Page 129 of Enzo
No one moved at first. Then Penelope took the lead, brushing past me and muttering, “If we’re going to fight like animals, we can at least do it on the soft carpet.”
I fought a smirk and followed right behind her.
Cassio lowered his gun last, but not his glare. Nico holstered his weapon with a grunt, never taking his eyes off me.
We followed Pen through the hallway, our footsteps the only noise.
Luca’s office was lined with books, old photos, and too many shadows for my liking.
He shut the door behind us and motioned for everyone to sit. Only Penelope’s mother obeyed immediately. Cassio stood by the window, arms crossed. Nico leaned against the wall like a coiled spring.
I stood near the door with my arm wrapped around my wife’s waist. Just in case I had to throw her over my shoulder and make a run for it.
“All right, Enzo,” Luca said, taking his place behind the desk and folding his hands. “Tell them everything. No bullshit.”
I nodded and took a breath, knowing I had five minutes tops to convince them not to put a bullet in my skull.
“Before I married Penelope, I’d been… watching her.” Penelope coughed, and I could’ve sworn it sounded a lot likebullshit, but her smile made her the picture of innocence.“Anyhow, one night Atticus demanded a meeting, threatening the DiMauros. By then, I’d learned there was a standing agreement between him and my birth mother that kept any Marchetti off the organ list—as in, kept them from being targeted or hunted by Organs of the Night.”
A sudden thought hit me, freezing me in place. Why would my mother do something like that when she’d always wanted us dead? Penelope must have come to the same conclusion because her hand covered mine and she gripped it gently, our eyes locking in a wordless exchange.
“Okay, are you two still on your honeymoon, or will you finish the story?” Cassio grumbled.
Penelope flipped him the middle finger without sparing him a glance, and I gave my head a subtle shake.
“So Atticus warned me to stay away from the DiMauros because he had his sights set on them. However, considering Penelope was about to become my wife and our marriage was arranged decades ago, I told him she and her family were under my protection.”
Mrs. DiMauro gasped, but I took a deep breath and continued. “When Amara’s treatments began failing, an idea hit me. Why not eliminate Atticus and his organization, and obtain a donor for her? Kill two birds with one stone. However, I walked into a nightmare.”
Nico scoffed, but said nothing.
“I realized Organs of the Night ran a lot deeper than just Atticus Popov. I learned he had a vendetta against Luca for killing one of his mistresses, and thus had blocked any potential organ matches for Amara.”
I heard Pen’s dad suck in a breath, and part of me took pity on the man. He was already dealing with enough; he shouldn’t have to find this out too.
“That’s true. There was a woman who got caught in the crossfire, but it was unintentional,” Luca admitted, shoving his hand through his hair. “I didn’t even know she was connected to Atticus in any way.”
I nodded. “She was. Anyhow, I tortured him until he turned over the organization to me—all of its networks and lists. After I killed Atticus and Nicki, I started dismantling it from the inside out.”
“You expect us to believe you were a vigilante?” Cassio asked, sharp and cynical. “That’s a fairy tale.”
“No. I expect you to believe I did what had to be done. For Amara. For everyone they were hurting.”
“He has receipts. He’s not clean, but he didn’t run it. He ended it,” Luca spoke, coming to my defense. “For fuck’s sake, Cassio, evenIdebated going down that road to save my little girl.” Luca’s voice cracked before he continued. “But the fact is, he ended organ trafficking.”
“I’m still working on ending the organization,” I corrected. “There’s a hierarchy that runs deep. Shell names. Offshore accounts. Some of them are still operating.”
Penelope leaned forward. “Which is why we need your help.”
Cassio’s eyes snapped to her. “We?”
“Yes, we,” she said, sweet but firm. “Enzo needs allies to finish what he started. He’s already made enemies. If we don’t back him now, we risk this network rebuilding under someone even worse.”
“You want us to make an alliance with him,” Nico said slowly. “With a man tied to an organ trafficking ring.”
“I want you to make an alliance with a man who’s trying to take the ring down,” she corrected. “Who risked everything for Amara. Who protected me. Who’s taking something so wrong and ugly and trying to turn it into hope for thousands of others.Nobody should be at the mercy of men like that to procure them an organ to live.”
Silence.
