Page 90 of His Enforcer

I huff and glance away.

“You’ve had a crush on him for years.”

“I have not.”

He chuckles, and a moment later our shot glasses are refilled. “You have. I saw the way you’d watch him. You were enamored.”

I need that shot now. I gulp it down and run the back of my hand over my mouth. My gaze turns toward Luca, who is still chatting with Sabrina and Alina.

The three of them get on well.

The thought sours my stomach.

“Leave the bottle,” Anthony calls to the server, and a moment later, the vodka sits between us like a monument.

Anthony refills my glass, and I let my finger trace the rim.

“I might have been infatuated when I was younger, but I realize now that I don’t know anything about him,” I finally admit. “It’s hard to know him.”

“It is. He doesn’t open up to many. He’s had a rough life.”

“So have we.”

Anthony nods and meets my gaze. “Can I tell you something?” He doesn’t wait for me to answer. “I haven’t seen him this content since Laura. You’re important to him.”

“I’m nothing more than a piece in some game he’s got going.”

“You’re more than that. I can see it in his eyes.” He pauses and then runs a thumb over his bottom lip. “Do you know how Luca and I met?”

The question is so surprising that I just blink at him. “No.”

“We met when he was eighteen and I was a couple of years older. At university. We were inseparable.”

“I didn’t know he went to college,” I say, and Anthony chuckles.

“We both did. Business majors. We learned enough to keep these various businesses we have running successfully. Luca went on for his MBA.”

“Fuck, don’t make me impressed with him,” I mumble.

“He is impressive. He’s been a formative part of my life and business. He’s saved my life more times than I can count. He was there with me when the boys were born and when Laura died. Iknow this man I cherish is letting you in. Do not hurt him, Viktor. He’s fragile.”

I snort at that, and Anthony points to my still-full shot glass.

“He is. When I met him, he put on a front that he was strong and indestructible, but deep down he’s still that traumatized little boy. Did he tell you what happened to him, to his family?”

I swallow the liquid and nod. “I know about the fire, about the murders.”

“Well, then you know you and him have similar pasts, different traumas, but trauma all the same. I think you two can help one another heal.”

“Mine is nothing like his. You know it.”

“I know, but it’s just as bad. Different, but the same.”

I wince and feel dread well up inside of me. It happens whenever I think about it for too long. The things that happened to me when I was younger, the abuse, the beatings. I would say no, beg for it to end, but it only ended in harder beatings.

It was better to stay silent and just take it. To get it over with as fast as possible.

“What happened to him after the fire?” I ask, wanting to divert this conversation back to Luca. Anthony seems chatty tonight and I want to ply him for any and all information I can.

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