Villain of Secrets

by L A Cotton

  I wasn’t in lust with this complicated man.

  I was head over heels in love with him.

  “Nora?” He tilted my face to his and kissed me. “Is something wrong?”

  “No.” My lips curved with uncertainty as emotion swelled inside me. “Everything is perfect.”

  We cleaned up and climbed in bed. Enzo immediately dragged me into the curve of his body. “We should get some sleep.”

  We didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. Nobody did. But Antonio was awake, Enzo was here with me, and there had been no more threats. Still, I knew it was only the calm before the storm. But I truly felt like we could face what was coming as long as we stood together.

  So when Enzo’s cell phone started ringing again, fear trickled down my spine.

  “Yeah?” He barked, keeping his arm wrapped firmly around my body. “Fuck, okay. Yeah, I’m coming.”

  “What is it?” My voice cracked the second he hung up.

  “I need to go.” He gently released me, climbed out of bed and started pulling on his clothes. “There’s been another break-in.”

  “Where?”

  “The VCTI.”

  “What?” I shot up and climbed out of bed. “But that doesn’t make any sense. The VCTI isn’t a Marchetti business.” It was the center where Arianne volunteered. I’d helped out there a couple of times too.

  “Nicco made a large donation to the center for her wedding present.”

  “Crap.” Enzo was right. Arianne had been so excited. There was a press release and everything.

  “But the VCTI helps people,” I said, still unable to process what was happening. “Why would anyone—”

  Enzo’s expression darkened. “That’s why I need to go, Gattina. This is on me. I should be there.”

  “But—”

  Enzo cupped the back of my neck and smashed his lips to mine. It was a kiss to end all other kisses, a kiss that felt a lot like goodbye… but I refused to believe that. We were in a good place, we were.

  “Promise me you’ll come back to me,” I said, winding my fingers into his t-shirt, my eyes fluttering closed with the weight of my words.

  He tilted my face, staring intently at me. “I give you my word.” Enzo kissed me again, softer this time, as if he was tracing the shape of my mouth and imprinting it to memory. “Come with me.” He guided me into the living room and over to the couch as his fingers flew over his cell phone.

  Seconds later, there was a knock at the door and Enzo let Maurice inside.

  “You stay right here with her. Move another guy to this floor, but you stay right here until I get back.”

  “You have my word, Mr. Marchetti.”

  Enzo nodded. “I’ll be back, I promise.”

  “Be safe.” Emotion rushed up my throat, making my eyes sting. I didn’t want him to go. I didn’t want him to be in harm’s way. And I didn’t want him to have to hurt anyone, even if they deserved it. But this was what it meant to love a mafioso, to stand by their side. If I wanted to be with Enzo, I had to accept that.

  He disappeared into the bedroom to retrieve his weapons, and I watched with strange fascination as he added them to his person. The deadly looking knife strapped to his ankle, a pistol holstered to his chest, and brass knuckles stuffed inside his jacket.

  He was an armed soldier and it wasn’t supposed to be such a turn on, but I couldn’t help the heat pooling in my stomach at the sight of him.

  “Promise me that no matter what happens you won’t leave this room unless Maurice says it is safe for you to do so.”

  “I-I promise.” I gulped over the lump in my throat.

  Another sharp nod and Enzo slipped out of my apartment leaving the room cold…

  And my heart empty.

  “Anything?” I asked for the hundredth time. Maurice shook his head. “It has only been thirty minutes.”

  Really?

  It felt longer.

  It felt like forever.

  I hugged myself tighter, staring at the clock of the wall, willing it to move.

  It was going to be a long night.

  The vibration of my cell phone startled me from my reverie, and relief spread through me as I grabbed it off the coffee table hoping to see Enzo’s name.

  But it wasn’t Enzo at all.

  * * *

  I know this is probably not a good time… but I’m kind of in a bind and I don’t have anyone else to call…

  * * *

  “Nora?” Maurice asked and I held up my finger, calling Luca’s number.

  “Luca, what is it? What’s wrong?”

