Page 20 of Merciless Oath

“She’s in danger,” I growl, pissed off and ready to climb the damn gate. “Can we put this shit behind us so that I can explain?”

“How convenient that you suddenly have urgent information to share with her, now that she’s within your reach again.”

“Has she received any cryptic messages?” I ask, trying to get to my point. That gives him pause, and he stares at me with cold, calculated eyes.

“Why do you ask?”

“Because she’s in fucking danger!” I yell, throwing my hands up in frustration. The guns behind him promptly lock in on my face again. “Oh, relax, would you? I’m unarmed!”

“Have you been sending her cryptic messages?” Luigi asks, ignoring the firing squad behind him.

“No,” I spit out, barely holding my sanity together. “I’ve been receiving them as well. Today, I got this.”

I pull the photograph out of my pocket and smack it against the metal gate. Luigi’s face pales, and I have my answer.Matilda is mine.

“She’sin danger, too,” I add, a little more softly this time. I flip the photograph over for him to read the message.

“The8?” he gasps, pulling the paper out of my hands. “Valentina got a message from The8 as well.”

Fuck.

When I find the motherfuckers behind all this, I’m going to tear them from limb to limb.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Valentina

Through the kitchen window,I watch as Uncle Luigi, an unmoving mountain of old resentment and bitterness, faces off with Enzo at the front gate. I force myself to tear my eyes away from the scene—it’s probably better that I don’t watch.

I wonder why he’s here. To make excuses for leaving without even saying goodbye back then?

Or is he just desperate to see me again, as I am to see him?

I force that particularly annoying thought into the darkest recesses of my brain and distract myself with the budgets for the new building complex. The numbers dance before my eyes, transforming into a twisted version of Enzo’s face, mocking me.

Fuck, I miss him so much.

“Ugh, this is pointless,” I groan, slamming the laptop shut. I’m just about to check on Matilda and her tutor when Luigi storms into the kitchen.

Snowflakes tumble to the floor as he kicks the kitchen door closed. The fact that he resembles an angry snowman makes me giggle internally, but I school my face into subdued professionalism.

“What was that about?” I ask as nonchalantly as I can manage. I’m dying to know why Enzo showed up here and how that conversation went, but I’ll never let Luigi know that.

He glares at me as if he’s about to launch into a lecture, but the fight drains out of him when Matilda runs into the room.

“Mama, I finished my lessons!” she yelps, racing around the island to throw her arms around me. “Can I play in the snow? Please?”

“Yes, darling, just take Uncle Alfonso with you,” I say, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “And dress warmly!”

She’s off like a shotgun, racing through the big, old mansion to find her favorite uncle. I smile, despite everything, wondering how my little California beach baby developed this obsession with snow.

Probably came from her father,I realize, and the thought makes me sad.

I always thought she’d never know her father—or what an amazing man he was, or is, or could have been. But now? My brain glitches at the thought of Enzo finding out about her. How would he react?

“Valentina?” Uncle Luigi clears his throat, bringing me back to the present. “We need to talk about Enzo.”

“I didn’t invite him here,” I say, settling into the chair opposite of him, ready to fight. “I have no idea how he found us … Well, I mean, it’s probably not difficult for him, but I didn’t?—”

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