“He was wonderful. Rocked my world, Jamie. But he was rude as hell the next morning.”
“You stayed over with him?” she asked. “That’s the worst rule to break!”
“I know. I know. And he was rude, but in a rich way. Wasn’t in bed when I got up, but he’d somehow bought me new panties? And laundered my clothes?”
“I think that would make sense with more context, but I won’t derail you,” she said.
“Anyway, he said I had time to get up and get out the door as long as I was gone by the time he got back, or something like that.”
“What did you expect him to do? Keep you there forever?” she asked.
“Jamie, I don’t know. All I know is I went to visit my future husband that afternoon after having one last night of my choosing and he was standing there.”
“Who?”
“The guy I went home with from the club.”
I watched Jamie’s jaw drop to the floor as her eyes lit up with shock.
“Holy shit. Are you serious?” she asked.
“Yep. And I wanted nothing to do with him and that pompous attitude of his. But he sort of grew on me. Then, that night at the club happened.”
“You’re gonna have to specify,” she said.
“The night where I left early? Where I told you I thought I saw someone but I didn’t?”
“Wait, he was there that night?”
“Yeah, with his arms around another woman.”
Jamie’s shock morphed into anger before settling on pity. She put her milkshake down and wrapped me in her arms and I began to cry into her neck. In the middle of my kid’s darkened classroom with summer looming outside my window, my shoulders shook with earth-shattering sobs.
“Ssshhh… it’s gonna be okay, Rena.”
“How was I so stupid?” I asked.
“Not stupid. Hopeful. Despite your encounter with him and how it rubbed you the wrong way, you were hopeful.”
“All I asked of him was to stay faithful to me. I didn’t care about anything else. I just couldn’t take him being unfaithful while expecting that same thing from me.”
“He had a hell of a good deal, then. He doesn’t know the kind of woman he’s passed up,” she said.
“It shouldn’t hurt this badly. I’ve only known him for a month. Maybe.”
“Sometimes hope getting broken hurts more than a heart getting broken,” she said. “The heart can be mended, but to have hope again takes trust. And he broke that trust.”
“I’m such an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot. But you have been dealing with this on your own for way too long. So here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to call Charlie and Amanda and we’re going to go out tonight.”
“I don’t wanna go out,” I said.
“Tough. You don’t have a choice. Your life is a hot mess, so we’re all gonna get dressed up and go get some dinner out. Then we’re going to go get a drink in our hands, swivel our hips, and find you someone to help you forget about this guy.”
“The last thing I want is another dick to take care of,” I said flatly.
“Then we’ll have a girl’s night out. Dress up, dinner, drinks, and dancing. The four ‘D’’s that have never failed us.”
I giggled and shook my head as I pulled away from her grasp.
“Fine,” I said. “But only tonight.”
“What? You got some plans for the next few weeks or something?”
“No. But… I figured getting out of town for a little bit might help. I’m going to take some money from my savings account and go somewhere for a little while.”
“You talked that over with those overprotective parents of yours?” Jamie asked.
“They’ll be fine. I need that. To get away from all of this stuff and take some time for myself.”
“Fine. But you’re going to call me everyday while you’re on that trip. And send lots of pictures. Hell, if I can get the time off work, I might just come with you. We could make it a girl’s trip and stay in all the nicer hotels.”
“I don’t have money for the nicer hotels.”
“You know damn good and well your father isn’t gonna let you stay in some shabby hotels while you travel the country or whatever it is you’re gonna do,” she said.
“True, but that doesn’t mean I won’t fight him on it. And I wouldn’t turn down that kind of company if you can get the time off,” I said with a grin.
“Good. Then it’s settled. I’ll talk to my boss and see what I can finagle at the firm. In the meantime, let’s get you home so you can clean up. You can pack up some things and come stay at my place for the night. That way, if you find yourself a man they aren’t questioning things and if you break down and have a sobfest they won’t see it.”
“What would I do without you?” I asked.
“Die alone and cold without anyone to love you,” she said.
“That’s morbid, and not true at all. But I love you, so I’ll go with it.”
“You’ve always been the best friend I never deserved, Rena. I’m sorry you’re going through all this. But in your defense, your life has always been the greatest story never told.”
“Preaching to the choir, Jamie. Preaching to it.”
“So, you ready to suck down these milkshakes and go back your bags?” she asked.
“Sounds good to me,” I said. “Lead the way.”
Chapter 15
Enzo
I walked back to my car and drove off at a mind-bending speed. Who the fuck did my father think he was? Who the fuck did Serena think she was? I was not a man to be controlled. No one could harness me. I sped all the way back to my apartment and slammed into my place, tossing my suit coat over the back of the couch. This was bullshit. Everyone was taking a small situation and blowing it way out of proportion. Serena was a fucking drama queen. Just like every other woman I screwed for a bit of fun.
But usually, a woman’s antics didn’t bother me. For some reason, Serena’s did.
She was being unreasonable. If she really wanted to get married to someone, then communication was fucking key. She’d have to put on her big girl panties, sit the fuck down, and talk with someone. Which meant hearing someone out even when she didn’t want to. She couldn’t run off to little old daddy and have him bitch to my daddy and then have me controlled.
