Caught In Her Vengeance - Book 2

48

Chapter 48

Catalina

Two Weeks Later

I pulled into the driveway in the car Nic gave me late last week after I had said something to him about always taking his truck out. When he handed me a set of keys and told me he'd gotten me a car. I immediately told him that I couldn't accept it, but he wasn't taking no for an answer.

'Nic, are you out of your mind? You can't just give me a car! I'm not taking it. No way.'

'Here's the thing, little one. I can do whatever I want. And it wasn't a question. Take the keys and say thank you. Now.'

It didn't help that Sal and Matteo weighed into the a+b conversation that had absolutely nothing to fucking do with them and took his side. But hey, at least they were finally agreeing on something after weeks of barely speaking to one another.

That was something, I guess?

Parking my new ride next to Matteo's tricked-out sports car, I hopped out and shut the door behind me. Despite them working round the clock, Victor nor that asshole Reaper has made a blip on the radar. Sal had even pulled out the big guns after the incident with Massimo and not a peep. The fuckers were good. I'd give them that, but we were better. I had no doubt.

Still, it wasn't all bad. I bounced from heel to toe with each step as I made my way inside, feeling lighter today. Things with my therapist were going pretty well. She's been very optimistic about the improvements I've made, opening up to the guys and Lola more recently.

Which was a good thing, I guess?

Looking over my shoulder at the man behind me, I non-committedly shook my head, "you know you guys don't have to take shifts following me around everywhere?" Matteo chuckled and shrugged his shoulders without saying a word to me. I turned to face him, walking backward into the house, and narrowed my eyes at him, biting back a smirk. This had become a regular thing with us since Nic had everyone watching my every move like fucking hawks... even Lorenzo.

"I can take care of myself, ya' know?"

"We don't doubt that for a second," Matteo finally spoke, his stormy gray eyes holding mine as we walked further into the huge house.

"Then what's with the babysitting me all the time?" I threw my hands up, feigning frustration—again, because this had become our little song and dance. I pretend to be annoyed. At the same time, he could see right through my shit but didn't call me on it. I was actually more than glad to have one of them around at all times.

After Reaper's little threat, I wasn't sure what would happen next, and I wanted someone I could rely on in my corner when shit hit the fan. Because it was going to hit the fan—and bad.

Matteo was just about to speak when his phone started to ring in his acid-washed ripped jeans. Pulling it from his front pocket, his eyes widened for half a second before his gaze snapped to meet mine. He swallowed hard and began to walk off toward his room. "Sorry, I-I gotta take this."

"Yeah, yeah," I shouted behind him, still walking backward. "Take your call, but I don't see you assholes babysitting each ot—Ah!" I hit a brick wall.

Stumbling on my feet, my bad ankle gave out, and I felt myself about to completely eat shit, my long messy curls flying every which way. Frantic, I threw my hands up, reaching out for something... anything to grab onto before a fall that never came.

"Easy there, Princess," Enzo's warm breath fanned against the column of my neck, his long fingers tightly wounding around my tiny waist to keep me upright. "A sick man like me just might think you did that there on purpose because you've missed the way his hands felt on you."

His whispered words against my ear took me to a place I was far too acquainted with, and he knew it. Smug bastard. I felt the smirk playing softly on his lips and took everything in me not to shudder at his words... his touch.

I hated him and yet did nothing to push him away.

"Nope." I bent my head forward to put a minute amount of space between us. My mess of chocolate hair instantly draped over my face, and I tried to blow it out of my eyes, but it just fell back into place. He's an asshole, Catalina.

"You just happened to be in my way. I didn't miss shit about you."

Half-truths... apparently, I was telling half-truths today. My therapist would call this: me hindering my progress. I guess what she didn't know... right?

"Hmm, why don't I believe you," he snickered.

The sound was so fucking welcoming that my traitorous shoulders relaxed against his hard chest before I forced myself to pull away from him. What the fuck was I doing?

Dragging me back to his chest, one of his hands left my waist, slowly sliding up the center of my body, and I stupidly let him. After months of wanting to rip his head off, I may have allowed myself to imagine this very thing happening once or twice over the last two weeks. Even though the only real time we'd spent alone together, besides that whole torturing of a man in their torture shed thing, was whenever it was his turn to follow me around as per Nic's orders.

