Page 86 of The Devil We Know

I frown, and Tony’s hand on my foot draws my attention down, and I see him frowning, as well. I look back up just as Enzo steps toward her and asks, “What the fuck are you talking about?”

She gives him an obstinate look and snarls, “The order of operations, you dimwit. If you’re going to get lewd with a lady who obviously doesn’t want your advances, you’d best properly restrain her first, or else you’re going to get fucking hurt.”

He lunges for her, and she only has a chance to take maybe half a step back before he has both hands wrapped around her neck, squeezing as he says, “Is this fucking hard enough for you?”

I can see she’s still fighting him, and once again, I have to fight my urge to attempt to break free.

After a moment, she goes a bit lax in his grip, and I’m uncertain if it’s intentional or it’s because he’s cutting off her airway. Regardless, I’m relieved some of the fight has gone out of her, so I might be able to draw his attention back to me.

“You might want to let her go,” I reply blandly. “If you accidentally kill Seamus’ daughter, there will be fucking hell to pay.”

His grip eases on her slightly, and I see her take in a ragged breath as Enzo turns his attention back to me and says, “What the fuck do you know about it?”

I snort as I reply, “How the hell do you figure I ended up marrying the bitch?”

“Because you wanted to.”

I laugh bitterly, and Jessica’s look turns petulant, so I say hurriedly, “Your idiot fucking brother was going to pass her through his friends and then kill her, so your whole family should be thanking me for putting a stop to that.”

“I don’t fucking believe you.”

“Believe whatever the fuck you want, but you should know by now that I’m not in the habit of exacting unsolicited bloodbaths without good fucking reason.”

“I don’t really fucking care what your reasons were at this point. I was living my life just fine, and then you went and fucked it all up.”

“Wah, wah, wah,” I reply flippantly. “If you’re going to fucking do something, do it already. So far, you’re just boring me to tears.”

“Me, too,” Darius pipes up from behind me. “I thought I was going to get my turn soon, and so far, this is taking way too fucking long.”

“You shut your fucking mouth over there,” Nicolai sputters.

But Ivan laughs and says, “Oh, leave him alone.”

“Thank you, Ivan,” Darius replies cordially. “I really appreciate that.”

I glance over and see Ivan grinning at Darius like a goddamn fool, and I shake my head as I mutter, “Good fucking lord.”

Pain blooms in my jaw, and my head jars around as a fist connects with my face. I slowly turn my head back around, spitting more blood on the ground as I say, “Do you feel better now?”

Enzo doesn’t say anything. He just pulls his fist back and hits me again, and since I see where this is going, I close my eyes, go limp, and let him go to town.

I must say, I never did enjoy getting hit in the solar plexus, and this isn’t any more enjoyable than I remember.

About the second time I lose my breath, I cough and sputter, taking my weight up onto my hands and bringing my legs up where I kick out with both feet and hit him square in the chest. He goes flying backward, and Jessica shrieks as she jumps out of the way. I place my feet back on the ground and use the few moments of reprieve I have to try to catch my breath.

It takes Enzo a minute to rise from where he was sprawled on the floor, and then he stands there, hunched over as he says, “Stupid fucker.”

I feel one of my eyes swelling, and my lip stings where it’s split open, but I say anyway, “I don’t know what you hoped to gain from all this, but it seems kind of pointless. Why don’t you just tell me what the fuck you want.”

“I want your wife to watch me beat you to death.”

“I don’t see the point in that because she doesn’t care.”

Enzo laughs as he says, “I don’t give a fuck if she cares. It makes me feel better.”

“You didn’t even like your fucking brother,” Darius says calmly. “You should actually be happy that fucker’s dead.”

“No one fucking asked you, Darius,” Enzo snarls. “Still a fucking know-it-all after all these years.”

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