Page 55 of King of the Bronx

Chapter Twenty-Four

Enzo

“Where’s your wife?” Cole asked as I held the door open for him so he could walk into my apartment.

“I don’t know,” I replied, closing the door behind him.

Cole raised an eyebrow in question.

“She stormed off after I asked if she still wanted to work in the brothel,” I clarified, even though I didn’t need to. I walk past him down the hall to my office, and Cole followed behind me.

“Women,” he mumbled.

I grabbed the bottle of scotch off the shelf behind my desk and poured him a drink. Usually, I’d have a drink too—God knew I needed one—but with Raven not at the apartment, if I had to jump into action, I needed to be sober.

“It doesn’t make sense. All I did was ask a valid question. She doesn’t have to work there anymore. I just wanted to make sure it’s what she wanted.”

Cole swirled his drink but didn’t say anything.

“What?” I asked.

“You really want my opinion?” Cole asked.

I let out a sigh and sat down in the oversized chair. “Go ahead.”

“She risked her life to get the money to save that place. Then, she agreed to marry a man she barely knew, and now, she’s giving up all her control because she believes you can save her friend. She did all that for the brothel. Your question is insulting.”

Fuck. Cole was right. She never asked for my help. I was the one who swooped in and felt the need to save her. It was like a punch in the gut, knowing that she really didn’t need me. She was strong, and I should have known that she wasn’t just going to just give up everything she’d worked for because I put a ring on her finger—a ring that I had assured her meant nothing except that I would protect her. I was trying to force a true marriage out of something that happened out of necessity.

My phone vibrated against the desk. My screen showed an unknown number. I looked up at Cole, but he just shrugged his shoulders. I snatched the phone and pressed it to my ear, waiting for the person on the other end to start talking.

“Hello? Raven?” The sound of the woman’s voice made me sit up straight in my chair.

“Erica?” I asked. “This is Enzo. Where are you?”

There was rustling on the other side of the phone before a male voice came over the speaker.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

What the fuck? I raked my brain, running through my enemies. Who would target the brothel? I pulled the phone away from my ear and put it on speaker so Cole could listen in.

“Who is this?” I asked, barely keeping my anger in check. Obviously, the man was stupid if he thought he was going to get away with this.

“You think you can kill our people without consequences? The mafia needs to stay the hell away from our neighborhoods like we’ve warned you. The Bronx isn’t afraid of you.”

My eyes meet Cole’s across the desk. It had to be the street gang. I’d almost forgotten about them in the chaos of everything else going on.

“If you ever want to see your girl—”

The laugh that bubbles out of me cut off whatever the man was about to say. The idiot thought they had Raven.

“If you really think I’m going to negotiate with you, you have another thing coming.”

Cole pulled a device out from his pocket and set it next to the phone. We would have their location in a matter of minutes. It was almost too easy.

“What’s your plan after this? Kidnap my girl, get me out of your neighborhood, and then what? You think you’d live to see the next day? You’re coming after the biggest criminal organization in North America with a half-assed plan and a twenty-person gang. You’re a fool.”

A red light on the device lit up, and Cole gave me the thumbs up. I rose from my chair and tucked my Desert Eagle into the back of my jeans.

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