"Well, believe it," I snorted under my breath, and he shook his head. "I hate you." I lied again.

Lorenzo and I hadn't said much to one another, understanding each of us had a job to do. But that didn't stop him from eye fucking me every chance he got, with that arched brow and a knowing smirk splayed across his lips. He knew what he was doing.

Regardless of whether we spoke to each other or not. We both understood that day changed everything between us. Something shifted hugely, making the insane animosity I had toward him thaw. Especially after Nic told me about their father, my hatred for him soon melted away, and that void was filled with understanding. No one deserved that.

Don't get it twisted. It didn't excuse all of his behavior. I was still beyond irritated with him. But... I did miss the way his hands felt on me, even if I hated myself for it.

"Liar."

"I'm not."

"You so are," he hummed under his breath. "Go ahead, lie to me again, and tell me you don't want this.

Suddenly, my breathing began to pick up when his large hand came to the front of my small throat. His long slender fingers curled into the sides of my neck, and he used the heel of his palm to apply the slightest amount of pressure. Just the way he knew, I liked it.

"It's true," I breathed out.

"You sure 'bout that, princess? I can practically smell you getting wet for me," he muttered just above a whisper. Then his teeth nipped at the shell of my ear, and I swallowed hard beneath the tightened fingers that were wrapped around my throat.

Inhaling his spicy, leathery, familiar smoky scent, my heavy lids fell shut, and I found myself remembering the last time we were like this. Despite willing myself not to, I let myself do it anyway. That was probably the happiest I'd been in my life. Only it was right before my world came crashing down around me. No thanks to him. Because it was all a lie.

"Actually," I said, wrapping my fingers over his wrist that was still firmly snaked around my neck, and I quickly reopened my eyes. I needed to put some distance between us, or I wouldn't be able to think straight. Not with him touching me like this.

"Last time I checked, the liar was you!"

"Christ, Catalina," he sighed, eliciting a shiver to ride down my spine, and I thought the urge to shudder against him. "Have we not gotten past that yet?"

Snorting in disbelief, I bent his arm forward enough to free myself before roughly shoving him away from me. He laughed, stumbling over his own feet. The fucker actually laughed. Sighing heavily, I pushed my loose hair over my shoulder and turned to face him. He was in a work suit, and his medium-length chestnut hair was styled to the side, loose tendrils sweeping his forehead as he spoke.

"I thought we were friends again, darlin'. Don't break my heart like this." Narrowing his icy blue gaze at me, a ghost of a smile on his soft pink lips, he placed a hand over his heart to fake hurt.

"Friends, seriously?" I gaped at him. Is that what he really thought? Because he had another thing coming. "You think just because of what happened two weeks ago. We're friends? No. We aren't anything."

"Fuck, you wound me with those venomous words of yours," he laughed humorlessly loud enough for the whole damn house to hear. And I wondered how long it would take before we had an audience. "But this is me, Cat. You should know this by now. Take it or leave it." Now, who was the one lying?

"God, everything is just a joke to you, isn't it?" I shook my head at him. "Like, who gives a shit if I end up dead. At least you had your fun, right?"

"You think this shit is fun for me," he snapped, the smile he had been forcing dropping away from his face almost immediately. "The girl I was in love with who also left me has forgiven everyone in this goddamn house... but me!" His voice got louder with each word that left his mouth.

So we were doing this then...

"You didn't love me, Lorenzo," I snapped back. If he wanted to go there, we'd go there, but he wasn't going to like what I had to say. "You don't know how to love a single person besides yourself! You're selfish! Childish! And you've never loved anyone! Ever!"

"Oh, go fuck yourself, Catalina!" Enzo shouted, narrowing his eyes at me.

"You see! You can't even argue with me about it because I'm right!" I wasn't even mad at him for not loving me. I was just angry he wouldn't admit it.

"I loved you, or at least who I thought you were!"

"You think I don't know that!"

"No! I don't because you..." I frustratedly tossed a hand in his direction, stabbing a finger at him. "You never loved me back.

"You're so wrong, and you don't know what the fuck you're talking about," he hurled his hands in the air as though he was done with the conversation. Muttering things under his breath I couldn't understand. Then he went to turn to leave me standing in the foyer alone but I wasn't finished.

