Page 69 of The Forbidden Husband

“My father gave the order for him tokillyou,” I shouted, trying to pull away the rod.

“I don’t take orders from your father. I take them from my uncle.”

For the first time, I noticed that Vito’s usually cold gaze had a little more warmth as he looked between me and Enzo. He stepped forward, and Enzo stepped past me as they gave one another a tight embrace. Enzo patted Vito on the back, his expression still stoic.

“You know where the sisters are? Alonzo?”

I still stared between them as Vito nodded. “I have the youngest in the room across the hall, ready to go. The other one—Evelina… I couldn’t get my hands on her without blowing my cover.”

“You’re… you’re aspy?” I asked Vito.

They both looked toward me. Enzo’s gaze caught on the bruise that surely covered my face from my father, and his expression darkened.

“All you need to know is that I am deep undercover, and nobodyknows. Enzo, Giovanni, and you. That’s it. I have Livia across the hall, and I will make sure we get Evelina out safely too. You need to worry about getting out of here. Nothing else. Your sisters are in our hands now, and we won’t let anything happen to them.”

Enzo grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him. “Thank you, Brother.”

Brother.

It made sense. Enzo had acted cold and distant because that’s how he had to act. He refused to talk about his brother because his brother was working hard for them, not because he hated them.

“Thank you,” I repeated.

Vito nodded and looked at Enzo. “You know what you need to do.”

The corners of Enzo’s mouth tipped down as he shook his brother’s hand. “Thanks, man.”

Vito gave one single nod as Enzo lifted his arm in a flash of motion and slammed his fist into the side of Vito’s face. The sound of my scream overpowered Vito’s grunt of pain as he took two staggering steps backward and clutched his surely bruised—possibly dislocated—jaw.

Enzo didn’t give me any time to consider what had just happened as he pulled me from the room and out into the hall. “What… why?”

“It has to look like I overpowered him.” Two shots fired from the room behind us, and I gasped. “And it has to look like he fired and missed.”

Because Vito was still going to be a mole. Vito had to be a mole until Enzo destroyed my father, because we needed someone inside to warn us about any coming attacks. Because they were going through these measures…

They didn’t know if they would find and take out my father today…

I would consider that later. For now, I would get Livia. I would keep her safe, and I would make sure Evelina was found and rescued too.

Enzo flung open the door across the hall, and my nerves calmed as I found Livia sitting unharmed at the end of the bed.

I rushed for her, leaving Enzo behind me as I flung myself at my little sister.

“We can finally get you out of here,” I told her.

“No.”

I flinched back as I took her in. “What do you mean? You want to stay?”

She shook her head. “I have leverage here. I know what I’m doing, Aria.”

“Livia, he will hurt you. He might marry you off or sell you like he’s trying to do with Evelina—”

She cut me off. “You have to trust me.”

“You’re barely eighteen, Livia. You don’t understand the stakes. What you’re risking by staying. You could be killed.” I didn’t know what to say to convince her. Judging by the set of her jaw and the firm way she spoke, she had already decided. “I can’t protect you if you stay here. I have to keep my family safe now. If you don’t come with us, there’s nothing more I can do to help you.”

She still didn’t seem to grasp the gravity of the situation. “I will be fine. You don’t have to protect me.”

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