Chapter 2

Serena's POV

On the ride back to our heavily guarded estate, the dead silence in the car was suffocating.

I stared out the thick, bulletproof window of the armored SUV, watching the city lights speed past, blurring into a meaningless streak of light.

Enzo reached across the center console, attempting to interlock his fingers with mine.

Without a word, I pulled my hand back and rested it flat on my own lap.

His hand hovered near the gear shift for a moment before returning to the steering wheel. "Let's not go home yet. I'll take you out to eat. Italian or a steakhouse?"

"Whatever."

Enzo's patience began to wear thin. He tapped his fingers impatiently against the leather steering wheel. "Every time I ask, you say 'whatever.' And when I pick the wrong place, you refuse to eat. How am I supposed to guess what you're thinking?"

I looked at the blurred city lights outside, and the words slipped out before I could stop them. "Just take me to the hidden safehouses where you usually take your other girls."

Accompanied by a screeching sound, the tires rubbed frantically against the asphalt.

The heavy SUV jerked to a violent halt dead in the center of the road.

My head snapped forward, colliding hard with the dashboard.

"Shit!" Enzo panicked. He frantically unbuckled his seatbelt and reached out to cup my face. "Where did you hit? Let me see."

His thumb brushed against the red mark on my forehead, his breathing noticeably ragged.

I turned my head away, refusing to let him touch me.

Staring at his empty hands, the concern on his face was quickly swallowed by a defensive, explosive anger.

"Serena, how many times do I have to explain this? I am not cheating on you!" he yelled, his temper finally snapping.

The honking from the cars behind us grew frantic.

He shoved the car back into drive and slammed on the gas, his chest heaving. "When the hell are you going to start trusting me? I feel like I'm reporting my schedule to a paranoid mother, not my wife!"

I turned my face back to the window. Tears slipped uncontrollably down the bridge of my nose. But Enzo didn't see them.

Minutes later, the car pulled into the dimly lit underground parking garage of a Syndicate-owned casino.

He softened his tone, trying to regain control of the situation. "There's a very secluded Italian restaurant up there. Their black truffle soup is excellent. You'll like it."

I stared at the harsh neon lights reflecting off the damp concrete pillars.

Tessa had mentioned this place to me.

Just last week, she was lying on my sofa, giggling about a "hidden gem of a restaurant" she had discovered, promising to bring me here someday.

I couldn't help but wonder if Enzo was the one who had brought her here last time.

Just as the car parked, a burner phone hidden deep inside Enzo's suit jacket began to vibrate.

There was no name on the screen, just a tiny blue bird emoji.

Enzo looked at the screen, and a flash of undisguised, sickening ecstasy crossed his face for a split second.

But he quickly masked it, his expression hardening back into a mask of indifference as he shoved the car door open.

"A sudden territorial dispute just came up. I need to go handle it immediately," he lied flawlessly.

I stared at the unmistakable gleam of joy in his eyes. "What if I asked you to stay?"

Enzo froze for a second. Then he pulled out his main phone and quickly transferred a large sum of money to my account. "Stop being unreasonable."

"Go eat by yourself, buy whatever you want. Have the driver pick you up when you're tired. I'll be home very late tonight."

I sat stiffly in the empty car, watching him press the phone to his ear and walk away briskly.

The mall was bustling with people.

I followed the crowd aimlessly until I stopped in front of a high-end boutique.

Displayed prominently in the window was an ornate set of tarot cards.

Back in high school, Tessa and I used to play with these secretly.

When it came to drawing a card to predict our future love lives, we pulled the exact same one.

She had laughed so hard she collapsed onto the desk. "Serena, we aren't going to fall in love with the same guy in the future, are we?"

I shoved my card into her hands and patted my chest, promising, "If that day ever comes, you have to tell me. No man is more important than you. If you like him, I'll back out."

I never expected that we would actually fall in love with the same man.

I crouched down on the cold marble floor, completely losing control, and wept uncontrollably.

I had explicitly told her I would step aside.

Why did they still have to lie to me?

For three entire years, they had teamed up to turn me into an absolute, paranoid lunatic.