Page 25 of The Enforcer

11Zoe

I look left and right,making eye contact with everyone except Shae and Salvatore because they’re only looking at one another. Zahra, Alfonso, Giulio, and I are shocked. None of this is going the way I expected on the flight over. This is far more complicated than the Aunties thought it would be.

I sigh, knowing that I’ll have to send them a message soon explaining why this wasn’t a quick return trip, and I have no fucking idea how I’ll make sense of all this. And apparently, now I can’t even ask Shae for help.

“This is the worst fucking daytime soap ever,” I mumble.

“Worst or best?” Alfonso whispers to me. “I would watch this faithfully.”

I turn to him and frown. He smiles in return. I snap in his face, but unlike Giulio, he seems to enjoy it.

Alfonso and I turn at the sound of Salvatore’s voice. “Then it’s settled,” he says in a thick voice that even makes me shudder. “You will come with me. We have a lot to consider.”

“Oh, good,” Alfonso says. “What do you want us to do?”

Giulio waves his hand and scoffs in annoyance.

Alfonso shrugs. “This is my job. Your job as well.”

“He’s right,” Salvatore says.

“I don’t think it is a good idea for us to be together. We need to know who’s coming after you, but we don’t need to make it easy for them to take us all out at once. That’s what I would do.”

Zahra and I look at one another. Her eyes are wide, but I’m squinting at her because what the fuck has she gotten us all into?

“My bad,” she mouths. “I think I love him.”

I roll my eyes.

Salvatore takes a few seconds of quiet to think. He shoves one hand into his pants pocket, but the other flattens against Shae’s stomach. I see my cousin’s bottom lip quiver and her eyes water when she looks at him. I look back at Zahra.

“Awww,” she mouths.

“It’s cute,” I mouth back. I’m not heartless.

“Shae and I will go south,” Salvatore says. “Giulio will stay here with Zahra.” My sister squeaks and throws her arms around Giulio’s shoulders.

“Gag,” I say, and Alfonso chuckles.

Salvatore turns to us. “Alfonso, you should leave as well.”

He nods. “I shouldn’t go far.”

Salvatore agrees. “I’m sorry to ask this of you,” he says with surprisingly kind eyes. “I imagine this might get complicated.”

It’s strange, but in that moment, I can see what Shae might have seen in him.

Alfonso shrugs. “It’s fine. My mother will be so happy that she’ll feed me well, at least.”

Salvatore smiles. “Take her,” he says, nodding toward me.

“Excuse me?” I shriek.

Salvatore looks at me. “Whoever is after me saw you this morning. You three are hard to miss.”

“We have great genes,” Zahra says.

“The best,” Alfonso agrees, leaning toward me.

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