Page 40 of Enzo DeLuca

She swallowed again. “I don’t have to defend myself to you when I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Done nothing wrong?” Enzo yelled. “You set my fucking kitchen on fire.”

“But it didn’t burn down. Giorgio put it out.”

“Is Giorgio going to pay for the damage or for the wasted food?”

“Why would he? You’re rich. You can buy more.”

“Just because I’m rich doesn’t mean it’s okay to be wasteful.” Her chuckle irritated him.

She stared around the room. “From the look of things, you’re used to being wasteful.”

“There are people out there who would kill to have the food you wasted.”

“What do you care? You’re a DeLuca. You’ve never starved a day in your life.”

“You know nothing about me.”

“I know you’re part of the mafia. I know you don’t care about others. I know your family hurts people. You damn sure don’t help them. Which is why I’m pretty sure you don’t give a damn about those who would kill to have the food I wasted.”

He was tempted to rattle off a list of good things his family did. The charities, the donations, all of it. But he kept it to himself. He didn’t have to prove himself to her or anyone else. Plus, he wasn’t the one who’d wasted the fucking food.

If she was a man, he’d take her to the trash and shove her face into the burnt food and make her eat all of it. And if she puked, he’d make her eat that too. But she wasn’t a man. He refused to treat a woman that way. But she was testing the limits of his patience.

“You seem to know a lot about me,” he told her.

“As you said, I’m observant.”

“I also said being observant could get you killed.” When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “Too many coincidences are centered around you, little witness. Stefan may not have been able to get the truth out of you, but I’m sure I can.”

“You’ve got your fists clenched,” she pointed out. “Do you plan to hit me?”

“Never. But you will be punished for not telling the truth.”

“Punished? I’m a grown-ass woman. Who’s going to punish me?”

“A grown-ass man. That’s who.” He stepped closer, closing the distance between them. “I’ve been treating you like a guest. That was a mistake. I’m rectifying that mistake right now.”

Eve swallowed. “Are you going to start treating me like a true hostage? Does that mean I’m going to be tortured?”

She was finally looking nervous. Good.

“That depends on how you respond to my questions,” he told her.

“I’ve already told you everything I remember. Do you want me to start making up shit?”

Enzo held in his sigh. Why couldn’t her ass just pretend to be scared? Unless...

“If someone sent you here...”

“Your guy sent me here,” she yelled. “He kidnapped me, drugged me, and brought me here. I didn’t ask for this. You did a background check on me and...”

“I think I need to dig deeper.”

“I think you need to realize that I’m not going to be of any help to you. You have two options. Kill me or let me go.”

“Do you have a death wish?”

---