Page 7 of Vicious Fall

And I know that if this was even a week ago, he would have tried to wring my neck for toying with him. I wouldn’t have gotten away with keeping the details of my conversation with Diamond to myself for even five seconds.

And a week ago, I was ready to kill him.

Had actually gotten a hit placed on him.

I still hate him, still wish I could get out of this house and away from all this shit, but…

Thingsdofeel a little different.

A tide has shifted in this house and I don’t know where I’ll wash up.

I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not, to be truthful, but I’ll figure that out later.

My eyes move to Enzo, he’s still hovering by the door, keeping his mouth shut. His bulky form is stiff, his blue eyes lacking emotion. He’s always been the quietest of the group, but lately he’s taken it to a new level. I know it has a lot to do with the fact that he and Maximo aren’t on good terms right now.

It’d started when Maximo had done something crazy, I think Enzo said he attacked him or something along those lines, before he’d stormed out, stealing Enzo’s car. I think Maixmo bought it for him. And then there’d been an attack on the family and Enzo had panicked, trying to get in touch with Maximo, who hadn’t picked up his phone.

It’d sent Enzo into a path of desperation. A path that somehow led to him sleeping with me. Good sex that I can’t say I regret. Sex without Maximo giving us directions or watching or joining in. We both should have known it was the calm before the storm.

Because when the storm came it was in the form of Maximo Costa and a gun. He’d threatened to kill Enzo, giving him one of those ‘if I can’t have you to myself then I’ll kill you’ sermons.

Which he’d almost done when he fired a bullet right beside Enzo’s head. I’d heard that part of the story from Lucia, because at that point, I’d already been rushed from the room.

My bedroom, to be exact, which had been left marred by the bullet hole and a couple of holes from Maximo’s fist.

The two have not been on good terms since.

I haven’t seen them in a room together often and when I have, Enzo has refused to look at Maximo, while Maximo looks like he isn’t sure whether he wants to fuck Maximo orreallykill him this time.

“Enzo, you’re dismissed,” Giovanni says, bringing my attention back to the room.

Enzo seems hesitant as he looks at me. I can’t help the little flutter that moves through my stomach at it.

I have to remind myself not to confuse passionate sex for anything but what it is.

But I know I’m going to fail, the same way that I have been failing to ignore the warm feelings that move through me whenever Vito Bianchi enters the room.

Even the way I feel about the two blood Costa brothers has changed, though I can’t describe how.

My heart and head feel like they’ve been going through a blender as I try to keep up with all the emotions I feel for four different men.

They range from hate to lust to longing.

And they all leave me feeling like a fucking idiot.

No one in this house really cares about me, they care about what I can offer them.

Sex, servitude, vengeance.

Which is why I force myself to look away from Enzo and act like I don’t see the emotions in his eyes.

Which leaves me looking at Giovanni and thesuspicionin his gaze.

I stare at him head on, even as I hear the door close as Enzo leaves the room.

The silence in the room is thick and Giovanni’s stare is intense, but I refuse to let it intimidate me. He’s one of those men that latches onto any sign of weakness, clasping it in his grasp and squeezing until he’s exposed every little piece.

He takes a seat opposite me and I twist my body a little to get a better look at him, keeping my leg propped. His lips turn downward as he studies my crutches on the table.

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