Page 49 of The Enforcer

“I don’t believe that.”

She smiles and turns to continue down the steps. It’s easy to follow her lead. The sun is high in the sky now, unlike when we’d ascended. We pass a cluster of tourists, making their way up from the beach, it looks like. Zoe waits until they’re well away up the mountain before she speaks again.

“I thought I’d figured you out in Naples. Big, scary brute. The muscle. The threat that Salvatore and Giulio use, so they don’t get their hands dirty.”

If Giulio was here, I think he’d agree with the spirit of Zoe’s assessment but would take serious offense to the idea that he wasn’t a threat because he is. He understands that he’s just a weapon of another sort in Salvo’s arsenal. We both know who we are.

But I think Salvatore would smile, maybe nod, and then compliment her, but he wouldn’t confirm or deny her assessment. Working with Salvo had taught me that the deadliest weapons seem deceptively benign. Besides those minor details, however, Zoe is right about me and my brothers.

She shakes her head quickly and glances at me. “But then we got here, and now I’m not so sure.” She holds her hand out as if to accentuate this point. “I mean, you’re definitely dangerous. I’m just saying that I guess now, I don’t think that’s all you are.”

“You’re wrong,” I tell her, practically cutting her off. “That’s it. That’s exactly who I am. When we were young, I was always getting into trouble, always fighting, always embarrassing my parents. Salvo helped me turn all that…chaos into a career. But a weapon is exactly who I am.”

We walk for a dozen or so steps in silence. I peek at Zoe out of the corner of my eye. She’s not looking at me. Instead, she’s either watching her feet as she takes each step carefully, or she’s looking out at the sea view.

I hate too much silence. Always have. It’s how I always got in trouble when I was younger. I didn’t like to lie, and I’m not the best at keeping petty secrets.

“Well…” I say.

She looks at me in confusion. “Huh?”

“Do you have anything to say?”

She shrugs. “Nope. I gave up on trying to make men feel better about themselves in college. Waste of time if you ask me. If you say you’re a menace, who am I to tell you you’re not? I don’t even know you. Oh, thank God, we’re here.”

Zoe brushes past me on the small steps and marches toward Nicola’s gate. I follow her but at a distance, confusion slowing my steps.

Zoe, however, isn’t interested in my distraction. “Hurry up,” she calls over her shoulder. “I need some water and to get the hell out of this dress.”

My eyes move to her body again. “Oh,” I breathe, distracted again but in a different way.

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