Page 185 of Beautifully Ruined
“I promise I’ll never tell.”
“Okay, so, this was five years ago, long before we ever met.” He looks up at the ceiling. “We were in Cancun for a wedding. Anyway, Enzo likes to be a hound dog, he likes women, anyway, anyhow, and he was totally into this chick. To be fair she was hot.”
I punch him in the arm, trying not to laugh.
“Not at hot as you, Vi.” But he grins. “Anyway, he got her attention, and they almost hooked up. The thing is before anything more than some kisses happened, his uncle—not Gino—pointed out she was the daughter of his aunt’s mother’s cousin or something like that. A distant cousin.”
I can’t hold in the laughter, and his dirty look only makes me laugh harder.
“He ended it immediately. They didn’t hook up biblically or anything. But this girl was into finding herself a husband, and he fit her bill. The girl got upset that he ended things so…abruptly. Told her father Enzo took advantage of her.”
“She did not!”
“She did. And the man was insanely overprotective. He kidnapped Enzo with the intention of torturing him.”
“And uncle Gino did nothing?”
He rolls his eyes. “Gino wasn’t at that wedding. He probably had a horsehead to put in someone’s bed in the Bronx, or something. He’s a busy man. Who…” He frowns. “Likes Mickey Mouse.”
“I knew he got me these clothes.”
Cade ignores me. “Anyway, I managed to sneak into the compound and rescue Enzo before anything happened to him. But we got caught sneaking out. It seems, he kidnapped Enzo when he was getting ready to go out, right after a shower when he was getting dressed, and he only had on his underwear.
“So, there we were, being chased through the streets of Cancun, Enzo in his underwear with a literal shotgun-toting father and the girl chasing him, screaming that she’d made it all up, and…that they were related.”
If Cade wasn’t holding me, I might fall out of my chair and be rolling around laughing my ass off on the floor.
I wipe the tears from my eyes. “Wait. Who told her?”
“Me. Anyway, that was the night before the wedding. We got uninvited because the father refused to attend if Enzo was there.”
“I can’t wait to use that story against him,” I joke, gulping in air.
Cade narrows his eyes. “I’ll punish you so bad if you let on you know.”
I kiss his cheek. “For me, that’s not a deterrent. It’s more like a reward.”
He rolls his eyes. “What the hell will I do with you?”
“Love me?”
“I already do.”
I sit with Gianna.Cade’s off with Enzo to talk but said he’d wait for me outside.
Gianna looks at me. “Thank you.”
“You did it, not me. If you weren’t so strong, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Did…are you okay?” she asks.
I nod. “I even got the all-clear.”
Gianna fidgets with her bed sheet. “They said Mom’s on her way. I don’t…I don’t know what to do.”
“Your mom’s gonna be so happy to see you. There’s no need to be nervous.” I start to rise, but Gianna shakes her head.
“Please stay.”
