Page 27 of Rome for the Holidays
“What did you do with Enzo?”
“He is on a slab. I wasn’t certain what you wanted me to do with his body, but his followers were incinerated.”
“Good. I will take care of Enzo’s body.”
Carlo stayed silent again, and within a few minutes, they were pulling into the driveway.
“We got a new security system while you were in the hospital. I will make sure you know all the codes.”
Vincenzo nodded, and Carlo pulled up, “The men I caught who were loyal to Enzo are in the dungeon.”
Vincenzo rolled his head on his shoulders, “I’m ready.”
This had been part of his training. He had paid attention to everything Enzo had shown him with this sort of thing.
And he wasn’t afraid to try it now.
* * *
A FEW MONTHS LATER.
Vincenzo sat behind his desk, when Gio walked in, his hands full of letters.
Vincenzo felt his heart drop. He knew he hadn’t taken the time to write to Harper lately. Not with everything that had been going on.
She must think he hated her. Closing his eyes, he couldn’t believe what a fucking asshole he had been.
He thought of her daily and had written to her but had never sent the letters.
His life had to be settled first. With the war that happened between his soldiers and the Agosti family, it had been brutal.
He had come out on top, because he had taken out their don, but had lost a lot of good men in the war.
He had banished the Agosti’s from Italy and told them that he never wanted to hear their name spoken again.
His mother was proud of him, not even bothering to stop the war.
They had killed her husband, and almost killed Elio.
Elio was home now but was still fragile. He had been hit right next to his heart, barely missing the organ, and ripping through his lung, which they had to repair, though it took a lot of doing.
So, she had been on his side with his decision to go to war.
She hadn’t brought up that he had been promised to the Agosti daughter and he was grateful.
But now that life was settled more, he wanted to get his girl.
It was time. And it needed to start with him groveling at her feet for letting her believe he didn’t care. Letting her believe he abandoned her.
That would never happen. She was his. Still. He had never forgotten her and had her picture in his wallet and her name tattooed on his chest, right over his heart.
He looked over at Gio, “What’s wrong? Is she angry?”
Gio shook his head, “No. It is worse than that. She is done.”
Vincenzo stood, “Fuck. I did not want this to happen. I could not bring her into this or tell her anything that was going on. I did not want to have someone find out about her. She is too vulnerable. They would have taken her just because she was important to me.”
Gio nodded, “I know. I understand that, but the fact that you went silent and never wrote to her for months broke her.”
