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"And now you're locking him away in some twisted vigilante fashion?"
Vincenzo snorted after he sat down. "No, Dea. I kidnap them, bring them here, and then hunt them down like the animals they are. Then they die and become snacks for Gattina and the others. I have been doing this not just since yesterday but for years. Sometimes relatives of the victims come here and hunt them. It's not vigilante justice. It's justice in a shitty system that always seems to protect assholes like him."
I opened my mouth but immediately closed it again. That was too much information to process. I would have loved to laugh and tell him that he had just told me a tall tale. But I knew better.
Enzo's solemn expression and lack of a smile said everything I needed to know.
"Emilio doesn't know about this?"
"He doesn't have a clue."
"Why… why are you doing this?"
"Do you think it's cruel? Reprehensible? Is this the moment you tell me you can no longer live here? Or can't stand to be near me anymore because of the blood on my hands?"
I stared at him, completely perplexed by what he'd said. Nervously, I laughed. "I'm just trying to figure it out, Enzo. I'm not going anywhere."
He lowered his eyes to his shoes and seemed to struggle to formulate an answer to my question. "Rina's family was to blame for her death. They did it, and afterward, they fled like cowardly dogs. But they couldn't hide, not from me. I tracked them down and hunted them down.Hounded. Eventually, they could take no more and come to me, almost willing to die. The world is full of people like the Scuderis. And I make sure they get what they deserve."
I could not yet really grasp the scope of the whole operation, but I could understand how important it was to Vincenzo. It had kept him alive to pursue this task he had set for himself.
Before I did anything wrong, I approached him and squatted down so we were at eye level. "I want to see it. See this man run for his life and not stand a chance. And when he stops breathing, I'll find the next pig for you."
Shaking his head, he rebuffed. "This is not a matter you should be involved in,raggio di sole."
"Why?" I crossed my arms.
"It would dull you and drag you into a swamp I'd rather not see you in."
"I am a grown woman, Enzo. And very capable of deciding for myself what andwhocorrupts me."
He raised an eyebrow. "To corrupt you would be a sin."
"You don't believe in God."
"But I do about protecting a woman like you."
Now he was pulling on the fragile strings that led directly to my heart. "You do, don't you? Protect me."
"I can't do that again, you know." The raw emotion in his voice suddenly made it hard for me to breathe.
Out of reflex, I reached for his hand."They won't dare lay a hand on me. Not after the party. Not after they know what awaits them if they incur your wrath."
No one was safe. No one was immortal. But the de Archards' arrogance about killing suited me and was precisely what Enzo needed.
"We'll do it on your terms. I'll stay out of it. Just get you the information you need. It doesn't matter. I want to be a part of it, not pretend it's none of my business."
"It's none of your business."
"I live here. And you said that you'd like me to continue being around you. Give me a damn chance to be a part of your life somehow, Enzo."
All this time, I had wondered if he just sat in his office and spent his days playing online games, but now it was clear why he was withdrawn. He had probably paused his schemes once we were married. Unknowingly, then, I had kept him from what filled him. What made him content.
"You could have told me right after the wedding, you know? I would have congratulated you and wished you success. I don't care how brutal you are with these people. I couldn't care less if you rip their guts out or suffocate them. I simply don't care. I've seen what Emilio and Dario sometimes leave behind, and I know what my father has already done. Maybe I look squeamish, but I'm not."
"You witnessed all that and still didn't stop laughing?"
Irritated, I looked at him. "Why should I? The world is a better place without assholes and idiots. That kind of thing doesn't keep me up at night. Empathy is not something you give unconditionally to everyone."