  “I… uh…” he sounded a little breathless. “So funny story, I decided to take a shower after drinking my body weight in tequila and I tripped—”

  “Oh my God, are you okay?”

  “I’ll live but my face took the brunt and I have a pretty gruesome cut on my forehead… and I’m not very good with blood…” he trailed off.

  “Luca?” I shrieked. “Okay, hold on… I’ll—”

  “Don’t even think about it,” Maurice shot up.

  Crap. Yeah. Enzo would lose it if he knew I’d stepped foot out of the apartment, even if it was only to go across the hall.

  “I’m going to send you help, okay? Maurice, he’ll—”

  “Need you,” he breathed, and I didn’t like how out of it he sounded.

  “Maurice, go to Luca’s, now!”

  “Miss Ab—Nora, I had strict orders to stay—”

  “I know, which is why I’m asking you to go and check on him.” I gave him a pointed look. “If you don’t, I will.” Maurice hesitated and I let out an exasperated breath. “He’s hurt, Maurice. Please just go over there and check on him. I’ll lock the door behind you, I swear.”

  “Fine.” He got up and moved to the door. “I’m going to radio downstairs and tell security you’re here alone.”

  “Maurice, I’m not alone, you’ll be right across the hall.”

  “Just stay put.” From the furrow of his brows, I knew he wasn’t happy about leaving me. But I couldn’t just ignore Luca’s plea for help. He slipped out of the door and I went and locked it.

  What I really wanted was to check in with Enzo and make sure he was okay, but I didn’t want to appear clingy.

  To distract myself, I made myself a mug of hot cocoa with marshmallows. Despite the way I’d left things with Luca, I really did hope he was okay. I knew he probably felt like I’d led him on, and I guess I had. But I hadn’t done it out of malicious intent. Luca was a good guy. He was easy to be around and he made me smile. But he didn’t make my heart beat hard the way Enzo did.

  A smile played on my lips just thinking about how overprotective and growly Enzo had been today. Some girls would have hated his alpha routine, but I loved it.

  By the time I’d finished my hot cocoa I was growing increasingly worried about Luca. Maurice had been gone almost fifteen minutes.

  I snatched up my cell phone and called Maurice, but it rang out.

  God. What if it was worse than I thought? What if Luca needed medical attention?

  I decided to call Luca. It rang out but then right before I hung up, he answered. “Nora?”

  “Hey, are you okay?”

  “I’m a little embarrassed, but yeah, Maurice fixed me up.”

  “He’s still there?”

  “No, he left a couple minutes ago. He isn’t back with you?”

  “No.” Fear slithered up my spine as I went to the peephole and pressed my face to it. “I can’t see him.”

  “Well, he can’t have gone far. He was just right here.”

  “I’m going to call him again. I’ll call you back in a second.”

  I dialed Maurice’s number, but he didn’t pick up. My heart raced as I mentally went through possibilities. He wouldn’t have just up and left me. Not when Enzo had given me strict orders to stay put…

  Maybe there was an imminent threat and he’d gone downstairs to deal with it.

  Quickly, I calle
d Luca back.

  “Anything?” he asked.

  “No, but I don’t think it’s safe here.”

  “For real? What—”

  “I can’t explain everything right now. I need to call Enzo.”

  “He’s gone?”

  “He had to… he went to deal with something.”

  “What have you gotten yourself into, Nora?” He trailed off.

  “Please, don’t. I didn’t call to argue with you. I just want to find out where Maurice is.”

  “Let me help.”

  Chewing my bottom lip, I weighed up my options. Enzo was at least a twenty-minute ride away across town. Even if he picked up, he couldn’t get here straight away. Calling the police wasn’t an option, and Nicco was at the hospital with his dad.

  “Fine,” I said, making a snap decision.

  “I’ll come to you,” he said.

  “No, I’ll come to you. Then we can figure out what to do.” Maurice would probably appear by then, with an explanation for his sudden disappearance.

  Changing into some lounge pants and a MU hoodie, I grabbed my keys and cell and made my way across to Luca’s apartment.

