Page 70 of Mafia Princess

He turned his murderous glare to me. “And you let him?”

“Not exactly. She went with him.”

“Freely?”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. But like I told your brother, he whispered something to her, and whatever he told her, it convinced her to go with him without a fight.”

Antonio’s eyes went wide, his face pale. “Do you know what he told her?”

“No, but whatever it was, it was enough to get her into the back of that car with him.”

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered, and the expression on his face was like he just deciphered the entire Book of Revelation. He looked at Dante. “He’s blackmailing her.”

Dante rubbed the back of his neck. “The tape?”

Antonio nodded, and I was a second away from dishing out an ass beating if someone didn’t tell me what the fuck was going on.

“Gentlemen, mobsters, or whatever the fuck you like to call yourselves. Mind enlightening me?”

Two pairs of dark eyes glared my way. If I were any other man, I probably would have shrunk to a miniature of pathetic masculinity, but I wasn’t. I was a man who would turn this goddamn earth upside down to find her. I’d gladly take on the deepest pits of hell if it meant finding her as soon as fucking possible. But I saw the Valenti brothers hesitate. They didn’t trust me. But that was just too fucking bad. “Look, I don’t care if you’re hiding weapons of mass destruction in your goddamn back yard, but I will kick both your asses if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on and what tape you’re talking about…right fucking now!”

Antonio took an intimidating step forward. “Why don’t you tell us why you’re so goddamn concerned about her?”

I stepped closer to him, figuring if I had to punch him in the goddamn face to get my point across, I would do it. “Listen to me. Whatever is happening between me and your sister is none of your goddamn business. Now, either you help me find her, or I will do it myself.”

An epic stare-off between two testosterone-laden alphas commenced. We glared at each other as if whoever was stronger would stare the other one to death by turning him into fucking ash.

“Okay.” Dante placed his hand on Antonio’s shoulder, urging him to back off. “We need to figure out what the hell Enzio’s deal is, and finding Karina is our number one priority right now. You two can kill each other later.” Dante turned toward me. “I think you need to come in and sit down.”

Oh, fuck me sideways.

***

KARINA

A part of me always knew it was only a matter of time before my mistake would come back to haunt me. I’d had sleepless nights over what happened between me and Enzio four years ago. Crying myself to sleep became part of my nighttime routine for months after that night. Eventually, it got easier, or I just got better at suppressing the pain and compartmentalizing the memories. But now, after watching that tape, all the pain came rushing back as the memories resurfaced. The only difference was back then all my pain was directed at Enzio because of the way he hurt me, the way he broke my heart. Now my pain was consuming me because I knew it was my own damn fault for being here in the middle of this mess. It was because of a naïve mistake I’d made that I was currently staring at the man I hated most.

“Something on your mind, little lamb?” He leaned back casually in his chair and unbuttoned his suit jacket.

I glanced around the room. It still looked exactly as I remembered. Beige walls, white carpet, king sized bed covered with gold and chocolate-colored sheets. The only things missing from this picture were the hundreds of candles he lit that night, which at the time I thought was the most romantic gesture. But now I knew it was simply another brick he laid down while paving his road to my ultimate humiliation.

I walked toward the window and stared outside. It was dark, but I knew somewhere in the distance was the ocean, waves crashing over a few rocks to the left, while water calmly covered the sand just a few feet away. Amazing how the ocean could seem so calm and beautiful on one side, and then if you looked just a little further, you’d see its anger, the violence and destruction as it slammed against the rocks, the sound thundering through the air.

I wrapped my arms tighter around my chest. “I should have known you’d bring me here, of all places.”

“Where else would I take you? This place holds some of my best memories.”

I snorted. “I’m sure it does.” I turned back to face him. “Wish I could say the same.”

Enzio’s leering gaze swept over my body, making me feel naked and vulnerable. He got up from his seat, stalking toward me with an inscrutable look in his eyes that sent a chill down my spine.

I took a step back. “Don’t you dare touch me, Enzio.”

“Funny, the last time we were in this room, you practically begged me not to stop touching you.”

“That was because you deceived me into thinking you actually loved me and cared for me.”

He didn’t stop his slow approach. “I did love you. I still do.”

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