Page 128 of Enzo
“Not now,” I snapped. “I’m not letting you walk into the crossfire.”
She scowled. “No one’s going to shoot.”
She leveled her uncles with the same glare she’d used on me when she learned I was her masked stranger.
“You two are going to shut up, listen, and handle this like smart, civil adults. Not testosterone-drunk mobsters who can’t tell their dicks from their egos. Which, by the way, are both puny.”
“Jesus fuck,” Nico muttered, lowering his weapon slightly, but his attention was still on me. “And I thought Hannah was bad,” he added.
“I think she rubbed off on Pen,” her mama said with a proud smile.
“No,” Luca sighed. “I think that’s her husband’s doing.”
He looked at me, and I just shrugged. Penelope could be as brave and reckless as she wanted and I’d be behind her every step of the way, killing men and women to ensure they fell in line.
“Can we go into my office and let Enzo explain, or are we doing this on my doorstep?” my father-in-law demanded.
“We can do it here,” Penelope offered brightly. “Unless the uncles promise not to shoot him.”
“Kiddo,” Nico snapped, “you know what that organization did to Hannah.”
“And Enzo isn’t that organization,” she shot back. “So say the words, uncles.”
Silence.
I took the opportunity to speak up.
“Listen, I only recently learned that Atticus ran Organs of the Night. I got involved because I was trying to find a donor for Amara. That’s how it started. But it got darker—much darker—real fast.”
“We don’t deal in organs,” Cassio spat. “No matter the reason.”
Margaret scoffed. “Easy for you to say when you’re not… watching your baby die one day at a time.”
Her voice cracked, and Luca pulled her into his arms.
“I didn’t deal a single organ on the black market,” I said, although if I had found the match on time, I likely would have. However, that was a stain onmysoul, nobody else’s. “I dismantled it. Atticus was first. Then Nicki. I’ve been working my way through the names I was able to dig up since I’ve taken over the organization. I know there are more.”
Luca stepped forward. His voice was low, pained. “Cassio, Atticus had Amara’s doctor on his payroll. That man blocked her treatment. Might as well have pulled the trigger himself.”
“Are you sure he’s not lying to you?” Cassio asked.
Before I could say anything, Penelope reached inside her pocket and dug out a folded envelope. I froze, recognizing it.
“Mia anima, are you sure that’s wise?”
She nodded.
“They have to see it for themselves to believe it.” Then she flung it at her uncle Cassio, who caught it vigilantly. “Here’s your proof.”
He started unfolding the envelope.
“Luca, it’s best you and your wife don’t look,” I said softly to my in-laws. It didn’t matter whose side they were on, they didn’t deserve to suffer more.
Cassio pulled out the photo just as Luca turned his wife’s head and pressed it against his chest. But he saw it, and the pain that slashed across his face was gut-wrenching.
Luca’s jaw tightened, but he gave a subtle nod toward the inside of the house.
“Inside. All of you.”
