Page 17 of The Prices We Pay (Vittori Enterprises #1)

Enzo

I ’m going to murder him.

Right here. Right now. In the middle of this fucking coffee shop. I am going to remove his head from his body, and I don’t care who sees it.

They know who she is. They threatened her. Threatened her family.

Damien put his hands on her.

It cannot stand.

It will not stand.

Suddenly, a soft arm wraps around me from behind, snapping me from the blinding rage that’s threatening to take over me.

I look down, and Joe’s delicate hand is splayed across my chest, feeling the beat of my heart beneath my palm.

Her breath tickles the shell of my ear as she whispers softly, “Lorenzo. You can’t do this here. ”

I close my eyes for only a moment, forcing my body to relax against her touch.

Recognizing she’s right, I remove my arm from Damien’s throat and step back against Joe, continuing to shield her behind me.

“She’s the only reason you’re walking out of this building.

The next time I see you, you won’t be as lucky. ”

And because he clearly wants to die today, he replies, “Nice to meet you, Josephine.” Her grip on my chest tightens. “I’m sure I’ll see you around, Enzo. Tell Luca we said hello, yeah?”

With that, he spins on his heels, walks down the hallway, and out the door. The moment I hear the bell above the door ding as it closes, I’m spinning on Joe. Holding her face in my hands, I look over her entire body. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

She shakes her head, clearly trying to hold back the tears that well in her eyes. “No. No, I’m okay. I just want to get out of here. What was that about, Enzo? ”

Once I’m satisfied she’s all right, physically at least, I answer, “I’ll explain everything. I promise. Right now, we just need to get out of here.”

“My apartment is just down the block. We can—”

“No. He knows who you are, Sweetheart. He knows who your family is. He knows where you work. He’ll know—”

“Where I live,” she says as she sighs regretfully.

“You can come to our place.”

“No, Enzo. That’s my home. I built this life all on my own, and I’m not running from it to hide from anyone.”

I see the determination in her eyes and realize there’s no use in arguing with her. At least not today.

Bending down, I pick up her sunglasses off the floor. They must have fallen from her head as I pulled Damien off her. Placing them on top of her head, I give her the gentlest smile I can manage. “Okay.”

“Okay?” she asks breathlessly .

“Yeah, Sweetheart. Okay. But I’m coming with you, and Seb is going to meet us there to do a sweep.”

“And you’ll explain to me what the hell is going on. Right?”

I can tell it’s not really a question. I’m also ninety-five percent positive that she has some sort of magical ability to see through any bullshit and will surely kick me in the balls if she finds out I’m lying to her. “Right.”

Leaning in, I press a gentle kiss against her forehead, and I feel her relax against me before she lets out the softest sigh. The sound causes all of the blood that’s drumming in my head to shoot straight to my dick.

I’m not a perfect man, but even I know now is not the time. Not when this could have ended so much worse.

But before I have a chance to back away and lead her out of Jean the work we do in the shadows stays in the shadows.

Shit, we have kept that secret from anyone and everyone; Harper and her guys don’t even know what we do.

Sure, they could have asked after everything we went through to help them get her back, but they didn’t.

They know that if we had something to share, we would share it.

But for now, it’s not worth the risk. It’s how we’ve protected ourselves for as long as we have.

The only other people that know are my parents and Luca’s dad, Pascal.

We know we have the ability to protect the ones we love .

However, that’s the thing: we have to let ourselves love.

I want it. I want it with every fiber of my being. And yeah, I may have said it in the heat of the moment or for dramatics on more than one occasion, but the truth of the matter is that no one has lasted longer than a fleeting infatuation.

Dante is lonely. He’s so, so lonely. No matter how much he rolls his eyes at my antics, I see it in his deep hazel eyes every time I mindlessly flirt with him. Sometimes, I swear, he wants to do it back. He wants fire. He wants passion. He wants to be wanted.

Sebastian and Luca have each other, and I know their dynamic is beyond complex.

They both get something from one another that they need .

Something that they can only find within each other.

But I’m not naive enough to believe that you can find everything you need in this life in one person.

Sure, some people are lucky enough to find that, but you also shouldn’t be ashamed to search for more if you can’t.

And I know that Luca needs more than what he leads on.

Just as Sebastian does. Just as Dante does.

Just as I do.

And as I look down at the woman in my arms and stare into eyes that look like storm clouds on the horizon, I’d garner a bet that we might have stumbled across the one woman brave enough to be the more that we’re looking for.

I feel it within the very depths of my soul.

We just need to figure out how this would work. Whatever this is.

So, until then, I need to wait. But the longer she looks up at me like that, the longer her body is pressed against mine, and the longer I stare at her parted lips as she breathes heavily against me, the harder that’s going to be.

I’ve had her lips on mine once. Regardless of whether that kiss was “real” or not, all I want to do is feel it over and over again.

“Josephine,” I warn again. “We have to—”

In a split second, her full lips are on mine. Family meeting be damned, I’m not pushing her off of me now. She initiated it, so it’s allowed… right?

Fuck it. I don’t even care .

I grip her waist firmly with both hands and kiss her back.

She whimpers as my grip tightens, and I use the opportunity to slide my tongue into her mouth.

Our chemistry is explosive, just like I knew it would be.

She lets me explore her mouth with ease.

She tastes so fucking good. Jesus, if her mouth tastes this sweet, I can’t imagine what the rest of her would taste like as I explored her with my tongue.

Now, I’m the one who moans into her. Unable to help myself, I pull her bottom lip between my teeth.

Biting down, I tug at it gently, curious to see if she likes a bit of pain with her pleasure.

And I swear on all that is holy, I almost blow my fucking load as I watch her eyes roll back into her with pleasure.

If I didn’t think I was in love with her before, I fucking know I am now.

I also know that if I don’t stop in the next five seconds, I’m going to fuck her in the same coffee shop hallway where I almost just murdered someone.

Reluctantly, I push her back, internally kicking myself in my own dick as I watch her gasp for breath. Regardless of everything that just happened, the corners of her lips turn up into a slight smile, as if she knows what she just did to me.

“Don’t keep looking at me like that. We have to go.”

She tilts her head like the little minx she is. “Looking at you like what?”

“You’re going to be the death of me, aren’t you?”

“Possibly,” she answers point-blank.

“Come on.” I laugh as I grab her hand. “We’ll call Sebastian on our way.”