No answer.
“Good. Now that we understand each other, why in the name of fuck do you actually think she’ll go through with this?”
“Because no matter how hard she tries to distance herself from us, we are still a family, and family comes first.” Dante walked over to the table and poured himself a glass of bourbon. “Plus, she won’t do anything to hurt him. Yes, she fell in love with Enzio and was willing to give everything up for him, but she was young and secretly hoped our father loved her enough to accept her decision and to respect it.”
I couldn’t fucking believe what I was hearing. “Surely, she won’t be considering this.”
Dante downed his drink and slammed the empty glass on the table. “Right now, I think she doesn’t have to consider anything. In her mind, she doesn’t think she has any other option.”
“No way. We can’t let her do this. We have to find her.”
I stomped toward the door as my determination burned like an inferno inside my chest. There was no way in hell I was losing her after I just found her. I didn’t give a shit if it had only been such a short period of time that we’d had thisthingbetween us. All I knew was I was not willing to even think about not being able to finish what Karina and I started.
“Where are you going?” Antonio called after me.
“I don’t fucking know, but it’s clear you two jerk-offs don’t intend to do shit about finding her, while that son of a bitch is doing God knows what to her. So, I guess it’s up to me to find her and convince her that letting this motherfucker manipulate her won’t save anyone anything.”
God, I was so fucking angry, I could punch my fist through concrete. “I came here thinking her brothers would be willing to help me find her. Guess I was wrong.”
As I turned to open the door, Antonio called after me. “What gives you the idea we’re not going to help you?”
“Well, we’ve been sitting around here doing nothing but talk for the last hour while she’s out there, fuck knows where with Satan himself, and we’re no closer to finding her.”
“Hold up.” Dante rounded the table, clearly thinking something, and I hoped that something was a motherfucking plan.
Funny, I’d always thought Antonio was the brainy one with the skill to run a very successful crime syndicate. But lately, I wasn’t so sure, not when I took into consideration how Dante had been handling all this. He was cool, calm, and seemed like he was thinking straight, while Antonio appeared more on edge.
I walked back into the room. “What are you thinking, Dante?”
He rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Earlier, at the restaurant, I told Karina that Enzio sees her as his. In my head, if I try to put myself in his shoes, Enzio thinks because he was her first, she belongs to him. And I don’t know, something just tells me this is more than a chess move toward checkmate for him. For his father, maybe, but somehow I think Karina is more to Enzio than a pawn.”
Antonio walked closer, eyes narrowed. “Where are you going with this?”
Dante bit his bottom lip before his eyes widened, like he just figured it out. “It happened at the beach house, right?”
“What?” I asked, confused.
“The night Enzio tricked her and taped everything. It was at the beach house.”
“So?”
Dante grabbed his jacket and keys. “Come on. I think I know where they are.”
***
KARINA
I didn’t know how long it had been since Enzio left. He locked the door, leaving me inside the room I used to see in my nightmares. It was in this room I willingly gave up the best part of me, and he shoved it right back in my face, tearing my heart apart in the process.
I wondered if Enzio had contacted my family yet, informed them what was about to happen. My heart ached just thinking about it, thinking about the betrayal my dad would feel once he heard what I was about to do. And, yes, it was going to happen. I had no choice. Enzio made sure he had the ultimate hold on me. He made sure there was no way I’d even consider not following through with his twisted idea of a marriage. But I was screwed; I had no choice. If I wanted to spare my father the worst pain a daughter could inflict, I had to do this.
It had been hours since I saw Lorik, since Enzio ripped me from his arms. Was he looking for me? And if he was, how would he even know where to start?
God, my heart ached. Thinking of Lorik and what we shared earlier when we made love, I realized how quickly hope could be torn away. For all but a few hours, I had myself convinced that maybe, just maybe my luck had changed. Maybe the time had come when I could finally be who I wanted to be. But that feeling of freedom was short-lived.
There I was, flat on my ass on the bedroom floor with not a single ounce of hope left. I refused to go near the bed across from me. If I had my way, I’d burn it, along with the horrid memories that came with it.
The sound of the door being unlocked made me jump to my feet, my heart pounding wildly inside my chest. My blood ran cold as the door slowly creaked open. With my back flat against the wall, I watched as Enzio sauntered into the room. The sleek black suit and crisp white shirt he wore made him look like the epitome of sophistication. His hair neatly tied at the back of his neck, and his face cleanly shaven, gave the impression he was nothing more than a confident businessman. But I knew the evil that lurked behind the expensive clothes and that pretty face. There was no way he could ever hide his true colors from me again.