Chapter Twenty-Two

Enzo

 

There had been many times in Enzo’s career when he’d had to make a difficult choice, but he had never before been faced with one quite like this. He adjusted his grip on the gun once again, clenching his teeth and trying to slow down his heart.

 

That was difficult to do while looking at Madelyn. He had grown so accustomed to seeing her several times a week. She had always been so beautiful, so radiant, and to see what she had been reduced to drove him crazy. Even in the baggy T-shirt and cutoff sweats she wore at the moment, she was the most wonderful thing he had ever laid his eyes on. Her beauty had been what had initially attracted him, but she had kept pulling him further in as he’d come to realize her fire, her passion, and her smarts. She stood her ground when she felt she needed to, and the sparks that flew from those dark cinnamon eyes were like nothing he had seen before, and certainly never appreciated. He was hooked on her.

 

But she had also been a source of trouble for him. Enzo’s life had been relatively carefree until she had walked into it. If Morber and Barnard had kept his case for themselves, then none of this ever would have happened. They would have either found a way to get him off or they wouldn’t have, and there would have been no bargaining or coercing. There would have been no late-night dinners or surprise lunch dates. Enzo probably wouldn’t have even let them in on his plan to frame Scarvo. He simply would have done the work and then pointed out that it was obvious his rival had committed the murder.

 

And what if Scarvo was telling the truth about the recorded confession? Enzo didn’t want to believe she would have done such a thing, but judging by the way Benny had beaten her, it was quite possible she had done what she needed to do. His life would be completely done if Madelyn had laid it all out for anyone to hear. The list of things he had done or ordered done in order to pull off this scheme would only lead them to the other crimes he had committed in his lifetime. If he rescued Madelyn and found out she had done this to him, he would have no choice but to kill her later. How ironic that she would have confessed in order to save her life, only to have Enzo take it from her again.

 

If he shot her, watching her blood pour out and soak into that concrete floor, then Enzo would be free. No, he realized, just as he had the thought that it wasn’t true. He might be free from living out the rest of his years in prison, but he wouldn’t truly be free. He would be forced to become Scarvo’s lackey, and he would lose his own family. Enzo wasn’t the type of man who worked for anyone else, and definitely not for a man like Scarvo. Besides, he had seen his father work so hard to build up the Marinos, to leave a legacy to his son that was simply incomparable. That couldn’t happen.

 

And what if he shot his rival instead? It was practically guaranteed that Scarvo’s goons would shoot him and his men. If Enzo managed to make it out alive, then it would be difficult to cover up the murder. Anybody who knew anything about the families in the area would immediately blame him, simply because the Marinos and the Scarvos were enemies. He would go to jail for that, as well as for the murder of George Lewis. But at least he would still have the respect of his family. And perhaps, every now and then, just when he was beginning to lose hope, he would see the beautiful face of Madelyn Rowe on the other side of the glass, pressing the phone to her ear a little harder so that she could hear every vibration of his voice.

 

These thoughts swirled in Enzo’s head so quickly that he couldn’t even keep track of them. He only saw Madelyn and Scarvo as they stared at him, waiting for his answer. It wasn’t one that he could give out loud, because there were no words that suited what he was about to do. He couldn’t apologize or preface it any way that was sufficient, and he couldn’t even prepare his men. He didn’t like that. Enzo wasn’t that type of man. But he had learned an awful lot about himself over the last few weeks, and this was the culmination of it.

 

Steadying his finger on the trigger, he lifted the gun and pointed it straight at Madelyn’s forehead. From this distance, it would be a clean shot. Her eyes widened. What little of her natural color he could see around her bruises suddenly paled, but she didn’t plead with him or scream. Good. That made this a little easier.

 

Scarvo chuckled. “You’re a smart man, Lorenzo. I knew you were, though. The two of us will make a great team, you can be assured of that.”

 

Enzo nodded. He pivoted, swinging the gun around to aim at Scarvo. The trigger was a good one, but it seemed to take forever for him to squeeze the trigger far enough to set the hammer free. Enzo could have sworn he saw the bullet fly through the air and straight into the chest of a very surprised Scarvo. He sent another one after it, just to be safe. There wasn’t time to watch the body fall. He turned, keeping his body in front of Madelyn.

 

But Johnny and the others were already on it. They had taken out Scarvo’s other men quickly, bracing for more to come. Johnny gestured with his head at Enzo. “We’ve got the door covered.”

 

Somehow, Enzo would have to find a way to express his gratitude to his men for being there for him like this. More than anything, though, he marveled at how they operated as though they had some sort of insight into his brain. He was lucky, and he couldn’t have given up something like that.

 

He shoved his pistol into his waistband as he bent to untie Madelyn. Her chest heaved as she watched him, tears streaming down her face. “I thought … I thought …”

 

“I know,” he whispered, purposely keeping his vision focused on the tight ropes. He felt horrible for what he had done, but it had been necessary. Enzo could only hope that she would come to understand that someday. “I had to make you think that, and Scarvo as well. It gave my men more time to react. But you should have known better.” He finally did look up at her now that he had her hands free, and she was smiling at him through her tears. He wiped his own away as he worked at the bindings around her ankles.