Ruthless Spring

My eyes widen.

“She’s not for sale, Messano, and you’d do best to get away from her.” Vito’s voice is colder than I’ve ever heard. I turn my head, finding him standing beside us with death in his eyes. His whole body is coiled tightly, and his gaze is riveted on the man in front of me.

I try to make myself as small as possible.

The man, Polo, gives a sharp, dark laugh. “I’m not one to intimidate easily, Vito. If you want me to move,” all amusement drops from his voice, “you better ask nicely.”

“And if you want to keep breathing, you won’t test me.”

“Making threats now, Bianchi?”

“It’s a fucking promise.”

I breathe out a sigh of relief when Polo moves away, thinking he’s heeded the warning. My skin grows cold when I realize he’s now moving toward Vito, his shoulders tense. Vito doesn’t back down, squaring his shoulders and the look in his eyes is scary.

I press further against the wall, holding my breath and waiting for the hammer to drop.

And boy does it drop ,when Vito throws his fist right into Polo’s jaw.

Glass shatters as Polo charges Vito and they go tumbling into a vase. They hit the ground in a tangle of fists and feet.

The music stops and people shout, as the two get back to their feet, still throwing wild hands at each other. I can’t even tell who’s getting the better of who, and they don’t seem to be close to stopping.

“Break them up!” Someone barks out. Four men rush Vito and Polo, two men pulling each back.

“What the hell happened?” Enzo asks as he walks up next to me, with a glass of something clear in his hand. I don’t know what it is, but I throw it back because my throat suddenly feels drier than the Sahara Desert.

Cold water makes my throat feel less tight and I shake my head as the men continue to hold Vito and Polo back. “I… I…” I can’t find the words to explain.

A man appears in the middle of Vito and Polo, and I realize it's the same man Maximo identified as Dabria’s fiance, Lorenzo… Damone, I think it was.

His face is furious as he stares at Vito, and he opens his mouth to say something but Giovanni steps in front of Vito before he does. “This would be better settled in private,” he cuts him off, his eyes moving behind Lorenzo to Polo. “As long as your guy can keep his hands to himself.” When Giovanni’s eyes move to me as he speaks those words, I wonder if he saw the entire thing play out.

His gaze snaps back to Lorenzo’s and says something too low for me to hear.

“Release them,” he lets his voice rise an octave and the men holding onto Vito and Polo release them.

Vito and Polo glare at each other but neither makes a move. Giovanni fixes his tie before turning and saying something to Lorenzo. When they move toward the same room I saw Giovanni go into earlier, Vito and Polo follow, keeping their distance from each other.

Before he enters the room, Vito turns to look at me and the dark look in his eyes still hasn’t disappeared. It makes me take a step back. Vito’s expression changes minutely but I don’t have enough time to read the change as he heads into the room.

“You still haven’t told me what happened,” Enzo says, his brows pulled together as he stares down at me. His somber mood seems to have disappeared, replaced with concern, though I’m not sure who for. “Winter, what happened?” he repeats, grabbing my wrist gently.

“I can tell you what happened,” Maximo says as he walks up to us with a grin on his face. “It seems Winter has finally realized that Vito isn’t the knight in shining armor she thought he was.” His smile widens as he leans closer to me. “Wait until you see just how dinged up and rusty his armor really is, Mouse.”