Page 25 of The Forbidden Husband

“You’d be foolish to trust her this easily,” I declared.

His expression shifted, and a dark frustration filled his eyes. One I so rarely saw.

“I’ll tell you this once, Enzo. Idon’ttrust her. I don’t trust anyone. I said we would give her the benefit of the doubt, not let her in entirely. You’re forgetting yourself this evening, and I will forgive you because of the circumstances. But it was mybrotherwho was recently killed.

“Yes, he was your father. But I watched him fall for Rebecca, and I watched as he felt the betrayal she had dealt him. I watched my brother shatter because of a betrayal, and then I watched him come back from that despair to care foryou. I don’t plan on watching that happen to anyone else I love. I didn’t take this arrangement lightly, and if there’s any indication she isn’t loyal, I’ll take action.”

He leaned forward, just a bit closer to drive his point home. “You see your mother’s betrayal in everyone you’ve met, and you have allowed it to dictate your relationships. I have tried to teach you to let that ball of rage and hatred go, but it’s getting deeper as you grow older. If you let it consume you, you won’t return from that. Nobody ever does.”

“I am reasonably wary of someone who came from a monster.”

“Remember what I said,” he reminded me. “The apple may not fall far from the tree—”

“But there will always be enough distance to separate the two,” I reiterated, leaning back in my seat with a scowl. “Nevertheless, being passive about potential threats will get you and all of us killed.”

“Maybe, but until you’re in my position, this is my decision. Go home and talk to your new bride. If you believe she’s a threat, keep her close. You know the saying: ‘Keep your friends close and enemies closer.’”

I ground my teeth at the thought, but I nodded.

He was right. I needed to keep her close if I wanted to make sure she wasn’t after me or my family, but I wasn’t dumb enough to see the problem with doing that.

Aria was more than a random enemy.

No matter how hard I pushed her away, something would always bring us back together.

Right now, it was my uncle and his damn proverbs.

Chapter Nine

Aria Bianchi

Enzo looked at me every day like he had a million things he wanted to say, but he always walked away before he spoke. The tension between us was palpable, and I wondered if we’d ever have a conversation that didn’t feel tense and pulsing with unanswered questions.

I hated him because of the things he had done.

He hated me because of my father—a father who I, too, hated.

But today was different.

Today, I walked into my room and found a bathing suit and an elegant, bejeweled coverup hanging from the canopy of my bed. A note rested beneath them, my name written in a sprawling script that must have been Enzo’s handwriting.

Jaimie will bring you to the beach at five-thirty sharp. Wear this.

No frills or additional words. That wasn’t his style. He only offered a demand that he expected me to follow.

Under different circumstances, I would have enjoyed doing the opposite of what he wanted. I would have burned the note and refused to wear the outfit, but…

This was my first chance to build a true rapport with him, and I needed to take advantage of it. I needed to see beyond the monster and allow him to see me as something other than my father’s protege. I needed him to see me.

* * * *

When I walked down the boardwalk and turned toward a private, roped-off section of the beach, my eyes immediately drew to Enzo’s figure. With the sun behind him, only his large silhouette was in view, but there was no mistaking the brute of a man to be him. Standing tall and confident, he leaned into the table as he watched me approach.

When I shifted, and the angle allowed me to take in the finer details of his appearance, I found myself almost breathless. I didn’t know why the interest overtook me at that moment, but I had never seen him look like this before.

His button-down shirt was untucked from his dress pants, the top three buttons undone. He looked looser than usual, and his hair shifted with the breeze to drive it home. His eyes didn’t have the same hardness as usual. A dulled edge still rested beneath his expression, but I didn’t think that would ever fade. Not with me, at least.

Shivers went up and down my arms, despite the warmth of the summer evening.

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