“Um, let’s just say there’s this…how can I put it?”
“History?”
I cringed, since Lorik basically hit it right on the button. “Yeah, a history between me—”
“And Mancuso?” He looked surprised, like really, really surprised in a “what the fuck” kind of way. I couldn’t say I blamed him. If he was really as clued in about us and them, the infamous Boston crime families, he knew exactly how screwed up and wrong it was for me to have any kind of history with one of the Mancuso brothers.
I scowled at him. “Don’t you dare judge.”
“Not judging at all. You gotta do what you gotta do…or who you gotta do.” He snorted, and I frowned at his attempt to crack a lame-ass joke.
“I need to get out of here.” I was about to turn and head up the stairs when that voice stopped me dead in my tracks.
“Karina Valenti.”
I winced at the painfully familiar tone, and I couldn’t shake the chills it sent down my spine. I had no choice but to face him, and the moment I looked into his eyes was like a punch in the gut, leaving me without a damn breath. Every memory I’d tried to suppress for the last four years came flooding back, wreaking havoc through my insides like a hurricane. The dark eyes that once had the power to enthrall me with a single glance now seemed hard and cruel, suited for the cold bastard I now knew he really was.
Enzio smiled like an arrogant son of a bitch. “Karina, you look as lovely as ever.”
If I weren’t struggling to get a sufficient amount of air in my lungs, I would have spat in his face.
“Hello, Enzio.” I straightened and squared my shoulders, trying to act as confident as possible, even though I felt like I’d rather become one with the floor beneath my feet.
“It’s been what? Two, three years?”
“Four.”
He acted surprised. “Has it been four years already? My, how time flies these days.”
“It sure does.”
Our eyes remained fixed on one another, and I could almost see the memories of that night playing inside his head. The filthy, dirty, sordid memories of what was supposed to be something beautiful, something I now knew I never should have shared with him.
Then his gaze slipped to Lorik. “And who might you be?”
Oh, dear God, earth swallow me now.
Lorik placed his hand at the small of my back and leaned forward, extending his hand toward Enzio for a handshake. “Lorik Stone.”
Enzio glanced down at Lorik’s hand like it was infested with Ebola, then back up at his face. After about two seconds, Lorik realized Enzio did not intend to shake his hand and pulled back. By now, I no longer had a spine, but rather a giant block of ice lodged in my back keeping me upright. I knew there was a chance Enzio would show up. What I didn’t know was Detective Stone and that smug grin permanently plastered on his face would show up at a damn nightclub, of all places. And I definitely did not think I would be caught in the middle of the world’s most awkward moment ever.
“Is he with you?” Enzio nodded toward Lorik.
Lorik stepped forward, and I was sure Enzio would interpret that move as a challenge.
“Actually,” Lorik started, “heis right here, andhedoesn’t like being referred to in third person when, in fact,heis right in the middle of the damn conversation.”
Enzio also took a step closer, putting him eye to eye with Lorik, and the legion of idiots he arrived with formed a half moon behind him, ready to attack like a pack of wild dogs. Within a nanosecond, all the air got sucked out of the club, and I was holding my breath like I was waiting for the entire world to come to an end.
Dramatic? Maybe.
But I knew Enzio, and the way Lorik straightened, not backing down, made me think the battle of the fucking Titans was about to commence.
Enzio lifted his chin as he glared at Lorik. “If I had any desire to talk to you, Mr. Stone, I would. But I don’t go around making conversation with Albanians.”
Fuck.
Lorik slanted his head. “That’s a damn shame, because I’d love to converse with your Italian ass and toss in the words ‘fuck’ and ‘you.’”