Page 20

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Valentina

A buzzing near my head tears me out of my sleep, and I swat at the nightstand aimlessly. Instead of hitting a bug, my hand connects with Enzo’s phone, and it clatters to the ground.

He rolls over, groaning, and pulls me into his body, holding me tight.

“Enzo,” I protest, pulling away even though all I want is to stay. “Wait, your phone.”

“I don’t care,” he mumbles. “Too early.”

“But it might be her,” I say, dangling my body off the bed and feeling around for his phone on the floor.

Goosebumps break out over my skin as the chill of the room hits me. Nope, don’t wanna get out of bed. Wanna stay here all day.

Finally, my fingers curl around his phone, and I tumble back into bed, holding it up triumphantly. I wave it in front of his face, but he squeezes his eyes shut and snuggles harder into my body.

“Enzo…”

“Fiiiiine,” he moans, holding his palm out. “Let’s see what our biggest fan has to say today.”

He flops onto his back and unlocks his phone as I bury into his chest, steeling myself for another threat from The8— Alexandra, I remind myself. The phone drops onto the bed, narrowly missing my head.

“What the hell…” I start, about to scold him.

“Jesus Christ, she’s insane,” Enzo whispers.

“What is it?” I ask, barely breathing. He silently hands me the phone, and my mouth falls open.

I stare at Alexandra, every single naked inch of her, stretched out on Enzo’s bed in his penthouse. I can even see the view of the city behind her through the windows.

“She’s sending you nudes from your own bedroom?” I whisper. “That’s pretty fucked up.”

“I don’t want this,” he groans. “I don’t want to see this. Ugh, she’s in my bed, Lenny.”

“Well, it’s official.” I laugh, propping myself up on one elbow. “You’re moving… and burning that bed.”

“Definitely,” he agrees glumly. “I think that penthouse is cursed anyway.”

I pick the phone up again and study the photo intently. Her long, pale limbs, her fiery red hair, perfect breasts, tiny waist—she’s gorgeous. Too bad she’s fucking evil.

“Hey, she has a tattoo,” I say, zooming in on her hip. “We didn’t notice that when she sent me the lingerie photos.”

Enzo sneaks a one-eyed peek at the photo and nods his head. “That’s definitely her. I remember that butterfly tattoo.”

For a second, I’m consumed with jealousy. He remembers that tattoo? He probably kissed her there, whispered sweet words to her, made love to her.

“Did you love her?” I ask quietly, putting the phone away. His eyes pop open and he bursts into laughter. “It’s a serious question,” I huff.

“No, Lenny,” he says solemnly, trying to hide his laughter. When he sees my eyes watering, he instantly sobers up. “I never loved anyone except you, promise.”

“It’s okay if you did,” I whisper, trying to push the jealousy out. “She must have loved you.”

“I don’t think love has anything to do with this,” he says, serious now. “You don’t do this to someone you love. This is about obsession and control.”

“So, what next?”

“I think I might just call her up,” he muses. “Is that stupid? After all of this, to just… call her?”

“We have no other ideas,” I say, but my heart beats nervously inside my chest.

Up until now, The8 has been a nameless, faceless threat. Now, knowing who she is and seeing every single part of her makes me even more terrified.

That what? He’s going to leave you for her? After all this?

I shake my head, shoving my evil inner voice away. Pushing myself off Enzo’s chest, I slip out of the warm, inviting bed and throw on some clothes.

He sits up, resting against the headboard and watching me. I know I’m being weird, giving these baseless insecurities too much control, but I can’t help it.

“Lenny,” he calls me softly. “Come here.”

“No,” I huff, busying myself with my jacket. The zipper gets stuck, and I jerk it up and down, my frustration growing. Enzo comes up behind me, softly encircling my hands with his, and I let the jacket fall to the floor.

“Lenny, stop,” he whispers, pulling me into his chest. “What’s going on in your head right now?”

“It’s stupid,” I mutter into his naked chest. Hot, painful tears prickle against my eyelids, threatening to spill.

“Your feelings are never stupid,” he asserts, stroking my hair. “Talk to me.”

I suck in a deep breath, trying to ground myself and my silly emotions.

