Page 92 of Enzo DeLuca

“Emelia, you and the Bianchi family will pay for this!” Enzo screamed into the phone.

“This may be the last time we talk,” Emelia said. “So, I’ll give you a final word of advice, cousin. Watch your back. And Stefan should watch his too. The two of you strut around Italy like you can’t be touched. What’s happening now is proof that you can. And the Bianchi’s aren’t the only...”

A horn blared over the phone, followed by screams and the sound of tires screeching. A crash sounded, metal scraping against metal. Did Eve also hear gunshots? What the hell was going on?

“Em,” Enzo called out. “Em! Answer me, Emelia DeLuca!”

It sounded like the world was exploding on the other end of the phone. A high-pitched scream filled the air. Eve knew that sound. Emelia was in pain. Suddenly, the line went dead.

“Fuck.” Enzo threw the phone. “Something’s happened,” he said.

“We can track her,” Stefan told him, pulling out his phone. “Your grandfather asked me to put a tracker on her car a few months ago. He said he was afraid the Sartori family would try to force her to accept their proposal. With that tracker, I’ll be able to locate her car.”

Enzo nodded. Eve stepped forward and grabbed his hand. He didn’t look her way. But he did squeeze her hand. No words were needed. She just wanted him to know she was there for him.

As Stefan pulled up the tracking app, Enzo asked, “Did you know? Did you know you were my brother?”

Not looking up from the phone, Stefan said, “Don Ermanno...”

“You should call him grandfather, right?” Enzo asked, voice dark, deadly.

Stefan lifted his head slowly. “Don Ermanno told me the truth when he told me to watch over you.”

Enzo scoffed. “He told you the truth, that you were a DeLuca, while also telling you to be my servant.”

“Not your servant, Enzo. He told me to be your brother. That’s what I’ve been trying to be.”

“Is that why you’ve been trying to take care of everything for me?”

“Isn’t that what brothers do?” Stefan asked.

Tears filled Enzo’s eyes. Stefan’s also. This was her first time seeing either of them like this. She couldn’t prevent tears from trickling down her cheeks as she watched both men try to hide what they were feeling.

“From where I’m standing,” Eve told them. “You both have already been acting like brothers. Now you know why. Blood recognizes blood.”

Stefan nodded, then cleared his throat just as a group of cars pulled into the driveway.

“Shit,” Eve muttered. “Should we run? It could be the police.”

Enzo pulled her close to his side. “I’ve got you.”

“It’s the clean-up crew,” Stefan informed them. “They’ve come to check on our guards and get rid of the trash,” Stefan said, referring to the bodies littering the ground.

“Won’t the authorities come? Surely, they heard all those gunshots,” Eve said.

“The local police won’t come here,” Enzo assured her. “My house is so far out. They wouldn’t have heard the shots. And my closest neighbors are part of the clean-up crew. They wouldn’t report it.” He raised his gaze to Stefan. “Has the app picked up her location?”

“Not yet. Wait. Got it.” He showed the phone to Enzo.

“She’s not far from her job. Let’s go. Fuck. Eve...” Enzo grabbed her arms. “I’ll take you to Avola Manor. You’ll be safe...”

Eve shook her head before he could even finish that thought. “I go where you go. I just told you that less than five minutes ago.”

“I need you somewhere safe.”

“I go where you go, Enzo.”

“Enzo,” Stefan said. “I’ll call our inside guy. If it’s a wreck, we need to know what hospital she’s been taken to, and we need to have her transported to one we sponsor.”

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