Page 23 of The Enforcer

“I’ll watch over Shae while you’re away,” Giulio says seriously.

Salvo shakes his head. “She comes with me.” His voice is so hard that it sucks the air out of the room with a crackling tension. Giulio takes an unconscious step back.

My fingers stop moving over my phone screen. “I…don’t know how the other women will react to that,” I say carefully.

Salvo smiles. “I imagine that they will put up a fight.”

“Zahra seems very meek, but that’s just a façade,” Giulio says.

Salvo and I stare at him. “If you think Zahra seems meek, then love is clouding your vision much more seriously than I thought,” Salvo says, with more tact than I could have managed.

“Your head is too far up her pussy if you think she’s meek,” I agree.

Giulio smiles and shrugs. “It is a great place to be. You should try it sometime.”

“Later,” Salvo says. He takes a deep breath before opening the door.

Zoe

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” I say. “I’m not letting you take my cousin halfway across the country.”

“She’ll be safe with me,” Salvatore says.

“Oh, I believe that. One hundred percent. Whatever this is, is very adorable, actually. But we were sent here to get this one—” I point at my sister.

“I have a name,” she says childishly.

I ignore her. “—and return home. Whatever gang war is brewing here seems dangerous. That sucks for y’all. I’ll take these two home and get back to my life. Hope it works out for everyone in the end.”

“Um, I’m not going home,” Zahra says.

“What?” Shae and I screech.

Zahra’s eyes are wide. “I don’t mean like ever. Chill. I just mean like right now. I’m staying here with Giulio.” He’s beaming at her words. “Don’t get cocky,” she tells him.

“Of course not,” he laughs.

“Hello, have you missed the whole gang war thing happening around us? No sex is good enough for that,” I say.

Giulio turns to me and winks. “You might be surprised.”

I snap my fingers at him, and he frowns. “Tighten up, Romeo. We’re talking about important shit here.”

Alfonso doubles over in laughter behind me.

I turn to my cousin. “Shae, you don’t have to go with him. You know that, right?”

She looks at me with big, blinking eyes that begin to water. “I know,” she says.

“Of course, she doesn’t,” Salvatore says.

She turns to him. “It is not a bad idea,” he concedes, “for you to leave the country. You would be safer as far as away from me as you can get. And I will not lie; I would be happier knowing that you were safe. It would make everything easier. And you deserve to have a better life than running from danger with me.”

“Shut up!” she screams, pushing away from him and standing abruptly. She’s speaking to Salvatore, but I think everyone in the room freezes.

I look at Zahra with wide eyes and make eye contact with my sister. I know we’re both thinking the same thing. If this goes left, I’ll hit the big one over the head with my chair or something, and she can use Giulio’s feelings for her to incapacitate him in some way. The three of us can maybe take Salvatore on, and then we’ll just have to run for our lives. Or something.

“You said that before, that I deserved better. That I should go back to my life, but my life fucking sucks. My boyfriend—”

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