  The door was already open, so I pushed it open and called out, “Luca?” My heart raced in my chest as I slipped inside. “Lu—”

  “Hey.” He appeared, looking a little flushed.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine now. Well, apart from this.” He motioned to his forehead. There was a small dressing above his brow.

  “You’re lucky,” I said around a tentative smile. But Luca didn’t return it, the air cooling around us.

  “Did you call Enzo?” he asked, thinly.

  “Not yet. But I should call him.” I pulled out my cell phone, but something rang out in the apartment.

  “Fuck,” Luca muttered under his breath.

  “Is something wrong?” I glanced around, drawn to the sound. There was something familiar about it. Something I couldn’t quite—

  “Is that Maurice’s cell phone?” I asked, my blood turning to ice as I crossed Luca’s apartment. “What the hell? Maurice!” I yelled.

  He was crumpled up on the floor of Luca’s bedroom floor, blood pouring from a thick gash in his head.

  “What did you do?” I spun to face Luca, but he grabbed me from behind, yanking me backward. “What the hell—”

  “I’m sorry, Nora.” He jabbed me with something sharp. “I’m so fucking sorry.” His voice was drowned out by the darkness consuming me.

  “No,” I screamed, but the words got stuck in my throat.

  No!

  Chapter 27

  Enzo

  Something was wrong. Maurice wasn’t answering and I couldn’t get hold of Nora.

  I’d texted and called to reassure her I was okay, but that it was taking longer than planned at the VCTI because somebody had called the police, and they’d sent a rookie.

  A rookie who wasn’t on our payroll. So me and Matteo had to lie low while they did their thing.

  Luckily for us, the center manager was a personal friend of Arianne’s and Nicco’s and had the foresight to leave out any mention of the package left for me. It was a bloodstained knife that I knew was coated in Gino’s blood.

  “Anything?” Matteo asked me as I checked my cell again.

  “Nothing.”

  “Nora is probably sleeping,” he said.

  “Yeah.” But it didn’t explain why Maurice wasn’t returning my calls.

  Impatient, I called Alexi instead. But it only rang out.

  “What the fuck is happening over there?”

  “Try La Stella security.” Matteo pulled out his cell and started dialing. “Fuck, it’s ringing out.”

  “I gotta—”

  “Yeah, go. I’ll handle things here. Just be careful yeah?”

  But that was like telling a fighter to take it easy in the ring. Trepidation coursed through me. If Nora was—

  No, everything was fine.

  It had to be.

  The nervous energy zipping through me didn’t abate though, as I floored my GTO back toward University Hill.

  The second my car rolled to a stop outside the building, I knew what I hadn’t wanted to believe.

  I pulled out my cell and called Nicco.

  “Enzo, what is it?” Sleep thickened his words.

  “I’m sorry to call you, cous, but I need you, Nic. I need you at La Stella.”

  “Shit, yeah, okay. Talk me through what’s happened.”

  Shouldering the door, I slipped inside. I should have passed at least two security guards by now. “Security is gone. I can’t reach Maurice or Nora.”

  “Fuck,” he breathed. “Okay, me and Luis are on our way with backup.”

  Icy cold fear trickled in my veins as I reached Nora’s floor. It was silent save for the gentle hum of the strip lighting overhead. I crept close to Nora’s apartment, silently praying that she was still inside, sleeping.

  I gently tapped my knuckles against the door, waiting. “Come on, Gattina. Where the fuck are you?” I murmured to myself. Scrolling to her name, I hit call, hoping to hear it ring.

  Nothing.

  Fuck.

  I dialed Maurice again. At first, it just rang out. But then I heard it, the faint familiar music of his ringtone. Moving closer to Luca’s apartment, anger like I’d never known it swelled inside me.

  They were at Bianco’s?

  What the fuck were they doing over there?

  I knocked loudly, my body trembling with fury. If Luca had touched her, touched my Nora, I wouldn’t be held responsible for my actions.

  But no one answered.

