C5 CHAPTER 5

I jumped to my feet, following the sound of the scream.

Outside, Enzo had his hand wrapped around a man with a messy suit.

Obviously, he had roughened him up before slamming him to the wall in a chokehold.

Moving closer to get a closer look at his victim, I saw that he had done more than roughen him up.

The side of his face was severely bruised and as he continued pleading, I noticed how several of his teeth were now missing.

"Please, I didn't mean to." The man continued screaming, shaking in fear.

Everyone took a step back when Enzo brought out a gun from his suit.

By now, the man had switched from begging in English to begging in Italian.

Italian words flew around in whispers while I just stood there, dumbfounded.

"Who sent you?" Enzo cocked the gun, pointing it at the man.

Not even a single hair on his head had gone out of place while he was beating up this man.

He looked perfectly calm.

Another reminder that this man was a cold blooded killer.

I looked behind me, waiting for someone, anyone to stop him from pulling the trigger but everyone maintained a safe distance away from the scenario.

"Who sent you, stupido?" The silence made his voice louder.

He wasn't even yelling at the other man.

It was like he was simply asking the other man what his favorite TV show was.

"I….I…I can't say." I could barely make out his words through his missing teeth.

Color drained from his face when Enzo squatted down to his level.

He knew what was coming for him.

In one Swift move, Enzo pulled his hair so fast, I thought the man's neck might snap.

"For the last time, who sent you to plant the bomb?"

The whispers among the guests increased but Enzo didn't mind.

"I can't tell, please. I didn't want to do it, I'm sorry." Sadly for this man, his pleas fell on deaf ears.

How had Enzo even found the bomb?

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, someone finally stopped him.

"Enzo!" He walked past me.

"Return to the crowd, Nicholas." His expression was unreadable but his voice carried a strict warning.

"You can't do this brother. He works for the Mexicans."

Perhaps being his brother made Enzo less scary to Nicholas. That was the only valid explanation for his guts to lower his hand.

"You're right." Even a fool could hear see how sarcasm dripped from his words.

He turned to the guests, "If he works for the Mexicans then the person who sent him to plant the bomb in my wife's car, must have been a Mexican."

His smile from earlier was no longer present.

His eyes had darkened to a shade of blue that could be mistaken for black.

He scanned the guests, stopping momentarily when his eyes landed on me.

They softened for only a second.

Effortlessly, Enzo grabbed the man and pulled him closer to the guests, all the while maintaining eye contact with me.

"It is the Morretti culture that after the reception party, the husband gifts his wife a car to show his capacity to provide for her. If I hadn't caught this bastard planting the bomb, you would have gotten into the car and the bomb would have gone off."

"You hear that, Chocolate?" He smiled at me.

How was he even smiling in this situation?

"Someone thought the best gift to give my bride on her wedding day was death."

He pointed to the space in front of me, his smile growing wider, "Beg."

I didn't understand what he meant until the man crawled to the spot Enzo had pointed to.

"Lower." His voice was low and his tone was daring. Watching this man do everything possible to keep his life, excited Enzo.

"Eyes on the ground, bastard."

He immediately looked away from me.

"Now apologize." He commanded.

"Please, forgive me." The man begged profusely, carefully choosing his words.

"What do you say, Chocolate?" He pointed his gun at the man again.

"Should we forgive him or let him go?"

I gulped, looking at the man.

His life was in my hands now.

One wrong word and this man would die.

"Let him go, please."

Would he really let him go because I said so?

The man shut his eyes, preparing for whatever Enzo would do to him.

"You tried to kill my wife, on our wedding day. Do you think that's forgiveable?" He was no longer smiling.

"N…n…No." The man answered shakily.

"At least you were honest with your answer."

In the next second, the man was lying in his own blood, courtesy of Enzo.

Still with the gun in his hand, he brought me to stand in front of everyone else.

"Isabella Pari Morretti is the same as Enzo Morretti. If you wouldn't dare me, do not dare her."

"I take crimes done against my wife very seriously," He gestured toward the dead man.

"Hurting Isabella Pari Morretti is a crime severely punishable by me."

"Do your feet hurt now?" He suddenly turned to me.

"Y..y…Yes." I stuttered with a nod.

"Good, I was starting to get bored too." He whispered to me.

"Have a lovely evening." Was all he said before leaving with me.

The Chauffeur was waiting when we exited the reception hall.

Again, Enzo pulled the doors open for me.

"Are you hurt?" I asked him after a long moment of silence.

I didn't know what to say but the silence was too loud and too threatening.

"Do I look hurt, Chocolate?" He chuckled.

"No, of course not." I looked away from him.

His scent enveloped me again when he leaned in to whisper, "You know, for someone who shot me without blinking, you care too much."

This man wasn't just a stone cold killer, he was a stone cold killer that I had offended.

"How did you catch him planting the bomb?" I wanted to get rid of this conversation very quickly but he wasn't having it.

"Why don't you ask me the questions you really want to ask, Chocolate? I'll answer them all."

Instead of leaving my space, he came closer and closer until I could practically feeling his breath on my neck.

"H….h….How are you alive?" My voice cracked at the end but I didn't care.

There was no use putting on a bravado when he knew he scared me to shit.

Maintaining the same position, he rolled up his sleeve to reveal the scar decorating the upper part of his arm.

"A lucky miss."

"We better work on that." He added.

"Why?" Now, I was going to ask the question I really wanted to ask.

I wasn't going to ask him how he found me. He was a Crime Lord, if he could break the law, he could find anyone he wanted to.

"You could have killed me as soon as you found me. Why exactly did you arrange for this marriage?"

After what I saw earlier, I would eagerly take a bullet to the head over marriage with Enzo Morretti.

At least with a bullet, I knew death was the only thing waiting for me but this man was unpredictable.

The same person that had held out his hand for me, had also killed another man without a second thought.

"Well, what do you think, Chocolate?" A glint of amusement passed over his eyes.

He was enjoying me squirm under his watch, ever wondering when the gentleman act would expire and he would snap my neck.

When the car stopped, he got out and helped me with the door.

I didn't dare complain when he scooped me in his arms and began walking into the same house I had shot him in.

"For every action, Pari, there are always consequences. If that wasn't the case, the advice 'think before you act' would never exist."

"The worst part is that you never know what the consequence to your own action will be."

There were several men lined up on each side of the walk to the door.

Why were these men here?

"Killing you off would be boring. So, I decided to spice things up a little." He looked down at me and grinned.

The gentleman act had expired the moment we got here.

This wasn't his teasing smile, this was simply a promise of torture from a predator to his prey.

"Please, I beg you." I gulped, staring at the guns in each man's hand.

Was he going to make me take a bullet from each of them?

"Oh, you will beg, Pari." His teasing looks had graduated into something animalistic.

Any moment from now, he might shift into a beast or his real form- the devil.

"I'm sorry." Endless streams of tears poured down my face.

"It's four years too late for that now, Pari."

His words connected scattered dots in my head.

The date.

Noticing the knowing look on my face, he spoke again, "Four years ago today, I carried you into this same house while you were wasted. History loves repeating herself, doesn't she?"

I grabbed his shirt in protest when we finally reached the door, "Please, please. I beg you, please!"

"The devil has never been merciful, he won't start now, Chocolate."

He splayed out his tongue over my ear, sending shivers down my spine, "I have so much planned out for you, Pari, you have no idea."

The door came open and he walked in.

Taking me back to the same spot I had shot him, he dropped me.

"Welcome to Hell, Isabella Pari Morretti."