Chapter Twenty-Three

Madelyn

 

Madelyn couldn’t quite read Enzo’s face. She had seen an entire range of motions pass over it since he had stormed into the basement, but now his mouth was a straight line and his eyes were hard. If she hadn’t known him, she would have thought he was angry, but she had seen him angry before and it wasn’t quite like this. It was something else.

 

And for her, she couldn’t even let herself feel relief as she was finally able to rub the sore spots on her wrists. She was safe from Scarvo, but not necessarily from Enzo and his men. Her breath lurched and spluttered in his chest as you tried to tell him. “Enzo, the confession. I didn’t. You’ve got to believe.” Madelyn knew she was speaking gibberish, but she couldn’t help it. Her brain refused to function after being awake for so long and beaten half to death.

 

He released her feet, and, still kneeling before her, gently touched her jaw. His obsidian eyes looked into hers. “We can talk about it later. Right now, we’ve got work to do.” He turned away and began barking orders at his men. “Clear the house. Make sure there’s no sign of a confession or that it’s been sent anywhere. Then we’re burning this place to the ground.”

 

Dizzy as she tried to stand, Madelyn began crying all over again. “But Enzo, I didn’t. I didn’t say anything.”

 

He frowned at her, but it was one of pity. “I know you don’t believe you did,” was all he said, and his face took on that hardness once again. He easily lifted her off her feet and carried her up the stairs.

 

* * *

 

In the back of the van, with Enzo at her side, Madelyn wanted nothing more than to fall asleep. But she couldn’t get the vision of Scarvo’s fists coming at her out of her mind, nor could she stop reliving the way his blood had spattered against the wall and floor as Enzo had killed him. She knew she should be reassured about it, but it was difficult for her to find any solace in someone’s death. Even the flames that came bursting out of the windows of the Scarvo mansion haunted her, and Madelyn wasn’t sure she would ever sleep again. Her head throbbed, every square inch of skin sensitive to the touch.

 

When they pulled up to Enzo’s mansion, she pressed her hands against his chest as he put his arms around her to pick her up. “I’m sure I can walk. I’m not that bad.”

 

“No,” he said, firm but gentle. “You’ve been through a lot, and the last thing I need is for you to trip over the kitchen rug.” He carried her into the house from the garage, with his men on their heels. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said to them.

 

Madelyn had only ever been on the lower level of Enzo’s house when she had come over for dinner. This time, he carried her straight up the stairs to the second floor and took a right. The hallway was wide, lined with a dark hardwood floor and thick doors on either side. He went through the one at the end to reveal a massive bedroom. The deep teal of the walls was broken up by the large skylights that covered one end of the room at angle in line with the roof, and the color was complemented by the deep brown of the fuzzy rug at the end of the bed. The furniture was of a similar color to the floor, perhaps mahogany, with stainless steel hardware, and the bed was decked in pure white bedding.

 

But Enzo carried her past that and into a beautiful bathroom, where everything was black and white. He settled her down onto a bench underneath the window and turned away to open a cabinet.

 

Madelyn wanted to talk to him. She knew they could probably discuss the events of the past twenty-four hours for several days and still not be done, and she wasn’t even sure where to begin. There was so much to say, so much to explain, so much to make sure he understood.

 

“Here.” Enzo picked up her hand and dropped a small white tablet into it. “Take this for the pain. I’m sure that hurts.” He then turned to the bathtub, placed the plug in the drain, and began filling it.

 

He moved with such efficiency that Madelyn wasn’t sure how to interpret it, but at least he didn’t appear to be ready to kill her. She swallowed the pill, which sank like a heavy pebble down her throat. Time must have passed oddly for her, because the tub was full before she knew it. It was a large affair with jacuzzi jets inside and tile all around it.

 

Enzo held out a hand. “Come on.” He gently brought her to her feet and made sure she was steady before lifting her T-shirt over her head. Enzo had seen her naked before, but of course that had been during sex. There was nothing seductive about the way he was stripping her down now, his hands moving slowly and compassionate. He helped her into the tub, keeping his hands on her to make sure she didn’t fall.

 

As her body sank into the warm water, she realized just how much pain she was in. The pill he had given her was starting to take effect, but Madelyn didn’t think it would ever be enough to ease the soreness in her shoulders or the way her skin seemed to have separated from itself to accommodate all the bruising.

 

“I think your shirt might be ruined,” Enzo said quietly, holding up the garment to show the blood that had soaked into the fabric. “I have a lady that’s pretty good at this stuff, though, so I can see about getting it out.”

 

“Is that from me?” she mumbled, seeing that most of the dark red was around the collar.

 

The hardness on Enzo’s face was indescribable. He might as well have been carved out of granite. “It is,” he grated out.

 

Madelyn started to shake her head, but it hurt too much to do so. “Just throw it all away. I don’t want the memory of it.” And it was as she said it that she realized just why Enzo had put her in the bath first thing, before questioning her or even offering her food. It was time to wash away the horrible experience and take the first steps toward moving on with their lives. She still didn’t know exactly what that meant for her, especially where Enzo was concerned, but she was eager to forget the rest. She tipped her head back and reached her hands up to begin washing her hair, but she gasped as bolts of pain shot through her body.

 

“Relax. I’ve got it.” Enzo moved around to the side of the tub. He supported the back of her neck with one hand while he tenderly scrubbed plain water into her hair.

 

Madelyn closed her eyes, on the verge of tears once again. It had always moved her when people helped her when she was down, and she had never been so far down as this. Enzo murmured his apologies as he worked around her wounds and the bathwater filled with lather. It hurt, but she knew there was no way around it.

 

Once he had massaged a conditioner that smelled like almonds into her hair, he reached for a washcloth and a bar of soap. He tenderly cleaned her face, the back of her neck, her limbs. The water had turned a dingy shade of red, but he drained the tub and reached for the showerhead, rinsing and rinsing until the water ran clear. When he had her wrapped in a towel, and standing on the rug in front of the tub, he still refused to let her walk. He picked her up and took her back into the bedroom, laying her benevolently on the bed and promising to bring her food and water.

 

Madelyn looked up at him, seeing him as an angel of mercy as he pulled the covers up over her. Her eyes began leaking all over again, although she had thought she must have run out of tears a long time ago. Her heart leapt out of her chest and toward him, forcing her to feel what she had so often tried to deny. She was so tired, so drained, and her eyelids kept trying to come down over her eyes.

 

“I love you, Enzo,” she whispered, not completely sure if the words were actually making their way from her mind to her mouth. The painkiller was really working now, making her feel as though she was separate from her limbs. “He tortured me, but it was worth it if it meant saving you.”

 

That firm look on his face melted into one of softness and affection. “It’s okay. We’ll talk about it when you’ve rested.”

 

“No,” she insisted. Madelyn had no energy to argue with him, but she couldn’t let this go. “I need you to know. I never said anything. I wouldn’t. Not for anything. I love you. Love you.”

 

He sat down on the bed next to her, just staring at her for what seemed like an eternity before he finally bent down and lightly kissed the side of her mouth that was slightly less bruised. “I know, Madelyn. You’re an incredible woman.”

 

She closed her eyes at the gentle touch of his lips, her heart finally content to know that she was safe with him. Everything had been crazy, and so much had happened, but it was all going to be okay. Enzo was still talking, but she didn’t hear any of it. Sleep called to her, reminding her just how long she had been gone, and she gave in easily.