Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

K ayleigh is good. I'll give her that. She's got that whole innocent vibe going on. Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. Except I know better. This girl is far from innocent.

"Why do you have the knives?" I ask once she's locked in the confines of my car and she can't run away.

I can't deny that some part of me was hoping she'd try to use one of those knives on me. It'd give me an excuse to restrain her. My eyes drift across the car. Fuck, I'd love to see her tied up, begging for my mercy. Something I'd never give a filthy cop.

"Because I like to be able to protect myself. You never know what kind of creeps are out on the streets." Kayleigh shrugs.

"How'd that work out for you last night? When some fucker was about to have his way with you in the bathroom of that frat house?" I ask her.

She flinches. "Clearly not great," she says. "I don't make a habit of hanging out at frat houses or going to parties, for that matter."

"Where am I taking you?" I already know what dorm she's been assigned to, but I can't let on just how much about her I know. After she tells me the name of the building, I feign interest. "Why NYU?"

"Why not?" Kayleigh fires back.

"Where'd you say you transferred from again?"

"I didn't."

"Right. You also didn't give me your name," I remind her.

"Huh, no, I guess I didn't." She smiles.

"Okay, so piccolo ladro it is, then." I chuckle.

"It's Kayleigh, and I'm not a thief," she huffs. It's interesting that she knows Italian. At least enough of it to understand the nickname I've given her.

"How do you know Italian?" I ask aloud.

"I studied the language," Kayleigh says. "Why do you keep calling me a thief?"

"Because you took something from me that wasn't meant for you," I tell her honestly. I can't tell her what that something is. It won't make a difference anyway.

"I haven't taken anything from you," she insists right as I pull up in front of her dorm building.

"I'll pick you up at seven."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm taking you to dinner, Kayleigh." I smile at her.

"Why?" Her face scrunches up, and my grin widens a fraction. I'd love to kiss the crease between her brows, but I can't do that.

"Because I like you and that's what people do when they like each other. They go eat meals together," I say simply.

"I'm busy tonight. Rain check," Kayleigh states while climbing out of the car.

"I'll be here at seven," I call out as she slams the door shut.

I wait until she's inside the building before I drive off. The entire time, I tell myself I'm doing this for my family. I'm going to destroy her before she can try to destroy us. I know the perfect place to take my little thief to dinner too, a restaurant frequented by the most prominent leaders of the New York underworld.

It's neutral ground. One of the few places members from various families can be found cohabitating peacefully. No work ever gets done there. Although, if anyone finds out I knowingly took a federal agent into the restaurant, they'll all be coming for my head.

But what's life without risks? Boring, that's what.

Hitting the button on my steering wheel, I call my brother. He's in a totally different time zone. Ten hours ahead of me, which means I make it my mission to call his ass at all hours of the night. Serves him fucking right for moving to Australia.

"Enzo, I swear to fuck if you're not bleeding out in a damn ditch somewhere, you're about to be," Lorenzo grunts through the phone.

"If I were bleeding out, why the fuck would I be calling you? What good are you to me when you're on the other side of the fucking world?" I grunt back.

Am I bitter about him moving? Yes, I miss my brother. He was my partner in crime. Quite literally.

"Aw, I miss you too, bro." Lorenzo laughs. "Give me a sec. I need to get out of bed. If you wake my wife, I actually will kill you."

"I have no doubt," I tell him, because there is nothing my brother loves more than his wife Kyla. He makes sure to tell me just how perfect she is at least twice every time we talk.

"What's up?" Lorenzo finally asks after I hear the soft click of a door.

"Do I need a reason to call my brother?" I question him.

"No, but you usually have a reason, so spit it out, Enzo. I'm tired. It's the middle of the fucking night over here, as I'm sure you're aware by now."

"Again, I'm not the one who moved. You are," I retort.

"Have you heard from Aurora?"

"Nope, Pops says she's fine though," I tell him.

"She's a survivor," he says.

"How did you know?" I sigh.

"How did I know what?"

"That Kyla was worth risking everything for? I mean, you knew who her father was and you still went and married her," I ask.

Kyla's father is a psychopath, in every sense of the word. I'm honestly surprised my brother hasn't been turned into pig food yet. The man's known to feed people to his pigs for lesser crimes than marrying his eighteen-year-old daughter.

"Because I couldn't imagine life without her. That's how I knew. It didn't matter what happened to me, because if I walked away from her without trying, I'd be tearing my own heart out. She owns me. I'm not afraid to admit that," Lorenzo says. "Life without her isn't a life. It's hell."

"What if you had to choose her or the family?"

Lorenzo sighs into the phone. "I love our family, Enzo, but Kyla… She will always come first," he admits.

"Maybe don't let Zio Theo hear you say that. I was there when you were sworn in. You took the oath right alongside me."

"I remember," he says. "Who is she?"

"No one important," I tell him.

"That's bullshit. If you're asking these questions, she's definitely important. Don't give up the person who's made for you if you've found her. Do whatever you have to do to keep her, Enzo. Trust me, you don't want to live with the heartache of knowing you fucked it all up," he says.

"Yeah, maybe. I gotta go. Tell Kyla I said hi." I hang up before he can question me any further. I understand what my brother's saying, but I don't have the option of keeping Kayleigh. She's a fucking cop. I'm a made man. There is no world where we live happily ever after.