Protettore.

Chapter 20.

Nora's POV

We had a late start to the day. I guess the party had tired me out more than I expected it to. I also worked myself up so much about taking the next step with Enzo, I shouldn't have been surprised the alarm clock read ten a.m. when I woke up. Enzo had been up for ages of course, but he insisted he just wanted to lay with me.

It seemed as though he had made it his mission in life to kiss me in every room of the house. He kissed me as we made breakfast, when he dropped me off in my room to shower, when I met him back in the living room, when I went through the dining room to let Tank out into the yard.

"Enzo, you have to stop." I insisted, but I couldn't keep the smile out of my voice. "You have lots of work to do!" I gave him a playful shove and he humored me, by allowing me to push him towards his office.

"Come with me then." He whined. I just rolled my eyes. You can read on the couch in there while I get some work done." He snaked his arms around my waist and pulled me with him. I couldn't believe how naturally we interacted with each other. It was like I just needed to break down that final wall and everything fell into place for us. I couldn't remember being happier in my life.

"Let me just grab Tank and I'll meet you in there. Now go!" I gave him one final shove, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into him for yet another kiss. "Don't you have an empire to run or something?" I chastised, jokingly.

"You're just so irresistible, I can't help myself." His face was taken over by his boyish grin. Enzo was always sweet with me, but today he was positively beaming. It stirred butterflies in my stomach to see him this way.

I sent him into his office and went to get Tank before following in after him. I found the book I had been reading and plucked it from the shelf before settling into my spot on the couch. I was having a hard time focusing on the words in front of me, because my eyes kept wandering over to the beautiful man sitting behind his L shaped desk. I gave my head a little shake and tried to focus but I had to read and reread the page I was on at least four times before I got through it.

"If you keep staring at me like that, I'm not going to be able to get any work done." Enzo called over in a sing-song voice without taking his eyes off the screens in front of him. I felt my entire face flush crimson. I pressed my thighs together and he smirked cockily. He knew exactly what he was doing to me.

I hid my face behind my book as Enzo picked up his phone.

"Hey, have you heard anything from that buyer we have in the east?" he said to whoever was on the other line.

"We need to confirm that they're in before we can settle on the number of products that can go in each shipment. Do me a favor and reach out to them. Call me back when you hear something. Yeah, I will. Thanks. Talk to you later." He hung up his phone and remarked, "Fiero says hi baby." I smiled in response.

The thought of Fiero and Rosie lit something in my heart. It felt like we were a little family, and it had been so long since I've had people I could rely on and made me feel like I belonged. I had bonds with them and Enzo that I've never had before. Every terrible thing that happened to me brought me to my family.

The rays of sunlight cast through the office windows slowly moved across the room as he worked and I read. We were perfectly happy not speaking, just enjoying being in each other's company.

"What would you like to do with the rest of our evening sweetheart?" he asked when he decided to call it a day and joined me on the couch.

I looked out the window and saw there was still plenty of light out. "Maybe we could go to the shooting range. It's been a long time since we've gone." I suggested.

He went to his gun safe to pick up some extra rounds while I made us some sandwiches to go. We rolled the windows down and the wind combed through my long auburn hair while we drove down the dirt road to the range.

Enzo munched on his sandwich as I loaded my mag and clicked it into place. I took my shots, a bolt of excitement going through my body every time I heard the satisfying ting my bullets made when they hit the metal targets.

"I think," Enzo began, as he loaded his gun, "that for every target I hit, I deserve one kiss." He arched his eyebrow at me suggestively. I just laughed around a mouthful of sandwich that I was eating the back of his SUV.

"Just shoot cowboy." I giggled.

With extreme skill and speed, he emptied his magazine and hit every one of his targets. I could feel my eyes widen with surprise.

"Now, if my count is correct, you owe me nine kisses." He began his advance on me with a wicked smile on his face.

"A .45 nineteen-eleven's mag only holds eight rounds." I argued cheekily.

"Yes, but I already had one in the chamber." And with that he was on me.

"One." He pressed a kiss at the corner of my lips.

"Two." He kissed my jaw.

"Three, four, five." He made his way down my neck.

"Six, seven, eight." He bit down on the last one, sucking where my neck met my shoulder. He pushed my legs open and stood between them. I had to force myself from rolling my hips forward to meet his.

"Nine." His lips descended on mine and the world faded away around us. His tongue entered my mouth softly, and I moaned into our kiss.

"I don't know if I'll ever get used to that." I said breathlessly.

"I guess I'll have to do it more often then." he grinned before pulling me into him again.

The sun was setting so we began packing up our things and loading them back into the car. When I went to put my 9mm Walther into its foam lined case, Enzo stopped me.

"Keep it baby girl. You're almost as good of a shot as I am, and I would feel better if you were able to defend yourself if you ever needed to." He took out an in-waistband holster and an extra mag. He showed me how to hook the holster on my belt with lingering hands and I showed him I could take the gun and put it back in its place easily.

We got back in the car and Enzo retrieved his phone from where he tossed it on the dashboard.

"Shit." He muttered and lifted the phone to his ear.

"What's wrong?" I questioned.

"I have twenty-three missed calls from Fiero." Something had to be wrong.

As soon as Fiero answered the phone, there was frantic speaking on the line.

"Woah, calm down! What's going on?" Enzo's brows were furrowed as he listened. "I'm on my way." My stomach dropped to my toes. The grim look his face told me something terrible was happening. I didn't say anything, but I reached out and touched his arm, tears already in my eyes. He put the car in drive and tore down the road.

"We're going to the hospital. Rosie got sick and she's unresponsive."