Page 42 of Wicked Rivals

I understood the feeling at a surprisingly profound level.

“You obviously read at an advanced level for your age,” I said. “And you enjoy it, which is half the battle right there, if you ask me. It makes me wonder, though, why your mother still reads to you.

“I'm sure you could blaze through those books yourself in less than half the time. So why keep indulging her with bedtime stories? I would have expected you to outgrow something like that by now.”

Enzo finished his water and set his empty glass down in the exact middle of the coaster. Then he looked me in the eye in a way that most grown men didn't have the balls to do and replied with a simple answer.

“Because it makes her happy.”

I nodded slowly, trying to mask the unfamiliar tightness in my chest at his words.

“I should go back before she finds out I'm gone,” he said.

We both stood.

“Do I need to show you back to your room?” I asked.

“No, thanks. I can find it.”

Enzo headed for the door, reached for the handle, and paused before turning back to face me.

“One other thing.”

“What's that, Enzo?”

“If you ever point a gun at Mama again, I will come at you no matter how big you are, and I won’t stop until you kill me.”

I suppressed a grin and nodded.

Then he opened the door and stepped through it as if he’d said nothing more threatening than a casual goodnight.

That said more about the boy than anything he’d told me in that last half hour.

Plenty of grown men who’d lived their entire lives inside the mafia didn’t have the nerve to pull off something like that, let alone do it with such unwavering bravado.

It didn’t matter that Val had tried to keep my son from me.

Even if she had succeeded, Enzo was born to lead. It was in him just as surely as it had always been in me.

Politics or business, criminal or otherwise, he would grow up to occupy whatever position of power he wanted.

And he would have the strength to keep it.

Yes, this boy belonged to me.

CHAPTER 9

VAL

The exotic blend of rich woody scents, layered with pleasant floral scents, rose from the bathwater, soothing the tension in my muscles along with my anxiety.

The relaxation cleared my head, helping me focus on what really mattered.

Floating in that big tub, I’d come up with several contingency plans, all ready to put into motion at a moment’s notice.

The secret to success would be simple enough. I had to be prepared for anything and everything, starting with the worst-case scenario.

If it turned out that Enzo and I could get away in the next twelve to twenty-four hours, then yes, I definitely had a plan. And if we had to wait longer and bide time, I still had a plan.

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