It’s like opening myself up to Enzo again opened the floodgate of tears I hoarded over the last few years. I didn’t allow myself to feel anything, so now I’m feeling everything.

“I’m worried you’re going to see her again,” I start, my voice shaky and muffled by his chest hair, “and you’ll decide she’s the better option.”

He’s quiet for a second, stroking my hair and swaying us slightly in the frosty air. I run my hands up his back, feeling goosebumps popping up under my touch.

Finally, he sighs deeply and kisses the top of my head. “You remember the day we met?”

“Of course.” I laugh, choking on my stuffy nose. “You spilled coffee all over my dad because you were checking me out.”

“Well, Lenny,” he whispers, pulling me in even tighter, “that was the moment I decided I’ll never be able to choose anyone over you. I was yours, forever, whether you wanted me or not.”

“Okay, okay.” I sniffle and sneak a peek at him. He looks so serious, and it feels very non-Enzo, so I decide to break the moment for once. “Stop being a cheeseball. I get it.”

An hour later, with our bellies full and the caffeine hitting us, we pile into Rafael’s office.

Lux has bundled the kids up and forced them outside. I hear peals of laughter coming from the snowy garden outside the window and smile at how carefree life is here.

Rafael has gone to the city to negotiate a business deal for the Romano empire today, so we’ve taken over his space.

Alfonso has the phone glued to his ear, pacing the length of the room, as he explains the entire situation to my father. I graciously excused myself from that conversation to help Enzo search through the files he’s pulled about Alexandra.

“It says here that she owns a townhouse in midtown,” I say, studying the address.

“I’ll have someone check it out.” He nods, shooting off a text on Rafael’s burner phone.

We still have no idea how Alexandra managed to track our burner phones and send that message this morning, but it’s worrying the crap out of me.

“You’re sure she can’t find our location through the phones?” I ask for the millionth time.

“Trust me.” He smiles, never annoyed with me, never harsh. “I scrambled the lines so she’ll end up at a dead end if she tries.”

It should make me feel better, but it doesn’t. In my mind, if she’s able to contact Enzo on his burner phone, she can do anything.

We spend hours poring over her files and information, chasing leads that take us nowhere. By the time the sun moves low in the sky, my eyes are burning and my head’s a mess.

Lux bustles into the office and forcefully drags us out to eat lunch. We sit down for a meal of soup and sandwiches, but I barely taste the food.

“You both look like someone stole your dog and peed on your lawn,” she finally says. Peed on my lawn?

“Ugh, we can’t find a way to get to her,” I groan, pushing away the remains of my soup. Enzo swoops up my bowl and downs it in seconds.

“We’ve got Romanos and Rossis combing the entire city,” Alfonso explains. “Nothing. Not one single sighting.”

“And I can’t trace anything back to an active phone number,” Enzo mumbles, shoving the rest of my sandwich in his mouth.

“What about the Russian guys you picked up?” Lux asks.

“They’re…” I pause, eyeing Matilda. She’s sipping on her soup, but I can tell she’s listening to our conversation. “No longer with us.”

“But they had phones, right?” Lux asks, suddenly excited. “I mean, they had to communicate with her somehow. Did anyone search the car? Or their pockets?”

“Fu—”

“Language, Enzo,” Lux threatens.

“—unky fresh fly boy,” he stutters, glancing at Matilda. I roll my eyes at him, but I’m suddenly excited, too.

Of course, how did no one think of this earlier? They must have a connection.

“We checked them before we left,” Alfonso confirms. “No phones on them.”

“The car, then,” I say, ready to run there if I have to. “How do we find it?”

“Give me a minute,” Enzo tells me, already digging out Rafael’s burner and walking out of the room.

“Funky fresh fly boy,” Matilda whispers under her breath, breaking into a fit of giggles. A moment later, Rosie joins her, not knowing what she’s laughing at but happy to be included.

Lux cracks up, and that gets me going. Even Alfonso chuckles along.

“What’s so funny?” Enzo demands, walking back into the kitchen with a paper in his hands. That sets us off again, and we’re crying with laughter at a bewildered Enzo.

If we weren’t on a manhunt for a psychopathic redhead right now, life would be perfect.