Page 15 of Enzo's Vow
These were the same men who guarded my door yesterday. A surprise they hadn’t lost their job after my near escape. “Tell Psychopath I’m ready.”
No reply. Maybe they’d gone to do my bidding. I perched on the edge of the bed, waiting and waiting. Perhaps Enzo reconsidered and ditched this so-called wedding.
A click resounded. The door swung open, and my groom emerged in all his smug glory. And here I’d hoped he’d gotten cold feet.
Chapter 6
Enzo
Gemma sat at the edge of her seat all the way to the church, exhaling long, shallow breaths, loud enough to echo over the hum of the engine. Regardless of my desire for her, this wedding, thisnecessarysacrifice, was for my family. If this ceremony failed, Carina would paint the church walls in blood. That woman waited far too long for her revenge to have it all blown to smithereens now. I clenched my jaw, a cold chill seeping into my bones.Everything will go according to plan, I’d make sure of it.
The driver circled around the side, and the guards greeted us as we approached the back entry. Clasping her arm, I marched us into the building, where the air lay thick with incense and candle wax. Light from the colorful windows painted her face in shifting hues of blue and red. Her small wrist felt as fragile as the stained glass windows, and she battled to keep pace with my purposeful stride as we moved down a wide corridor.
I opened the door to where her father slumped in a corner. Her gaze landed on him. In an instant, she fought for freedom. I swung her to me, close enough to brush her with my heat, closer still for her to witness the intensity in my stare, my ferocity daring her to pull a stunt like yesterday. Even with the little effort she put into getting ready, her delicate beauty stole my breath. Her throat bounced, and her amber eyes rounded into liquid pools, drawing me in like a current.
I released her at last, and she ran into his embrace.
They latched onto each other for dear life as Signore Gallo kissed his daughter’s head. “Are you all right?” He cupped her cheeks, perhaps in search of any cuts or bruises.
She nodded in response. Her chin wobbled as if too choked to speak.
I held open the door, but paused before leaving. “See you at the altar, Gemma.”
Her head shot up.
Oof, if looks could kill. I slammed the door and nodded to the two guards.
Carina paced in the foyer, the simple black dress she wore more suited for a funeral than a wedding. A dapper Lucio, in a fitted tux, yawned and scrolled through his phone.
I glimpsed my watch. “Has the priest arrived?”
“He’ll be here soon, but look who’s here.” She nodded to the entrance, at the woman thrashing in the arms of two guards.
Elisabetta Russo stopped resisting the instant she discerned Carina and blew her dark fringe from her eyes. Amber eyes widened, the same amber as Gemma’s. “Carina!” The woman trembled and expelled a pained gasp. “Of course you’d be behind this.”
My stoic mother moved with chilling slowness as she circled her nemesis, each step a measured threat, her face betraying nothing.
“What do you want from me, Carina?” Elisabetta gasped, a clear sign she’d exerted all her energy wrestling in the guards’ hold.
Carina paused beside the woman and simpered. “Imagine my surprise, learning you refused to travel to Italy for your daughter’s wedding. Every mother should be present for the most important day of their daughter’s life.”
The woman twitched and paled. “Gemma,” she whispered, her chest rising and falling as though failing to catch her next breath. “Have you hurt my daughter?” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “Answer me!”
“Hush.” My mother’s features hardened into a concrete mask, but a satisfied glint flickered in her hazel eyes. She savored each minute of this, finding release after years of resentment. How many nights had she visualized and replayed this scenario in her mind? Carina glanced back at me. “Do you remember my son, Enzo? He was but a boy when you came into our lives and stole his father’s affections.” She turned back to face Elisabetta. “Can you imagine what that trauma does to a boy, how it shapes them into a man colder than ice?” Carina snorted, her humor sounding forced. “Makes you wonder what type of provider,husband, he’d make for his own future wife….”
Elisabetta perceived me, breath quivering out of her.
My mother nodded at another guard off to the side. “Bring out the bride.”
Before the man hurried to obey, my guard burst into the hallway. “Enzo! Gemma and her father… almost escaped!” He leaned his hands on his knees, panting.
Carina’s eyes flashed; a warning to fix this or else.
I cursed under my breath and shoved past my mother’s men.
“Gemma!” Elisabetta’s scream echoed behind us, the woman finally aware of her daughter’s whereabouts.
“They shoutedfire, so we opened the door. Signore Gallo used a candelabra to whack Vincenzo and urged his daughter to run. I caught her before she reached the back door.”
