Page 70 of The Enforcer

28Alfonso

I wakeup to a pulsing ache everywhere.

My legs, my arms, my back, my lips. This isn’t the first time I’ve woken up this way, but it is the first time it’s ever felt this good. I feel like one big throbbing nerve. I blink awake, and all the blood in my body begins to pound as if it was waiting for me to regain consciousness so I can take full advantage of these new sensations.

The circular bite marks Zoe left in the meat of my thighs while she was using her hands and mouth on me. The slightly jagged scratches her fingernails made across my back, the wounds she gave me while I was grinding into her. And my lips, sore not just from her bite but all of the hours we spent kissing. I’ve never had a night like last night before, and I wake up with a hard cock and a numb arm because Zoe’s been using it as a pillow. I just add the tingling numbness to the rest of the things I’m feeling.

I smile up at the ceiling while I listen to the soft sounds of her sleeping. Not for nothing, but I think I could stay here all day, so of course, Nicola ruins it.

There’s a knock on the door, and I know it’s my brother. I spent my entire childhood being interrupted by him like this. Still, I don’t rush getting out of the bed. I take my time replacing my arm with a pillow underneath Zoe’s head, making sure not to disturb her sleep. I grab a towel that one of us — I don’t even remember who — threw there after a midnight dip in the pool. I hold it up against my groin and open the door, only just enough to glare at my brother.

There’s an annoying smile on his face already.

“Buongiorno. Comè e andata la tua serata?” He laughs loudly. “Cosa è successso al tuo labbro?”

“What do you want?” I hiss.

“Oh, I guess that means it was good,” he says, snaking his hand through the door and tapping at my shoulder.

I hiss when his fingers hit at the edges of one of Zoe’s wounds. That stinging pain isn’t the same as when she gave it to me. I shift away from his hand. “What do you want?” I ask again, this time through clenched teeth.

Nicola laughs, the piece of shit. “We need to go. Fast.” He looks as serious as he can.

“Nicola, what did you—”

He shakes his head sharply and cuts me off. “We can fight on the boat. Wake up my sister, and let’s go. Fifteen minutes.”

“Va fanculo,” I say.

“I’d tell you to do the same, but it seems as if Zoe took care of that. Buongiorno, sorella.”

“Good morning, Nicola. Are we making an escape?” she asks and then yawns.

I can’t turn around to look at her, not with Nicola here.

“Si, si. Just a little escape. But quick, no?”

She yawns again. “Okay.”

Nicola turns to me with a wink. “I like her more than you.”

I slam the door in his face.

Zoe

I don’t enjoy the boat ride back to Positano nearly as much because I sleep through it. But Alfonso does let me use his lap as a pillow, so I can’t say that I don’t enjoy it; it’s just not the same kind of luxury sunbathing.

When we make it to Positano, there’s a line to get to the pier, and while we wait, Alfonso goes to the cockpit to argue with Nicola. I’m nosy, so I rest my chin on my hands and boldly watch them while I’m only half awake.

They’re too engrossed in their argument to notice. Eventually, though, Nicola needs to focus on pulling alongside the pier, so he dismisses Alfonso with a sharp cut of his hand in the air, and I hear Alfonso grunt something in Italian as he comes back.

“We’re here,” he says in a surprisingly gentle voice.

“What were you fighting about?”

He picks the duffel bag of our clothes up and throws it over his shoulder. “Our shared ignorance,” he says nonchalantly and extends his hand to help me from the bench.

“Wanna share any details?” I ask as if I’m interviewing one of my subjects.

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