Page 10 of The Bond

“Valentina...”

“Don’t try to talk me out of it,” I warned, my eyes narrowing. “Besides, with all these demands to know what I want, you haven’t revealed a thing.”

He granted me a sardonic half-smile. “You really don’t miss anything, do you?”

“Not much.”

Enzo’s smile vanished and he lowered his hands to cross his arms across his chest. There was a thoughtful furrow to his eyebrows.

“What I want is for you to trust me again,” he said at last. “Assuming that you once did.”

I had trusted him once. More than cared to admit. And more than I should have. After I accepted that he wasn’t responsible for the attempt on my father’s life, I had come to rely on Enzo. We’d basically lived under the same roof to try and stay safe. But really, we’d decided to live in close quarters to protect each other. I’d needed Enzo, and I had assumed that he needed me just as much.

Discovering that our bond had all been based on a ruse hurt more than I could ever express to him. I was like I was losing the one person I had ever forged a real relationship with.

People couldn’t really choose their parents. But they could choose their friends. They could choose their partners. With Enzo, it had started to feel like I could have a friend, a partner, and a lover all at once. What a fool I was to believe that I would ever find that at all, considering the life I led. Even more foolish to believe I would find that with a De Luca.

It was time to accept that my parents’ love story was rare. A once in a generation type of love that I’d never get to experience. Maybe it was easier when the man was the mafioso. Something about being a woman in a dangerous man’s world made vulnerability so much more dangerous.

I had been well and truly played, a heartbreak that I would obviously never recover from. Extending any kind of trust to Enzo at this late hour was a stupid thing to do, and yet, I was preparing to marry him for heaven’s sake. Getting into a marriage with a man I could not trust and wished I could stop loving was a heartache that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. The torment tore my heart to pieces over and over. Creating a never-ending pain that I would have to live with for the rest of my life. And if I remained married to Enzo, it would be a life with enough regret to slowly drive me to the edge of madness. How could I possibly marry a man who would never love me? It was like torture and I would experience it forever and far more intensely if I married him.

But as terrible as a loveless marriage was, the only thing worse than that was a lifetime without him. Somehow, as bad as it felt now, losing him would destroy what remained of my heart. Without Enzo, I would be hollow, numb to the world, and that future seemed worse than the pain I was experiencing how.

“You truly think you can succeed in winning me over? After everything you and your family have put me through?” I demanded in harsh tones.

“I have to believe that I can succeed, Valentina,” he said. “If we’re going to be married, we’ll have to trust each other. Unless...you’re planning on a divorce after we’ve caught this would-be killer.”

“I can’t think that far ahead right now,” I answered truthfully. “Right now, my focus is on catching this hitman before he can strike again. Until we’re all safe, nothing else really matters.”

Nothing else. Not my heart. Not my pain. Family first. I was a Romano and my loyalty was to them and them alone.

“He’s clearly gone underground,” Enzo said. “Assuming that nothing’s happened while I was in the hospital?”

“Nothing,” I responded honestly. “He hasn’t made a move against us and the authorities still haven’t caught the bank bomber.”

“The trail is going cold...” Enzo raked a hand through his hair in frustration. He’d had his hair cut a couple of times in the hospital, but it was still longer than it had been before. Dark locks fell over his eyes, making him look ruthless, rakish, and gorgeous all at once.

My stomach did flip-flops and I had to force myself to take several breaths so I could get composed. There was no point in drooling over him at a time like this. With the wedding fast approaching, I’d need to wrench back control of my longing and desire. I couldn’t walk down the aisle with my head in the clouds like a typical bride. I would need strength and stamina to face all my potential enemies at the wedding. I’d need to be laser-focused on keeping my family safe while we chased after a hitman who wanted to harm all of us.

“If he’s laying low, there’s a chance he’s waiting to resurface at the wedding,” I said, cold fear slipping down my spine. I’d already ordered heightened security for the wedding while Enzo had been recovering, but it was looking like we were going to need even more.

“We’ll have to double the security,” he said.

“I already arranged for bomb-sniffing dogs and your father made assurances about security via text, but we really are going to have to secure every single thing,” I said, nodding.

“Including the food. Because if he targets the wedding, he will stop at nothing,” Enzo said. “Who’s catering?”

“One of my dad’s restaurants,” I replied. “They’re even doing the cakes. Since they’re just not up to the job of doing one massive cake, we’re getting smaller tiered cakes instead. Not ideal, but we don’t have many luxuries last minute no matter how many favors we call in.”

“I can get more of my people on that. I’ll get extra security for the food,” he said.

“We should probably double security for the wedding rehearsal as well,” I said.

“Right. The rehearsal,” Enzo replied.

“The rehearsal is the day before the wedding,” I reminded him. “You’ve been recovering, so I wouldn’t expect you to remember everything—”

“I’ll be there,” he assured me. “We’ll run through everything with the added security. I’ll spend today making phone calls so my family and our associates know I’m back in town.”