"Oh yeah, I wonder what Matteo has to say about that." As soon as the words left my mouth, Enzo spun on his heels to face me and marched back into the room, heat radiating off of him in waves.

"Leave him the fuck out of this!"

"Why," I unconsciously backed away as he angrily stomped towards me. "Afraid he might say something you don't want to hear, like me?"

"Catalina, I'm fucking warning you," he said, stopping just a few feet from me. I guess to show that he wasn't really trying to intimidate me, though he already was. I took the hint anyway.

No Matteo talk. Got it.

"Okay, tough guy," I puffed out my chest standing my ground, even if it was all smoke and mirrors... because the wall behind me was holding me up. "I'll drop it. Just don't pretend like you ever gave a shit about me."

"Fucking Fine! Is that what you want to hear? That I never gave a shit about you," Lorenzo scolded me like I was a child having a tantrum over something I wasn't allowed to have. But I knew he cared. He just never loved me, and I needed to hear him say it. I needed him to stop lying.

So maybe I looked juvenile at the moment, but I wanted what I wanted.

"Because it's not true. So maybe it wasn't love. Maybe you're right. Maybe I don't know how to love someone because I'm too fucked up," he told me sincerely, with the most pained expression taking over his features.

Overwhelmed with the emotion of the intense moment, I opened my mouth to tell him that wasn't true, but he just shook his head. And who was I to persuade him into thinking differently when I felt the same way?

"I didn't know how to love but fuck! I tried! I fucking tried, and I messed up. I wish I could take it back. God, Cat, you don't know how badly I wish that I could take it all back because I'm sorry... I'm so fucking sorry."

"Enzo," I whispered, pushing off the wall and stepping towards him.

"No, Cat, I can't take it back, and you'll hate me forever because I deserve it. And what the fuck and I supposed to do with that, huh?" There were no tears in his eyes, but the pain in his voice was enough to convince me how badly he meant what he was saying.

"Do you really mean that?" I tilted my head to the side in question as I took a few more steps in his direction. "Because don't say sorry again if you don't really mean it."

"What?" Enzo asked, looking confused as his brows pulled together before realization hit. He had apologized last time, only to continue lying to me. "Of course, I'm sorry. I've been sorry."

I believed him.

"How I acted... The things I said." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I truly am so fucking sorry, Catalina, and I don't blame you for leaving."

I took another step towards him, nearly closing the space between us. It may sound stupid but hearing him say those words out loud and finally meaning them. Broke something in me.

"Thank you for that. I didn't know how badly I needed to hear all of that until you said it. I can't quite forgive everything just yet—"

"And I don't expect you to," he cut me off and I let him. "But I'll keep saying them if it'll prove to you that I mean every single one of my words to you. I don't want to fight with you anymore."

"I agree, it's quite exhausting going toe to toe with you," I smiled up at him before sticking my arm out to offer him a hand. "So, I guess this is a truce."

"A cease-fire, if you will?" He laughed in agreement, taking my hand into his and shaking it. "So, friends, Catalina?"

"I think I like the sound of that, Lorenzo," I nodded my head. "Friends."

"Good. I gotta head out," Enzo said and let go of my hand. "But we can work on the 'with benefits' part later." He wiggled his eyebrows, sending me a playful wink as he stepped away from me.

Of course, Enzo wouldn't let that tense moment linger for too long."And he's back, ladies and gentlemen." I clapped my hands together with an eye roll then I turned to walk away from him. It had been a minute since I was debriefed, and I wanted to see what Nic and Sal were up to, but not before stopping to look at him over my shoulder. "You're incorrigible. You know that?"

"Hmm," Enzo hummed in disagreement, and I narrowed my curious gaze at him. "Insatiable, actually. But you already knew that." My cheeks warmed at his words and I knew I went flush, from the way he was laughing. "Don't worry. You'll be begging soon enough."

"In your dreams, psycho."

"Fucking right in my dreams," he laughed. "Now that I think about it... in my bed, in my shower, hmm, my personal favorite in a club up against the window with a full view of the dance floor below."

Eyes going wide my mouth fell open. "Goodbye, Lorenzo," I drug a hand down my face as I finally walked away from him.

"Later, princess," he shouted from behind me as the front door slammed closed shortly after.

Christ. What the hell was I going to do with that man?

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