Page 11 of Dirty Deeds

My fist pummels into his eye.

Another crack.

Blood splutters and still I don’t stop.

“Enzo! Please! You’re going to kill him.”

I don’t have a rap sheet like my brother, or my father. I’ve never taken a life or harmed another soul. I’m the clean-cut Scotto. I go to work every day and mind my own fucking business.

Blood never stained my hands…until tonight.

CHAPTERFOUR

DANICA MATTHEWS

This can’t be happening.Any minute now I’ll wake up and this will all be a bad dream. A cruel game my mind played on me because I was weak and stupid. I trusted a man after he humiliated me. I gave him a chance to redeem himself, believing there was still a shred of decency buried inside of him.

I was wrong.

I was so fucking wrong.

Sirens blare in the distance, shaking me to my core. Reminding me that nightmares never end well. Someone always pays the price.

Tears escape the corners of my eyes and slide down my cheeks. I blink them away and drag in a deep breath, my bare feet slapping against the pavers as I close the distance between me and Enzo.

One minute Brent and I were fighting, he had his hand on my throat, and the next Enzo had him pinned to the ground. I don’t know where he came from or why he was there—my guess is his father sent him.

But that doesn’t really matter, does it?

The cops will be here any moment and I’ll have to choose. Am I the dutiful ex-wife who follows her ex-husband and spins another bullshit story just to save his ass or have I had enough of the charade? Am I done pretending the man I married and divorced is worthy of anything?

I pause in my tracks and reach for the back of Enzo’s shirt. He’s not something my mind conjured up. He’s real and he’s here and if he didn’t intervene…well, I don’t know what would have happened.

“Enzo!”

It’s not the first time I’ve tried to peel him away from Brent, but those attempts failed. To be honest, I’m not even sure he heard me. This time I’m not letting go until he stops. My fingers tighten around the soft cotton of his t-shirt, and I pull with all my might. His hand pauses mid-air and he turns his head slightly, his eyes finally connecting with mine. Something flashes inside of them.

Awareness.

He doesn’t say anything as he stares back at me, trying to catch his breath. The sirens are louder now. The trance is broken.

“Shit,” he hisses as he tears his eyes away from me and looks back at Brent who groans in agony. His girlfriend rushes to his side, spewing a bunch of profanities at Enzo in her native Russian tongue.

Enzo lifts himself off of Brent and takes a step backward. He turns around abruptly, his eyes trailing the length of me.

“Are you okay?”

I open my mouth to speak but no words come out. I don’t know if I’m in shock or what, but I feel paralyzed.

“Danica,” he calls, his tone clipped. Frantic maybe. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

Again, I try to reply but fall short. Enzo’s patience runs thin, and he brushes the hair behind my shoulders, bending at his knees to inspect my neck himself.

“There’s no marks from what I can see.”

I want to tell him there are no marks because he stepped in. I want to thank him for saving me. For being at the wrong place at the right time. For choosing me when I did nothing to deserve it.

“You’re done, Scotto!” Brent slurs. “You hear me? Done!”

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