Page 75 of Twisted Vows

She stills, the color draining from her face.

“Honey, he’s mafia. He’s one of the ones your father worked with.”

“I know. Right now, he’s my only hope. Without him, I’d have been handed to the Russians.”

Her lips thin. “Do you trust him?”

“No.” Yes. Maybe. God help me. “He says he’s protecting me. That marriage makes me untouchable.”

A humorless scoff escapes her throat. “Marriage, he says.”

I nod. “It was a deal for survival. Nothing more.”

My mother’s expression is carved from marble. “They said the same when they married me off.” Her voice drops. “Your father. He’s alive.”

Her words freeze my heart.

I knew he was alive—the hospital bills, the flowers—but hearing her confirm that truth, knowing he’s been here, watching, manipulating… That’s different.

My breath catches. “You said you didn’t know where he was.”

“Yes.” She leans closer. “But I know he visited the previous hospital. I pretended to be asleep one night when I wasn’t sedated and overheard him speaking to one of the doctors. He told them to ensure I’m catatonic most of the time and to control the medication, saying it was for my own safety. This hospital doesn’t drug me like the previous one. I am much more myself here.”

A nauseating chill rolls over me.

He wanted her sedated. Silenced.

“Why?” My voice cracks.

She swallows. “He worked with the Feds and then double-crossed everyone. He made me the liability. Used his daughter and buried his wife.”

My throat closes.

“I thought I saw him four weeks ago. At the time, I’d wondered if it was a dream, but now I’m sure it was real.”

My father’s playing his games again. Just like him to only show up when we’re useful to his agenda. Damn him to hell! He destroyed us both.

I blink back the sting behind my eyes and shift toward my mother.

“I need to find him.”

“No,” she says. “You need to survive, and that means staying away from him. He’s a monster.”

I stare at her. “Enzo can help.”

Her eyes flash. “Don’t tie yourself to another monster just to defeat the first.”

I say nothing because it’s already too late. I’m tied to Enzo in more ways than one, and I don’t believe he’s the monster others see.

The ride home feels longer. Gio doesn’t speak much and instead just focuses on the road. After we arrive at the house, I thank him softly before heading back inside the mini villa, the air sharp with pine when I enter.

I start pacing, my mind going a mile a minute. Vincent’s alive, and Mama was buried by his lies. And Enzo, the man who shattered bones for me, who kissed me like a starving man, who calls this marriage fake, might be the only one who can help me untangle this mess.

Yet…can I trust him?

He’s dangerous. He’s desire wrapped in a warning label.

Maybe, though, I’m not afraid of becoming his. Maybe I’m afraid I already am.