordered a whole pie of pizza and a bottle of their table wine. As soon as the server brought us the bottle and a couple of tumblers, Enzo poured wine and knocked it back.
“Okay. How about we slow down? Let’s eat first.” I placed the basket of garlic knots in front of him. “Come on. Eat. So we can both smell like garlic.” I laughed and waited.
After a few beats, he lifted his gaze and smiled. “Thanks.” He grabbed a piece of bread and bit into it. “I haven’t eaten all day.”
“Omigod, Enzo, we’ve talked about this.” I poured wine into his glass then mine as I considered whether or not he needed a fun adventure. Maybe a night out at some exclusive club? “Hey, so are you free tonight?”
“What do you think?” He glared at me.
“Okay.” I put up my hands. “So touchy. I have a confession to make.”
“What did you do, Donata?” He sounded annoyed. Annoyed was a hundred times better than sad.
“So.” I took in a long breath. “I went to see Luca in his office.”
“Donata.” He slow-blinked. “You said you were going to stay away from him.”
“I had a question on one of the assignments.” Not an entirely false statement. I did want to talk to Luca about what happened in his classroom. And his house. Luca was driving me crazy with his cold one second, scorching hot the next. “Anyway, when I got there, he was there with Don Gallo.”
“Okay.”
“So Luca sounded mad. I got the impression that Don Gallo asked him to do something illegal.”
“We’re mobsters, remember? Illegal comes with the territory.”
“Yeah, but Luca isn’t like that. And you know that.” I cleared my throat. “Then Don Gallo gave him something. When they left, I went in and did a bit of recon.”
“And there it is.” Enzo shook his head and laughed. A real laugh. “You’re low-key stalking him again, aren’t you?”
“No. Okay, yes. But not like that. I just wanted to know why he would accept this kind of thing from his uncle.” I leaned in and whispered, “You know Luca can’t stand him.”
“What kind of thing?”
I pulled out my phone and brought up the picture. “Access to a clandestine club. I bet it’s a sex club. I bet there’s some serious shit going on there because if Luca wanted a place for just sex, he could’ve gone to your dad’s club, The Crucible.”
“It’s not Dad’s club anymore. The Valentino family took over.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that.” I decided not to ask any more questions. Enzo’s dad’s abdication was partly the reason why Aurora was dead, why Enzo was angry at Rex, and why Enzo and his brother Massimo had been demoted to soldiers. “So what do you think? Want to do something clandestine tonight?”
“Of course you want to check it out.” He ran both hands through his hair, then peeked at me through his lashes. “You think he’s going there to have hot sex and you can’t stand it. Donata, he’s not yours.”
“I know that.”
I knew he wasn’t mine. But I couldn’t stop thinking about his mouth on my neck, his hands all over me, and his huge dick. I couldn’t let this go. If I was just a game to him, I needed to know.Because every time he touched me, it felt real. Luca had feelings for me. I was not letting it go until he admitted that to me and to himself.
“Aren’t you curious? Come on, how long has it been for you? I know you haven’t been with anyone since you know who. It’s time.” I was pushing it. But I was doing this for the both of us. He needed to move on. And I needed answers.
“I tried. Tonight.” He clicked his teeth. “This girl from Econ class. She cornered me in the library. I kissed her back.” He blew out a breath. “But I couldn’t stop thinking abouther.”
