"We discussed this, Enzo." Maximo's voice is louder now. "I told you I don't like being told to stay away from something I want and this is something you should know personally." There's some sort of hidden meaning to the words, but I don't try to figure them out, keeping my gaze level on Maximo's movements. "And I thought you were in agreeance with me, considering we want the same thing."
My brows pull down.
They want the same thing?
"Maximo," Enzo says shortly, cutting off my thoughts. "We don't have time to discuss this right now. Giovanni is waiting for Winter in the dining hall."
There's a long moment of silence.
"Well then,” Maximo says finally. "I guess we better be off to breakfast then, we don't want to keep my brother waiting." The mix of sarcasm and anger almost distracts me long enough to miss the fact that Maximo is actually heading to the dining hall.
"Fuck," Enzo says in exasperation. He turns around, his brows furrowed slightly. He beckons a finger at me. "Come on."
I shake my head, my hands trembling slightly. "No." I don't want to go in the same room with both Casto brothers. Individually, they're horrible to be around. Together...
Absolutely not.
I turn around, heading back in the direction of my room.
"Winter," Enzo snaps. His hand wraps around my wrist and I draw in a deep breath, surprised by how quickly he makes his way up the stairs. He spins me around, his hand tightening on my wrist. I wince and something flashes through his eyes before he releases me. But he doesn't back away, making it clear that I better stay in this spot if I don't want him to grab me again.
I take a deep swallow.
There's something frightening about Enzo that I've discovered in the last two days that I wouldn't have expected when I first met him. Even that day in the snow when he'd hurried me up to get in the car with Giovanni, I hadn't been this afraid of him. But the way he'd looked at me without an ounce of emotion as he pulled my body up off the floor yesterday before directing me to pull my self together after being... after...
Fuck.
And now as he's staring down at me with his square jaw clenched tightly and his shoulders set firm, I almost think he's going to throw me over his shoulder and carry me to the dinning hall.
He probably will, if I try to keep going to my room.
"Winter," he says again, taking a deep breath, his big chest contracting. "We're already late. If we take too much longer, Giovanni is going to come looking for you."
How many times have I heard that in the last forty-eight hours.
As if Giovanni is coming to look for me because he cares and not as if he'll actually be looking for me because he's fucking controlling and wants to know where his property is at all times.
I fold my arms over my chest, trying to cover up the fact that my body is still trembling slightly. "Let him come look for me then."
Enzo reclines his head back slightly, looking at the ceiling before his gaze returns to mine. "You're being really fucking difficult," he says and his voice sounds slightly different. Less controlled. His eyes flick away from me before returning. "Giovanni has been taking it easy on you this far." His voice is back to normal. "But if you keep disrespecting him and trying to get out of your responsibilities, then he'll make you regret it."
"I don't have fucking responsibilities, I have obligations."
"And that's your fault," he snaps so abruptly that I go flinching back in shock. His nostrils flare. "You signed a fucking contract, giving yourself over to the Costa family. You can't complain every five seconds about a choice that you made. So you have this moment and this moment only to decide how the rest of your time will go here because I'm not going to keep protecting you."
"Protecting me?" I ask, the words stale. My heart rate jumps a few beats and I lean forward, narrowing my eyes. Enzo's warm breath blows across my face, the smell of mint strong. I poke a finger in his chest and he looks down at the digit like I just slapped him, but I don't give a fuck. "What the fuck do you mean protecting me? You have done nothing but make my life even worst than Giovanni. Every little thing he tells you to do to me, the way you speak to me, the way you look at me. And lets not forget the way you did me yesterd-"
"You'd do best not to bring up yesterday," he cuts me off. His fingers wrap around my chin tightly, forcing it up until I'm meeting his eyes. "I'm not going to tell you that again. Bring it up once more and just maybe I'll leave you in a room with Maximo myself until you learn your lesson." The threat comes through loud and clear as his fiery gaze holds mine as tightly as his grip on my chin.
"Then I guess you should have just stepped out of the way five minutes ago. Why even pretend to be somewhat of a human being when its clear your nothing but a heartless lap dog."
"Heartless would be tossing your ass down these steps now and teaching you a lesson in keeping your mouth shut since words seem to not be getting through," he grits between clenched teeth.
I jerk my chin out of his grasps and I know he lets me, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to get out of his strong grip.
For a moment, we only stare at each other, my skin flushed and my head throbbing.
Enzo leans forward, looking ready to strike before he abruptly jerks away from me. He blinks, his lips turning downward before he shakes his head and turns his gaze away from me. "You need to toughen up," he says as if he's giving me advice on the heels of threatening to throw me down a whole flight of stairs.