Chapter 11

R EESE

I ’m gonna kill Vincent Ferreri.

Those words should horrify me. But I didn’t have a loving relationship with my father. He isn’t normal. The way he sees me isn’t normal. I was terrified of the man and what he would do to me when I was still playing with dolls.

Enzo's words don’t elicit rage or fear at the idea of losing a loving father. They bring relief at the idea of finally being rid of my tormentor. It’s not what that man has done to me that tips me toward cheering for his death. It’s what he’s done to the man I love. A man who’s become the blood pumping in my veins and the ache fueling my heart.

After Enzo told me his story and my father’s hand in it, I wanted to blow my father’s brains out and watch as the blood drained from his body.

I rub the tattoo on my hip and close my eyes, hoping to shut out the memory of all the vicious scars on Enzo’s body. The horror of flames licking his skin and eating his sensitive flesh. He was a fuckin’ boy, a child, and my father and his fucked-up friends had no issues taking his innocence and using him until there was nothing left but the monster.

Shouldn’t shock me. The fucker has a thing about taking innocence. He tried to take mine. That night after the sex club, I didn't go home. That was the night I finally found my voice and left. Enzo saved me that night, and there is no fuckin’ way I’m letting him face my father alone.

I stop outside the living room. Enzo, Ciaran, Vance, and Finn have their heads together, their voices low.

“You sure you can trust her?” Vance asks.

“You sure you can trust Clarissa?” Enzo spits.

“She’s my wife, motherfucker. Of course, I trust her.”

“Don’t pull your shit with me, Vance. She was a random girl you saw at the club one night, and that was it. You claimed her as yours and didn’t care how insane you became because of it. I was there when you chopped off a dude’s finger ’cause he touched her elbow. One look, and you claimed her as your ride or die. Reese is mine. None of you fuckers are to scare or intimidate her. You give her the same level of respect you give me. Got it?”

The men exchange tense looks. I don’t want Enzo to lose his family because of me.

“If you say she’s in, then she’s in,” Ciaran says. “I’ll always have your back.”

The other two men nod, which seems to satisfy Enzo.

“So, who’s watching him at the warehouse?” Enzo asks.

“Tony and Hawkley,” Vance replies.

I barge into the conversation. “I’m coming with you.”

Enzo glares at me. “The fuck you are.”

My father has done so many horrific things, and Enzo suffered the worst, but I want to look into his eyes before he dies. I want to see him suffer like he’s made others suffer. I want to know the nightmare is over.

“Enzo, please. I know how to use a gun. I learned from my uncle Paulie when I was a kid. I’m not helpless. I don’t want to be this pathetic woman who waits around like my mother. If you want me like you say you do, then you want a partner. So let me be one, a partner in everything.”

“ Principessa ,” Enzo snarls. I’m not sure if it’s a warning or a plea. “It’s fuckin’ dangerous. I can’t concentrate when you’re around. He’s a piece of shit, but the man is still your father.”

I pull down my pants slightly and lift my shirt.

Enzo snarls, practically jumping in front of me to hide my body from the other guys. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“This tattoo, the snake? It’s a brand, Enzo. I was ten years old when he fuckin’ put this on me. You know who he puts this on?”

Enzo rubs at a tattoo on the inside of his wrist. “Yes. It’s the label he puts on his whores.”

I nod, barely able to get the next words past the lump in my throat. “That night, when I came to the club… I was there because I wanted a say in how and to whom I lost my virginity. That man was going to rip everything from me. The only reason he couldn’t sell me sooner was because of my uncle. He protected me and kept me safe. I’m pretty sure that protection cost him his life.”

“I’m gonna gut him like a fish before I burn the fucker to a crisp,” Enzo spits.

“What’s mine is yours, brother,” Vance says, holding a boning knife.

Enzo ignores him, his dark eyes peering into mine as if he’s searching for something.

My heart beats wildly as I take in this handsome, dangerous man who’s wrapped himself around my joy. I never expected to find someone like him. I never dreamed I’d find a man half as amazing as him.

“You sure about this?”

I cup his face. “Yes, I’m sure. I need to be there.”

“Then you’ll be there.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Ciaran says. His face is stern, and he’s turning the large chain around his neck in his hand, looking lethal. I’m sure he could kill a man with his hands without even breaking a sweat.

“She’s coming,” Enzo says, not taking his eyes off me.