Lissy Romano

23| It was adrenaline.

Enzo Romano

I stood there, waiting for Lissy to come out of the bathroom, when I noticed some strange guy walking in. He didn't belong, and I immediately knew something was off.

Without thinking twice, I dropped Lissy's shopping bags and rushed inside. I saw him standing behind the only locked stall, just waiting for the wrong moment. God knows what that sick bastard would've done if I wasn't here.

I didn't waste time. I punched him hard in the face, and he slammed his head against the door before crashing to the floor. I climbed on top of him, landing punch after punch until I felt like it was enough. I didn't want Lissy to see this. Not after everything she's already been through.

I grabbed the guy's leg and dragged him out of the bathroom. He was a mess, blood covering his face, but that was the least of his worries. I knew I couldn't let Lissy see him like that, so I made sure to get him out of sight.

As soon as the bathroom door opened, Lissy stepped out. Her face was full of shock as she looked at me.

"What happened?" she asked, her eyes wide with concern.

"Nothing, he fell," I said, brushing it off like it was no big deal, even though I couldn't care less about that man.

Lissy looked like she wanted to help, but I couldn't let her anywhere near him. She'd been through too much already. I grabbed her arm and pulled her away from him.

"He'll be fine. Let's go, baby," I said, trying to distract her from what had just happened.

We moved away just as I noticed a security guard coming towards us. He was clearly confused by the scene.

"What happened here?" he asked, eyeing me as if I was the one who had caused trouble.

"I don't know, he tripped on something, maybe his shoelaces," I lied with a grin, barely able to keep my laugh in check.

"But his face... why's it all bleeding?" the guard asked, still not buying it.

"He hit his face against the door and then the floor. You should probably help him," I said nonchalantly, holding onto Lissy's hand with one of mine and her shopping bags with the other.

"Okay, thank you," the guard replied, crouching down to check on the guy.

I didn't wait around. I pulled Lissy out of the store and towards the parking lot, where she was still trying to process everything.

"Enzo, that man didn't have shoelaces," Lissy said, suspicion in her voice.

"He tripped on something," I lied again, opening her car door for her.

I slid into the driver's seat, and Lissy looked at me with those big, innocent eyes of hers.

"Enzo... what happened to your hand?" she asked, noticing the bruising on my knuckles.

"Nothing. I accidentally hit it against the wall while I was holding your bags," I lied, hoping she wouldn't press further.

"Did you do something to that man?" she asked, her voice now more serious as she leaned a bit further from me.