Page 38 of Unspoken Promises

A nervous smile dances on my lips. “You’re a real Superman behind those Clark Kent glasses.”

He still stares at me like I’m not okay, like he’s watching for any chance of me passing out. He grabs my thermal mug and offers it to me. I sip, and we sit in a deafening silence. Questions burn between us. I nearly suffocate in the inferno of quiet. What will he say next?

Enzo is introspective. Always processing. Never wastes a word. I wish he would just fill the space.

I do it for us. “Why were there guns shooting out there?” I add something nonchalant as if it might explain my reaction. “It was a surprise. I didn’t expect that.”

“Santi has the guards come down to help trainee horses accept gunfire.”

“Oh.” Maybe we can talk about the horses instead of me. “Isn’t that cruel?”

“It’s a slow assimilation. The horses aren’t close to the gunshots, and someone is with them to call the shots off if it’s too much.”

He turns his gaze on me again, and I could set on fire with its intensity. I pull my hands inside my hoodie sleeves.

Clearly, words weigh heavy in his mind. They do in mine, too. What he just saw is a big piece of evidence, that’sfor sure. Not many people have a full-on panic attack at the mere sound of a gunshot if it’s not close by.

Finally, he speaks. “I like the sound of the deal you were trying to strike, Ava. But…” He gestures to the window. “Tell me what that’s about.” Thunderclouds shift over his gaze. “Tell me who did that to you.”

I’m at a loss for words. It’s a moment I knew would come but I wasn’t prepared for. Do I tell him?

Then he says words that could bring me to my knees. Ones I want with all my heart but I’m not at all ready for.

“I can help you.”

My heart drops. He has no idea how much that means to me. Still…not yet.I have to prove myself. Give before you get.

“Let me help you first, Enzo. How about that?”

Confusion paints his features.

I try to lighten the space between us and tease a little. “If I help you first, you’ll owe me.”

He throws his face into his hands, but from behind them comes a one-syllable laugh.

“Did you actually just laugh?”

He scrubs his hand down his face, and the Enzo I know is back.

“What?” I laugh lightly.

“You’re just…” He shakes his head, searching for the precise word. “Different.”

I take that word as a compliment. “So what do you say? Do you want to see what I can really do here or what?”

He lifts his eyebrows. “What have you got?”

I play my joker. “GhostEye has been hacked. And not just by me.”

13

I don’t knowhow I pulled myself together after not one, but two hurricanes came at me with gale-force winds.

Ava knows about the hacks.

But possibly worse than that… she is in trouble. Just like I suspected.

Someone hurt this woman, and I will find out who.

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