Page 32 of The Forbidden Husband

My heart dropped.

Seventeen lives that shouldn’t have been forfeited.

Enzo dropped the topic and began speaking to the woman again, but I didn’t hear his words as he grabbed a bowl of stew and devoured the entire thing. He washed his own dish and placed it on the drying rack beside the sink before hugging the small woman and offering the child a fist bump. He maintained the same diplomatic look of sadness and support, and I tried to mimic it.

I tried to be a voice of positivity and support, but I knew I had been unsuccessful.

All the way back to the car, I stayed silent, even as Enzo greeted and smiled at people on the streets. As he proved time and time again that I knew nothing real about this man, I followed in silence.

The second the car door closed, I found my voice.

“Why would you bring me there?”

There had to be a reason. He didn’t come across as mercilessly cruel.

“I need you to tell me what you know about your father’s dealings.”

I gasped and straightened my spine as I turned to face him in the back of the car fully. I dug a finger into his chest. “You brought me there to show me that my father is a monster? Do you think I need more proof of that? You didn’t think to ask me what I knew?”

“Would you have told me anything if I had?”

No.

“This was cruel even for you. I didn’t do this, Enzo. I didn’t even know he planned on doing this, or I would have… I would have—”

“What would you have done?”

“I—I—”

“Nothing, Aria. You won’t stand up to your father, so I need you to letmedo it.”

I didn’t know what to say. “How dare you?” I shouted.

He kept an even tone, as if the conversation meant nothing to him. “I would do anything to protect my people, and if that means making you uncomfortable to show you what he does to innocent people, I’d do it again.”

“You are playing me for an idiot,” I snarled through my clenched teeth. “I know all about him and his lies. I know whatbreed of monster he is, and I know to always expect the worst from him. I know about the women being killed, and I know they are being used as a means to his ends. I know more about his methods of torture and brutality than you could fathom, and I know that my father is just as adept at using his fists as he is at using psychological torture. He’s a brute. He’s a liar. He’s everything horrible a man could be, and you don’t need to show me this to tell me that.”

His eyes had turned hard at some point in the conversation. All emotion had fled from them at the same time as a cool, killing calm filled his expression.

I considered the words I had used—thetoneI had used. What had sparked this kind of reaction?

“What has he done to you?” he asked after a moment.

The anger from the situation still fueled my words.

“Don’t act like you care about me, Enzo. What he did to me is no concern of yours. You made it clear that you don’t care about me.Especiallyafter this,” I said, gesturing to the building in the distance. I caught only a brief glimpse of regret in his expression as I turned to face the front and crossed my arms fully over my chest. “At least my father doesn’t pretend to be anything but a monster the way you do.”

Chapter Eleven

Aria Bianchi

The strain between us was palpable enough that I stayed in my room any time I heard his presence in the house. I quickly learned the differences between his gait and Jaimie’s, and I found myself leaning into her company.

I tried not to build attachments, but she was different. She didn’t solely rely on Enzo, and maybe after everything went down, she wouldn’t hate me the way I knew Enzo would.

“It’s not for a lack of trying,” I joked as I squinted through the tears of chopping an onion. “Short of onion goggles, I can’t help it.”

Jaimie, sitting at the other side of the bar looked at me with raised brows. “I’ve never had that many issues cutting an onion.”

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