I shook my head as I would have before my ordeal, doing what I could to reassure him. “I’m fine.” I wanted to say more, but he dealt with his own demons about what happened when I was abducted.
He furrowed his brows, and I sighed, knowing the lecture that was coming.
“You don’t seem fine.” He closed the distance between us, visually cataloging the weapons strapped to my body.
Sofia cast me a worried glance, and I knew what she was going to do before it even happened. “Stop,” she snapped as she slapped a hand on Enzo’s chest.
Enzo’s gaze honed in on Sofia, and deep longing swam in his dark eyes.
I fought from flinching. He meant well, but I was here for a reason. What better way to exercise my demons and work through my issues than to do it with my best friends, the women who coexisted in the Mafia as I did? I promised myself I would do that, given my second chance at living.
Sofia
Ijabbed a finger into Enzo’s chest. He didn’t budge, but I would give Emiliana the space she needed. His heart was in the right place, but he didn’t get how much she struggled. She was determined to overcome her fears. He had no idea how much his well-meaning hovering was undermining the progress she wanted to make. They both had suffered in very different ways from her abduction and the subsequent hell that she’d endured—and still did, given the nightmares that frequently woke her.
I curled my finger back into my palm, hoping to seem unaffected, but I wasn’t. The deep cadence of his voice sent a volley of goose bumps over my skin. And the feel of his hard, toned body beneath my finger had dredged up images of what we once were to each other, what we never could be again, no matter how much I wished things were different. “We need to go somewhere and talk.”
Seconds passed before an amused smile curved Enzo’s kissable lips, and he latched on to my wrist. He guided me into the mudroom by the back entrance then shut the door to the rest of the house, isolating us in the smallish space.
“Sure, this works.” I shook my head, looking to the ceiling as if I would find answers there. The attraction pulsing through me and between us made me revert to the safety of sarcasm. “Could have gone into any other room, but the mudroom is perfect. Definitely says deep, in-depth discussion.”
“Stop being a smart-ass.” His gaze flicked to my chest. “And you have a stain on your shirt.”
I pulled my long-sleeved light-pink shirt out enough to inspect the front. “What the hell? How did I get coffee on this?” I growled at him. He had to point it out, didn’t he? Dammit, I loved that shirt. “You’re lucky I’m only going to give you a minute of my time because I have to go change now.”
Enzo chuckled then crossed his arms over his chest.
“Listen, jerk.” I kept my gaze firmly on his gorgeous face, not looking at the way his biceps bulged or thinking about how I would give just about anything to be in his embrace. He was the forbidden fruit, and I wanted what I couldn’t have.
I blinked a few times, forcing my thoughts away from how it felt when he touched me. It wasn’t going to happen, at least not anymore. We couldn’t, and especially not when he was pushing my buttons—pointing out a stain on my shirt. He knew that drove me nuts.
I drew in a deep breath then made myself block everything else out and get to the point. “Em needs space. She’s doing well, and the helicopter-brother routine isn’t helping her.”
He’d changed so much after he and Stefano had brought Emiliana back from hell. I swore Enzo still had one foot back there. Anger clung to him, and he’d been withdrawn, pushing me away ever since.
It was for the best, though. We couldn’t be together, no matter how much I wished otherwise. My thumb ran across the scar on my palm, a reminder of the promises we’d made.
The intensity of his dark stare caused me to inch away until my back hit the door. Enzo smirked then advanced. Tension crackled in the diminishing space between us, and my body, traitorous bitch that it was, reacted.
“Enz—”
His hands threaded through my hair, and he pulled my face to his. His lips descended onto mine, and any thought I had of stopping him evaporated in the raging inferno he ignited in my core. My lips parted on a gasp, and he took control, deepening the kiss and pulling me in with him. Every inch of me was hyperaware of him. I couldn’t stop myself from melting into his embrace—what’s worse, I had no desire to. It was exactly where I wanted to be.
It was a bad idea. The only direction it could take was further heartbreak, but I was helpless to resist.
CHAPTER FIVE
SOFIA
Ifell onto the couch next to Emiliana and across from Marissa. “How is it afternoon? I go to one class, and I swear the day is just gone.”
Marissa snorted. “That’s because it was your fashion class, and you stayed a few hours after to finish whatever project you were working on, addict.”
Emiliana snickered, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “True. I’m a fashion whore. It’ll never change. Where’s Lil?”
“Class,” Emiliana said. “She should be back any minute.”
The door burst open, and a gust of arctic wind followed Lil and Eva inside. “Shut the door!” we all yelled in unison, shivering from the instant drop in temperature. It felt like winter would never end.