Page 76 of Thorns of Death

“She doesn’t,” Enzo grumbled. “A mother who loves her children doesn’t want to kill them.”

I stared at them, lost for words. Two lonely boys that would soon become men, but would forever be looking for reasons why they lacked their mother’s love. My heart just ached for them and didn’t know how to make them feel better.

“Do either of you have girlfriends?” I asked instead, changing subjects. I didn’t want to keep digging at their wounds. It wasn’t fair to them.

Enzo snickered. “Aria is in love with Amadeo.”

“Shut up, Enzo.”

The two started bickering in Italian. It was actually quite entertaining, despite the fact I couldn’t understand a single word.

I grinned and cut them off. “Who’s Aria?”

“She’s a baby,” Amadeo snapped. “She’s not in love with me.”

“Oh, yeah,” Enzo mocked. “She wanted to fight me to protect you.”

“How old is she?” I asked curiously.

“She’s seven now,” Amadeo muttered like a boy scolded. “Or maybe eight. I don’t know.”

Enzo pushed his hand into his thick dark hair. “She was five when she tried to beat me up. Crazy girl.”

I smiled. “Well, it seems to me Amadeo is a lucky guy, then. If a five-year-old wants to fight for him, just imagine what older girls will do.” I gave a pointed look to Enzo. “You might want to take notes.”

Enzo rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

The corners of my lips tugged up. “Okay, Enzo. Tell me how you’d make a girl fall in love with you.” Amadeo snickered, but I kept my gaze on the older sibling. He gave closed-off vibes, and I was certain it was because he wanted to appear strong. “I’m waiting.”

“What do I get if I tell you?” Enzo asked bravely, meeting my gaze. “A date with you?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. I imagined Enzo’s courage got him in trouble a lot.

“Sure, why not,” I agreed. “I’ll take you to a concert.”

Enzo’s eyes flashed with curiosity.

“Really?” I nodded. His expression turned serious, contemplating his answer. I didn’t need to know this kid well to understand he was competitive and liked to get his way. “I’d play her a sonata under her balcony.”

I cocked a brow. “Really?”

“Yes. I know Dad says girls snicker at romantic stuff, but I think girls are into that stuff. He just says to buy them nice things.”

I was just about to open my mouth to agree with Enzo’s logic when the mechanical door started to slide open. I jumped to my feet, coming face-to-face with Enrico.

Fury swarmed me as I remembered what I was doing stuck here in the first place. “You… you…”

“Papà!” Both boys sauntered to their father and hugged him while I remained glued to the spot. I couldn’t help but notice how deeply both boys seemed to care about him. Something about it made my anger toward him waver. That was, until Enrico’s dark gaze met mine, and I shot him a glare for good measure.

Averting my eyes, I swept my palms down my jeans, smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles. When I raised my eyes, all three of them were staring at me.

“Well, I’m outta here.” I waved casually at the boys. “I have quite a bit of catching up to do at the orchestra.”

“No.”

“No what?” I hissed.

“You’re not going anywhere.” The simple words out of Enrico’s mouth had me seeing red.