Page 19 of The Enforcer

9Zoe

Alfonso won’t stop staringat me.

Now that I know their names, nothing much changes besides the fact that Alfonso only addresses me by my name while still trying to burn a hole in my bra with his gaze. Giulio is still flirting with Zahra shamelessly, and whatever the fuck is happening between Shae and Salvatore is still very intense.

“Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” I cry to no one in particular for what feels like the hundredth time today.

Of course, Alfonso is the only one who registers that I’ve spoken at all. He looks at me with a bunched brow, but that doesn’t answer my question. I roll my eyes and stare at the side of Salvatore’s face, hoping that he will feel my gaze boring into his cheek.

He does not.

So, I shift my eyes to Shae. Thankfully, she gets the hint.

Shae turns toward me, and the wistful grin that’s been inching onto her face falls. “Huh?” she asks.

I roll my eyes and push up from my chair, and everyone else at the table finally looks in my direction. Alfonso leans back in his seat, the smile on his face widening as he takes me in from head to toe.

“What. The. Fuck. Is going on?” I pose the question again, but this time I wave my hands wildly at the table. “Who the fuck are these dudes?”

Salvatore frowns. “We’ve introduced ourselves already. Should we do it again?” He aims this question at Shae with a furrowed brow. The subtext of his question — I decide — is to ask her if I’m the dimmest bulb in the box.

Which is offensive, by the way.

I scoff. “I know who you are, but how in the fuck did you meet my cousin, and then a few months later, he,” I gesture toward Giulio, “meet my sister? That’s a little too much of a coincidence for me.”

Alfonso jabs Giulio in his side. “Exactly what I wanted to know. I like her.”

I ignore him and look at my sister and cousin. They look at the men next to them. I scoff in disgust. Haven’t I raised them better than this?

This question only has seconds to form in my mind before I push it away because I absolutely have. I snap my fingers and pull their attention back to me. At least they have the wherewithal to blush in embarrassment. Good. Imagine looking to a man for answers.

“Something’s up,” I say.

“It’s a coincidence,” Salvatore says.

“Bullshit,” I shoot back at him. I see Shae bristle in my peripheral vision.

That’s interesting.

“Shae and I met in late winter. She came here by chance.”

Sounds fake, but okay, so I turn to Zahra.

She has the nerve to smile and then shrug. “I met Giulio at my honeymoon hotel,” Zahra says in a breezy tone. She actually has the nerve to fucking sigh and sink into her chair while staring deep into his eyes. “I hated him for a few days, and then…” Her voice trails off.

“And then?”

She kisses him instead of answering me. I roll my eyes and turn to my cousin. “Shae?” I’m not really asking her a specific question, so of course, I don’t get a useful answer.

“I-I came to Naples when I was in Italy with Steve,” she says, her eyes darting nervously toward Salvatore.

“Yes, you already told us that.”

“Ugh.” Zahra pulls away from Giulio’s mouth just long enough to express her annoyance.

“I told you she broke up with him.”

“I know. I’m just sayin’,” she says and then kisses Giulio’s cheek.

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