  “Yo, asshole, open up,” I yelled, uncaring if I woke up the whole building. All kinds of scenarios ran through my head, but I needed to try and stay cool. “Luca!” I banged again. “Fuck this.”

  I pulled out my knife and wedged in into the door jamb, leveraging the door open enough to crash through the damn thing.

  The apartment was empty. But I knew I’d heard Maurice’s ringtone. Quickly, I dialed his number again and sure enough the noise rang out. I followed it through the apartment to a closed door.

  I didn’t want to open it, didn’t want this nightmare to be real. Reaching for the handle, I slowly pushed it open. Maurice was laying there with a halo of dark-red blood surrounding his head.

  “Fuck,” I growled, dropping to my knees to check for his pulse.

  He was unconscious, but I detected a faint pulse. Maurice needed medical attention and he needed it now, so I knew I had no choice but to call it in.

  “Fuck!” I stood up and dragged a hand down my face, trying to figure out what the fuck to do. Luca was gone… Nora too. But I think I’d known the second I couldn’t get a hold of her that something bad had happened.

  The VCTI wasn’t just another break-in, it was a diversion…

  But Luca?

  It didn’t make any sense.

  I sent an SOS message to Nicco and Matteo. They would both understand what it meant. If I didn’t want another soldier to die right in front of me, I had to call nine-one-one. We’d have to worry about the consequences later.

  I called it in, keeping the details as vague as possible. I needed to try to piece together what had happened here.

  I needed to find Nora.

  Fuck. Nora…

  Pain ripped through me, and I staggered back against the wall. If she was hurt again… or worse…

  I knew this could happen. I fucking knew and I still left her.

  What the fuck was I thinking?

  If anything happened to her…

  I would never forgive myself.

  Nicco and Matteo arrived just as the EMTs were wheeling Maurice out of Luca’s apartment.

  “Fuck,” Matteo breathed, his expression clouded with concern. “Is he going to be okay?”

  “He’s lost a lot of blood,” I said, grimly.

  “Mr. Marchetti,” Philippi Dante, one of our friends from the local PD a
pproached us. “Do I need to be worried?” he asked quietly.

  “We’ll handle it.”

  “I already told them what I know,” I said, shooting Dante a warning look.

  “I think we’ve got everything for now. But I won’t be able to bury it for long.” He glanced around the room before leaning in. “You’re going to have to give me something.”

  “Dante,” Nicco said, “walk with me.”

  The two of them followed the EMTs out of the apartment deep in discussion, and I knew my cousin was probably trying to avoid a scene.

  “What do we know?” Matteo asked the second they were gone.

  “The security footage was cut about three hours ago. Right after I left.”

  “So what the hell was that at the VCTI?”

  “A decoy.”

  “Fuck.” He scrubbed his jaw. “And we think Luca took her? But he was vetted, man. I double checked his file myself.”

  “You did?” I jerked back. I knew he’d asked Maurice, but I didn’t know he’d pulled Luca’s file.

  “Figured we should know who was hanging around your woman.”

  The words made my chest tighten.

  “We’ll get her back, Enzo,” he said, laying a hand on my shoulder. “And our guys?”

  “No sign of them.”

  “No way Bianco did this without help,” Matteo said the words I’d been pondering ever since stepping foot into his apartment and finding Maurice bleeding out.

  “I should have stayed away,” I gritted out, fists clenched painfully at my sides. “I should have fucking stayed away from her.”

  “Come on, cous, don’t do this. You couldn’t have known Luca was involved. None of us could.”

  Before I could stop myself, my fist shot out and collided with the wall. Pain ripped through my knuckles, zipping up my wrist but I welcomed it. I’d welcome a whole lot more than that if it meant getting Nora back in one piece.

  I’m sorry, Gattina. I’m so fucking sorry.

  “Better?”

  “No,” I grunted. “But I will be when we find this motherfucker and end him.”

  “I think we’ve got to assume he isn’t working alone. He had to get Nora and our guys out of here somehow.” His brows crinkled but then his eyes widened. “We checked La Stella’s security feed, but we didn’t check La Luna.”