The Trophy Wife

SIX: Deadly Dinner

Enzo unbuttoned his shirt, hung it on the doorknob and then proceeded to wash his face before answering my question.

"Silvio is trying to win back Dante."

"That's ridiculous."

"Don't act so naive, my love. I know you spoke to him."

"I never said I didn't, my love." The Rat told on me. "What I said was, that's ridiculous. Firstly, Dante hates everything about his father and the life he leads. Secondly, you know that Silvio isn't going take Skyla and their daughter in. He's going to try to get rid of them because he's a f*cking sociopath. And as pure and innocent as Dante may seem compared to the rest of you, he wouldn't think twice about ending him."

"I didn't say Silvio's plan was fool proof. All I said was that he is going to try to get his son back."

"He's going to try and he's going to burn."

Enzo stepped away from the sink and toward me. He planted a kiss on my lips, and without removing them said, "I can't wait to watch."

If there was one thing about Enzo Granucci, he sure as hell knew how to hold grudge.

***

"Good evening, Gentlemen." The doorman greeted our guests, taking their thousand dollar coats in the process.

Rich men can be so vain and so full of themselves.

Enzo asked me to take their dates into the other room while the men discussed business.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked him, running my hand along his arm, feeling the cold metal blade of a knife beneath his sleeve.

"You can never be too careful, amore."

"I am not repeating The Dinner of 2013, amore. I don't care if you are the one lying on the floor in a puddle of blood, I'm not–"

He let out a deep laugh that rumbled through the both of us. "Don't be so dramatic, Evelyn. All you did that night was make a quick call to my friend down at the police department. Now, go entertain the women. I have important matters to discuss, si?"

Si, my ass.

But I followed his order and lead the three prostitutes into the other room. Well, calling them all prostitutes wasn't exactly fair. One of them, I believe her name was Jasmine, willingly got into a relationship with Joseph, a dear friend of Alberto.

Two against two. The odds were in nobody's favor.

Matteo's date, Trixy, real classy, I know; she would not stop talking. It was quite frustrating, because while I tried to eavesdrop on the men's conversation, she prattled on and on about this new dress that she would be able to afford after that night.

I was surrounded by a bunch of brainless idiots, and this, as you will see, was only the beginning of what lead me to making the mistake that I made.

The mistake that lead me to telling this story.

"Oh my god, he is so cute!" Trixy gushed in her stereotypical New Yorker accent. "You're so lucky, Evelyn. Matteo pays really well, but he doesn't look anything like Enzo. I would kill to spend just one night-"

"Do you have no decency?" I snapped. "That's my husband you're talking about, and maybe in whatever world you come from, that's okay, but it's not okay here." In all honesty, I had no idea why I suddenly felt so jealous or why I said what I said. Enzo was mine, and he wouldn't for a second consider someone like Trixy, not when he had me.

If only I hadn't snapped at her... maybe then she would have continued to fantasize about my husband, and perhaps I would have felt that surge of appreciation toward him when it mattered most.

If only I hadn't let my emotions get the best of me... maybe then things would have been different.

Life is filled with what ifs.

Trixy stopped talking. All of the girls did, and because of that, I was able to listen in on Enzo's conversation.

"So what are you proposing?" I heard him ask.

"You took something of his. Now he wants something of yours." This came from Joseph who appeared to be acting as Alberto's spokesman.

"My wife?" Enzo. "You want my wife?"

"She is a beauty. How much do you want for her?"

Matteo cut in then. "Watch yourself."

"Oh, like you haven't thought of it? You just don't have the balls to put an offer on the table."

That was the end of their conversation and the beginning of a repeat of The Dinner of 2013.

A loud bang sent me and the other women nearly out of our seats, the only difference was that I ran into the dining room to see what was going on while they sat there too afraid to move.

Enzo had Joseph pinned down to the table with his head in the bowl of scalding hot soup. The knife that had previously resided in his sleeve was threatening to find a new home in Joseph's throat.

Alberto and Matteo silently watched on the sidelines which only infuriated me even more.

Between The Air Head's endless small talk, the proposition that involved me, and Enzo's outburst, I had enough.

"Stop!" Of course, he didn't listen to me.

I think Enzo expected me to feel a sense of gratitude toward him since he did, that night, eventually take another man's life in honor of his wife, but it absolutely disgusted me.

If I wasn't so compulsive, if I didn't let anger consume every inch of me, I would have connected the dots between Joseph and Lucas. I would have realized that if Enzo, my adoring husband, was willing to take the life of a man who simply spoke about me in a way he didn't like, he certainly wouldn't think twice about ending a man who acted on those words.

This is when things start to get rough...