Page 86 of Sinful Bride

Enzo is already there when I arrive. He's standing outside the building, smoking a cigarette, looking relaxed and unconcerned. Like this is just another evening, just another problem to solve.

"Declan." He nods in greeting. "Thank you for bringing him."

"Is Salvatore here?"

"No." He takes a drag of his cigarette. "I'll deal with him separately. Tonight we’ll deal with Dante."

We go inside. The building is sparse—concrete floors, bare walls, and a single chair in the center of the room. Dante is tied to the chair, his face bruised and bloody. Someone's already worked him over.

"Jesus," I mutter.

"He tried to run." Enzo drops his cigarette and grinds it out with his heel. "My men had to… convince him to stay."

Dante's eyes find mine. There's no hope in them anymore, only resignation. He knows how this ends.

"Dante." Enzo moves to stand in front of him. "I'm disappointed in you."

"Don." Dante's voice is hoarse. "Please, I was only ever working for you. I did everything you asked⁠—"

"I never asked you to spy on my son-in-law."

"But you did!" Dante's voice rises, desperate. "You told me to keep an eye on him. To report back on his operations⁠—"

"I told you no such thing." Enzo interrupts him coldly. "You're a liar, Dante. And liars have no place in my organization."

"No!" Dante is struggling against his restraints, panic overtaking him. "No, you can't—I did everything you asked! I gathered intelligence, I reported back, I⁠—"

Enzo pulls out a gun.

My stomach clenches. I can’t help but feel that there’s more to this, that it’s moving too quickly. But if Dante betrayed us both, he was never really my soldier. This is Enzo’s responsibility, and his right to punish him.

The shot is deafening in the small space. Dante's head snaps back, and then he's still. Blood pools beneath the chair, spreading across the concrete floor.

Enzo holsters his gun. "A shame," he says calmly. "He was a good soldier once. But he let ambition cloud his judgment."

I stare at Dante's body, and at the blood pooling across the floor. Enzo is already turning away casually, like he didn't just execute a man in cold blood.

"He said you ordered him to spy on me.”

"He was lying." Enzo meets my eyes. "Trying to save his own skin by implicating me. But I give you my word, Declan, I had nothing to do with this. If I wanted intelligence on your organization, I would have asked you directly. We're family now. There's no need for deception."

I want to believe him, that my father-in-law is being honest, that this was just a rogue operative acting on his own. But something about this feels wrong. The way Dante insisted Enzo had ordered him to spy. The way Enzo killed him so quickly, before he could say anything else.

But I don't have proof. And without proof, all I have is suspicion.

"Thank you for bringing him to me," Enzo says. "It's better this way. Clean. No loose ends."

"Yeah." I look at the body one more time. "No loose ends."

We walk back to the main house together. Enzo talks about business, moving on smoothly and carrying on conversation about upcoming deals and territory negotiations. I respond automatically, my mind still on Dante's final words.

I was only ever working for you.

Was he telling the truth? Or was it just a desperate lie, a last-ditch attempt to save himself?

I don't know. And that uncertainty is going to eat at me.

Dinner is tense. Elena sits across from me, beautiful in a dark green dress. She keeps glancing at me, trying to read my expression, but I keep my face neutral. I'll tell her everything later, when we're alone.