Page 63 of Deadly Vows

But Enzo breaks free of me easily, crashing into his mother’s room. His gasps turn to screams as he takes in her mangled form. I’m an idiot. I should have known better. I never should have come here, knowing who my brother and husband are. I’ve put us in danger in more ways than one. Her body has obviously been placed here since Enzo came looking for her the first time.

Someone’s been here, and I don’t know if it’s an enemy.

I grip Enzo’s arm, pulling.

“Listen to me! We have to go. Our lives could be in danger,” I cry out.

But Enzo isn’t listening. He’s pulling away from my grip, his grief overtaking his logic.

“Enzo, Please!” I shout.

He grips his mother’s body, shaking her in a panic as he tries to come to terms with things. And just as I’m about to step into the room, does someone roughly grab me by the arm, pulling me flush into a large body.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Luca

You cross me, you die. That’s never been a mystery. I am not known for my mercy in this world. Everyone knows not to cross me. Everyone has seen what happens when you do. The entire Trovoli clan is a shining example of that. But Enzo’s mother was an outsider who had been promised the world by a man who had nothing to give. She was foolish and desperate. And it cost her her life.

“We were double-checking to see if she had left a note. Enzo said it was out of character not to. But when I opened the door—” Elise chokes on her own sobs, burying her face in my chest as she tries to explain what she saw. Her sobs are violent, shaking my body as she clutches my shirt.

We’ve been in the lobby for an hour as the police turn this posh complex into a crime scene. I shift my attention to Enzo. He is sitting on the cushions as police ask him questions, but his expression is blank. The only movement he gives is when his mother is wheeled out under a white sheet.

I know that expression all too well.

Shock.

And while I wasn’t expecting this to happen, I couldn’t have planned it any better myself. Enzo’s mother had become a problem—a problem I was more than happy to eradicate when the time came. Unfortunately, I once again underestimated Arianna. She is out for blood now that her husband and her family are dead. As it turns out, she doesn’t need her husband to make use of those higher-up connections that came with him.

Enzo’s mother and Arianna were not only using her son to fund their venture, but were able to secure a group threatening enough to attempt to take my life. Neither of them accounted for who I am, however. And it cost one of them their lives, and the poor souls they dragged into this. Now, Arianna is back on the run, and Enzo is an orphan.

At this point, it is stupid for me not to wash my hands of this kid. I killed his mother. And if he ever finds out, he will be a problem. He has consistently fucked up from the moment I introduced him into this world, proving himself unfit to be part of the Pasquino empire. My last resort was giving him work around the house, trying to find some kind of purpose for him, seeing as his death would cause a rift between Elise and me.

Now that he has seen what can become of loved ones in this world, maybe he will come to understand it better. Maybe now I can use him and his desire to avenge his mother once I convince him this was the Trovolis. I can use his desperation to mold him into the proper soldier for my cause.

“We’ll contact you if we have anymore questions,” the officer comfortingly says to Elise. I gently rub her back, locking eyes with the cop. If only Elise knew this officer and that more than seventy percent of the police department are in my back pocket.

He probably already knows this is my doing.

But with Enzo’s mother’s past, they will chalk this up to gang violence or a burned dealer and move on within the week. I just hate that Elise is the one who discovered my handiwork.

“What about Enzo?” Elise asks.

I fight my immediate reaction as she says his name aloud, not realizing her mistake. I figured she knew who he was. She thinks she is a master sneak as she hides in the bushes and corners of the house. But I have cameras everywhere. And I’ve been in this business long enough to know when someone is spying.

Still, it irritates me that she took one of the cars, evading her driver to knowingly transport her brother. She not only put her life in danger but also betrayed me once again for her family.

“He’s almost eighteen. So he’ll probably go to a home for a few months, and they’ll cut him loose once—”

“Elise, go wait in the car,” I say, interrupting the cop.

She watches me with red eyes before nodding, and I watch her leave, making sure Romelo sees her as he escorts her outside and into the car before turning back to the officer.

“I want no record of him. Scrub it all clean,” I say, turning away.

“But Mr. Pasquino, I at least have to—”

“The fuck did you say to me?” I ask.

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