Page 3 of The Enforcer's Brat

"Maybe I could stay here for a while?" Giulia's voice was small, uncertain. "Just until things cool down. I know it's a lot to ask, but?—"

Enzo held up a hand, cutting her off. "Giulia, you know I'd do anything for a friend. But harboring the daughter of my family's biggest rival? That's not just crossing a line, that's obliterating it."

Giulia's face fell, and Enzo felt like he'd kicked a puppy. He sighed, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "Look, I can't let you stay here. But I might know a place. Let me make some calls, okay?"

Her answering smile was watery but grateful. "Thanks, Enzo. You're a good friend."

As Enzo reached for his phone, it buzzed with an incoming call. His father's name flashed on the screen, and Enzo's stomach dropped. Whatever was coming, he had a feeling it wasn't going to be good.

"I have to take this," he said, stepping out onto the balcony. With a deep breath, he answered the call. "Hey, Dad. What's up?"

His father's voice was cold, controlled fury evident in every syllable. "My office. One hour. Don't be late."

The line went dead before Enzo could respond. He stared at the phone, a sense of impending doom settling over him. Whatever his father had found out, it was bad. Really bad.

Enzo went back inside, his appetite gone. "I have to go," he told Giulia. "Family stuff. Will you be okay here for a bit? I'll sort out that safe place for you as soon as I can."

Giulia nodded, concern evident in her eyes. "Of course. Enzo, I'm sorry if I've caused trouble for you. I never meant?—"

"It's not your fault," Enzo assured her, even as dread coiled in his gut. "Just...lay low, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can."

As Enzo showered and dressed, his mind raced. Had his father found out about Giulia? About his interference in Bianchi family business? Or was this about something else entirely?

He thought of the mysterious stranger from the club, wondering idly if the man had any connection to his current predicament. It was unlikely, but in Enzo's world, coincidences were rare.

Whatever was waiting for him in his father's office, Enzo knew one thing for certain: his life was about to change. He could feel it in his bones, a shift in the air like the calm before a storm.

As he stepped into the elevator of the Ricci family's corporate headquarters, Enzo straightened his tie and squared his shoulders. He was Enzo fucking Ricci, heir to the most powerful crime family in Chicago. Whatever his father threw at him, he could handle it.

But even as he tried to psych himself up, a small voice in the back of his mind whispered a warning. This was just the beginning. The real test, the real danger, was yet to come.

And somewhere in the city, a pair of steel-gray eyes watched and waited, biding their time until fate brought them face to face with the wild child of the Ricci family once more.

CHAPTER 2

PLAYING WITH FIRE

Enzo's footsteps echoed in the marble hallway leading to his father's office. Each step felt heavier than the last, dread coiling in his gut like a venomous snake. The Ricci family's corporate headquarters always felt more like a mausoleum to Enzo—cold, imposing, and full of ghosts.

He paused outside the ornate double doors, straightening his tie one last time. Whatever awaited him on the other side, he'd face it with the Ricci pride his father had drilled into him since birth. With a deep breath, he knocked.

"Come in." His father's voice, muffled by the thick wood, sent a shiver down Enzo's spine.

The office was exactly as Enzo remembered—all dark wood and leather, reeking of cigars and power. Don Ricci sat behind his massive desk, his face an inscrutable mask. But it was the other man in the room that made Enzo's heart stutter.

Steel-gray eyes met his, and Enzo felt the floor drop out from under him. It was him. The stranger from the club. Up close, he was even more devastating—tall and broad-shouldered, with a face that looked like it had been carved from marble by a Renaissance master.

"Enzo," his father's sharp voice cut through his daze. "Sit down."

Enzo tore his gaze away from the stranger, sinking into one of the chairs facing his father's desk. He could feel the weight of that steel gaze on him, making his skin prickle with awareness.

"Do you know why you're here?" Don Ricci asked, his tone deceptively calm.

Enzo swallowed hard. "I assume it has something to do with last night."

His father's eyes narrowed. "Last night. Yes, let's talk about last night. About how my son, my heir, was seen leaving Club Inferno with Giulia Bianchi."

Shit. Enzo's mind raced, trying to find a way to explain that wouldn't end with him sleeping with the fishes. "Dad, it's not what you think. Giulia was in trouble. I was just helping out a friend."

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