If she thought that was how our marriage was going to go down, then she was sorely mistaken.
I didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but I needed to clear my head. And no one was going to fucking tell me how to clear my own damn head. I peeled off my suit and hopped in the shower, intent on washing this day off me. A night dancing and drinking would do me some good, then it was back to business at hand.
I wasn’t about to let some insecure woman stand in between myself and my father’s empire.
I dried myself off and picked out my best suit. A tailored Gucci suit with a dark crimson fabric and black accents. Paired with a black shirt and a black tie, I’d be unstoppable tonight. People would want to look my way and want to know who I was. I messaged a few of my friends and told them where I would be, then I went back down to my car and headed out.
Whether they showed up or not, I was going to have a fucking great time.
I pulled up to the club and the music was already thumping my gut. I got out and went around back, then paid the bodyguard to let me in. I didn’t want anyone seeing me tonight. Not unless they were intentionally looking for me. I scooted through the back and dumped out behind the bar, then made my way over to my regular seat. A darkened corner with my back to the wall and the dance floor in front of me to keep an eye on.
My whiskey neat was soon set in front of me by the bartender who knew me by name.
A few women came up and tried to speak with me, but I waved them off. I was in no mood to deal with anything remotely resembling a woman tonight. I threw my first whiskey neat back quickly before another was set in front of me, and that one was finished before the bartender walk
ed away.
I wasn’t playing around tonight.
I was going to forget about all of this shit.
I was rolling my third drink around in my hand as my eyes scanned the floor. I recognized a few people. Men whose fathers I’d made examples out of, taking out their rage on the dance floor. Women whose mothers coached them on how to be proper women, even in a club. Hoping not to piss the wrong man off and get herself hurt. It was disgusting, how men treated women in this day and age. It boiled my blood and churned my insides when men decided a woman was their piece of property to use how they saw fit.
And it made me irate that I was being lumped in with them.
I threw back the rest of my third drink and the bartender promptly set a fourth in my hand. I knew it wasn’t smart for me to have another one, especially on an empty stomach. But I didn’t give a shit. If I had to get a cab home, I knew my car would be safe.
Everyone knew which car was mine and they knew not to mess with it.
Then suddenly, my eyes landed on someone familiar. The way those hips swiveled and the way that hair fell around her shoulders would always catch my eye. I saw her delicate hand in the air, grasping a drink as her dark brown eyes twinkled in the strobing light.
Serena. She was at the club.
And some man had his hands on her.
I watched his hands massage her hips. I watched his body roll deeply against hers. The smile on her face and the tipsy look in her eye complimented the flush in her cheeks, but it wasn’t me behind her. It was some second-rate asshole with his nose nuzzling the crook of her neck.
What the fuck?
She was mine. Mine to take care of and mine to cherish. She had been gifted to me by her family and they trusted me with her safety. I watched that man place his hands in areas he shouldn’t be touching. Areas I’d touched only a couple of weeks ago. I felt anger bubbling in my gut. I felt a sense of dread pour over me. If Serena got herself into a bad situation with him, I wasn’t sure if she was strong enough to get him off her.
This wasn’t happening to her.
Not on my watch.
I threw back my fourth drink and stood from my seat. I unbuttoned my suit coat in order to give me more room to move. I glided along the dance floor as the alcohol in my body loosened me up.
The closer I got to Serena, the faster my heart slammed against my chest.
She was beautiful. Radiant. Happier than I’d ever seen her with me. Maybe everyone was right. Maybe I wasn’t treating her the best way I could. Clearly I’d never seen that smile on her face before. Clearly she’d never willingly wanted to be that close to me.
Not without having sex.
Not just to interact with me.
I reached my hand out for the guy and ripped him backwards. He stumbled as I moved between him and Serena. I loomed over him, listening as Serena’s voice started yelling at me.
But I wasn’t paying attention to her.
I was paying attention to him.
The man who had his hands on my fiance.
“Enzo, what the fuck are you doing?”
I whipped around at the sound of my name and took in her presence. The flowing blouse that fell off her shoulders and the red straps of the bra she had on underneath. The tightness of her jeans and how they molded to every curve she had on her body. How her tanned skin accented the yellow speckles in her eyes that mesmerized me every time I looked at her.
She even had on a bit of makeup.
I felt my body go careening back as my jaw began to ache. I brought my hand up to my lips, checking to see if I was bleeding. Serena was yelling as she ran over to the man who had hopped off the floor and made the grave decision to punch me.
Little did he know it would be his last.
“Stop it, both of you,” Serena said.
But my fist was already cocked back and aimed for his nose.
I crashed it into his face, feeling his bones crack underneath my touch. Serena screamed, her drink flying backwards as she wrapped herself around my arm. She was clinging to me. Trying to get me to stop. But I reared my foot back and kicked the man on the ground as a growl flew from my mouth.
“Think again before putting your hands on another man’s woman,” I said.
“I am not your woman,” Serena said.
