Page 99 of Savage Enemy

“Stop it. Enzo, stop. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

“No!” He wouldn’t stop fighting.

He left me no choice but to squeeze the delicate bones in his wrist until his fingers opened and the knife clattered to the floor. Then I kicked it, sending it spinning away from us both with a swirling scrape of steel across the marble floor.

“You promised, Mr. Vignali. You promised!”

Tears poured from him in an endless stream, his whole body shaking with sobs. And still, he flailed against my grasp, though he’d already weakened himself substantially.

I wanted to toss him aside and escape to my bedroom suite.

Instead, I wrapped my arms around the boy, pinning his arms to his sides and holding his trembling body against my chest. My heart twisted violently as he still tried to fight me. A strange crackling sound rose in my throat, a mix of torment and yet another apology.

His heartbreak would be the death of me.

I understood what went on inside him, and I couldn’t bear to witness his pain. So much like my own.

“Take a deep breath, Enzo,” I whispered. “I made a vow to you, and I will keep it.”

I shouldn’t have yelled at him. Guilt tore at my insides, but I didn’t know how to handle it. I didn’t know how to be a father to the nine-year-old son I hadn’t raised. I needed Val. Only she could teach me how to be the parent Enzo needed.

Seeing him like this, holding my son while he screamed and cried, reminded me I wasn’t the only one who needed her back. Anything less than storming that motherfucker’s house and taking her by force wouldn’t cut it.

“Enzo,” I said when his crying calmed, and his body relaxed against mine.

He sniffed. “What?”

“I’m leaving tonight to go back to Chicago. I’m taking her by force. I had to try the diplomatic way first. I tried running the back channels. I tried everything I could to get your mother back peacefully. Those avenues have run their course.”

He pulled away and blinked up at me, tears still shimmering in his wide eyes.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that now I’m going in a second time, and I won’t hold back. It means I will kill anyone who tries to get between me and bringing your mother home.” I thumbed a few tears from his velvety cheeks. “Do you understand?”

“I want to go with you.”

“Absolutely not. This won’t be anything like last time.”

“I’ll listen to you better this time,” he said.

I dipped my head to look him straight in the eye.

“I don’t believe that for a second, Enzo. I won’t be up against only one dangerous person like last time. It’s not just one man’s basement. I’m going into a mansion, maybe bigger than ours, filled with men who shoot at anyone. They wouldn’t think twice about shooting you.”

“I don’t care. I want to get her back as much as you do.”

“I know you do, son, but I can’t bring you with me. I need you to trust me on this. It’s different this time.”

“How? How am I supposed to trust you? I don’t even know you. You think buying me an Xbox and not making me go back to school is all it takes?”

So fucking smart, this kid.

“I know it’s not enough. But neither of us has a choice in this situation. We just have to trust each other.”

Enzo backed away from me, pulling out of my grasp, and this time, I let him go.

“I hate you,” he said coldly.

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