Page 81 of Wicked Rivals

Now it was only a matter of time before another someone came to find me and take me back.

Stefano wasn’t the only one I had to protect Enzo from… I needed to remember what was at stake, the whole picture. If the other man found me, if he found my son, it would all be over.

I needed to run fast and far.

But would any place be far enough away to keep us safe?

I had no idea. I’d gotten myself in too deep. The whole thing was completely beyond me.

Stefano pressed his lips to my temple for a surprisingly tender kiss, pulling me back into the present moment.

“What are you thinking about right now?” he asked. “When you see these pictures, what name flashes through your mind? There must be at least one.”

He wanted to know what my instincts told me at first sight.

There had been a name, but the man that name belonged to couldn’t have done this. No, much too sloppy. He wouldn’t have allowed that.

If it had been that person, that name, I wouldn’t have made it this far. Stefano would have been dead by now, and Enzo ripped from my arms to fulfill a familial obligation. And me? They would have sent me away to repay a debt that ended only with my life.

I had no more power than that in this person’s eyes. Just a bargaining chip and a whore, and that was all.

“I don't know,” I murmured.

Because I didn't.

The monster I feared more than any other simply couldn’t have been the one behind it.

The threat on our lives right now wasn’t nearly as big as the threat Stefano posed to my son, but it was still far more dangerous than I could handle.

Then again, whatever Stefano might do to me was nothing compared to the horrors waiting for me in Chicago.

I turned in Stefano's arms to face him, looking into his eyes.

“Tell me why this is happening. I want to know the truth. Tell me what they want.”

“They want me to call off the wedding,” he said. “They want to make sure I don't marry Benedetta tomorrow. And they got their wish. The wedding is off.”

“Well, that’s a nice sentiment, but tell me what you're actually going to do.”

I didn’t believe for one second he could truly give up a beautiful bride like that, not to mention the Capaldo fortune right along with her.

“That is what I'm doing.”

Stefano dipped his head closer, his dark eyes searching mine.

“The wedding’s off. Whoever is doing this gets exactly what he wants. I'm going to continue letting him think he has won, that he wore me down, but I'm still going to hunt him down, and when I find him, I’ll destroy him?—”

“And then you'll marry Benedetta,” I finished.

He touched my cheek with the back of his warm fingers.

“No. I said there will be no wedding.”

I shook my head and let out a small, nervous laugh.

“You don't have to lie to me. You're not doing that for a woman you forgot about and a child you didn't even know you had. I know you, Stefano. You’ll never give up control of the two largest mafia families outside of the Commission.”

He gripped my upper arms, pushing me back, and the intensity of his gaze flared to a new level.

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