“She said she was… single…” the man said as he sputtered blood onto the floor.
I kicked him again, feeling his ribs collapsing as Serena shrieked.
“Enzo! Stop!”
“This woman is my fiance, and you will never touch her again. She deserve more than that. Better than that. More romance than that.”
I picked the man off the floor by his collar before I hoisted him into the air. Security guards were heading to the floor as his blood dripped from his chin. I felt Serena’s arms around my body, trying to pull me back.
I missed how she touched me.
This man didn’t deserve her innocent touch.
“I’m… sorry…” the man said.
“Mr. Gambani, put the man down.”
I looked over at the bodyguard who was poised with a taser gun. I glared at him as Serena’s hands continued to tug at me. I released the man from my grasp and watched him plummet to the floor, groaning in pain like the sack of shit he was.
I turned to Serena, expecting to see fear in her eyes. Scared about the monster she had just witnessed. I’d done it again. I had exposed her to part of my job. I had shown her the true animal within me and how my family business leveraged it for their own pleasure. If there was any hope of getting back this woman I apparently cared about, I had just done it in.
I was going to be disowned from my family and left alone in the cold.
But instead, I watched her eyes flare with frustration. Anger. Shock. Not fear or any sort of frightening stare, but annoyance.
Like I was an inconvenience.
“Enzo! What the hell are you doing!?”
Chapter 16
Serena
The man came out of nowhere and all of a sudden my back was cold. All of the girls had gone to the restroom, leaving me to fraternize with the man who had come up behind me to dance. He was good-looking enough. Not really my type, but then again my type seemed to be the cheating type. His eyes were closer set than Enzo’s and his muscles weren’t as strong as his. And his breath. Yikes. If he wanted anything to do with me, he wouldn’t be kissing me during it. He was subpar to Enzo, and it pissed me off that all I could do was compare him to that asshole.
But I couldn’t help it. Enzo was many things, and many of those things he was good at.
The moment I felt his body ripped from mine I knew what was happening. So it didn’t shock me when I turned around and saw Enzo standing there. What shocked me was Enzo’s blatant violent outburst at some man being around me. We weren’t getting married so my actions were of no consequence to him.
He didn’t still get to own me simply because we fucked.
That wasn’t how that worked.
“Enzo! What the hell are you doing!?”
The man stared at me with a mixture of confusion and drunkenness in his eyes. The night had been ruined, so there was no sense in staying. Everyone had just seen Enzo beat the ass of this guy who touched me, which meant no man in this club would want me tonight. I threw my drink at Enzo’s feet and stormed away, grabbing my purse from a cubby I had stuffed it in.
But I felt him right on my heels.
“Get the hell away from me,” I said.
“We need to talk, Rena.”
“First off, ‘Rena’ is a nickname people I love get to call me. I don’t love you. So get that name out of your mouth.”
My words stopped him in his tracks. Like a blow to the gut or something.
“What? It shocks you that I don’t love the man who intentionally went back on his word?” I asked. “We aren’t engaged anymore, Enzo. You don’t get to go around beating up men who put their hands on me.”
“So you wanted that man’s
hands on you?” he asked.
“Yes. I did. He came up and asked me to dance and I said ‘hell yeah’.”
“Hell yeah,” he said.
“Yep. But you didn’t see that part. All you saw was something you thought you owned. Like every other pompous windbag I’ve been good at avoiding until my parents pulled you into my life. Go the fuck away, Enzo.”
“Serena, wait.”
But I was already storming out the side door and dumping out into the alleyway.
“Rena, it’s not safe for you to be out there alone.”
“Stop calling me that,” I said. “If you want, you can address me as Miss Conti.”
“Are you serious?”
I threw him a glare and he stopped in his tracks.
“Miss Conti-”
“What the fuck do you want?” I asked.
“For you to calm down and act like an adult so we can talk,” Enzo said.
I clenched my jaw, trying not to fire back as he looked down at me with those amber eyes. I had no idea what it was about them, but they made me weak in the knees every single time. Coupled with his thick black hair and the throbbing muscles I knew were pulsing in anger underneath his beautiful suit?
I was angry at my body for feeling as weak as it did.
“I saw you with her that night,” I said.
“I figured. My father got a lovely phone call from yours,” Enzo said.
“Good. Then you know the wedding’s off.”
“Look, Miss Conti. What you saw that night wasn’t what you thought it was.”
“Really? Then explain it to me,” I said.
“Gia was the woman you saw. She’s my cousin.”
“I don’t believe you. That woman sure as hell didn’t look like your cousin, the way she was wrapped around you.”
“By marriage. She comes around whenever she needs money. She drains her own family dry, then seeks out other family who she thinks might help. She was getting friendly with me probably because she owed money to someone and was looking for someone to help her out.”
“That was a pretty friendly hug you gave your cousin,” I said.
“I don’t disrespect women. At least, I try not to. But I sure as hell don’t disrespect family. Ever. If a family member gives me a hug, I will return it. I was raised better than that.”
Girth (Marked Skulls MC Book 1) Page 84
