Chapter 4 - The King Awakes
Enzo woke up to the smell of burning sugar and cheap coffee.
His eyes snapped open, his hand instinctively reaching for his waistband. His gun was gone. He tried to sit up, but a sharp, white-hot blade of pain ripped through his side, forcing him back onto the vinyl sofa with a breathless groan.
“I wouldn't do that if I were you,” a voice said from the doorway.
Clara stood there holding a plate of dry toast and a mug. She had changed into a clean flannel shirt, but the dark circles under her eyes mirrored his own exhaustion.
Enzo looked around the cramped room, his tactical mind slowly piecing his surroundings together. “The diner. You didn't leave.”
“I couldn't exactly drag a two-hundred-pound mobster down the street in the middle of a monsoon, could I?” Clara said, setting the plate on a small table. She sat down, crossing her arms. “Your friend Marco called last night. He said your safe house is gone. He thinks you're dead.”
Enzo’s expression hardened into a mask of pure stone. “Marco is alive?”
“He sounded terrified. He said the whole city is turning against you.” Clara leaned forward, her eyes locking onto his. “I saved your life, Lorenzo D’Angelo. I know who you are. I see your face on the news whenever the city council gets audited. I want to know why my daughter and I are still alive.”
Before Enzo could answer, the door pushed open and Lily walked in, carrying her yellow duck umbrella like a staff. When she saw Enzo awake, her face lit up with a brilliant, gap-toothed smile.
“You’re awake!” she cheered, running to the side of the sofa. “See? I told you my mama would save you. She has special band-aids.”
Enzo looked down at the little girl. For the first time in fifteen years, the cold, impenetrable wall around his heart felt a structural tremor. He reached out a large, trembling hand, his long fingers gently touching a damp blond curl on her cheek.
“Your mother is a very brave woman, Lily,” Enzo said, his voice deep and unusually soft. He looked back up at Clara, the lethal crime boss replaced by a man filled with a profound, sudden debt. “Luca Ferraro won't stop until he sees my body. If he finds out you helped me, he will kill you both without a second thought. I need a phone. A regular, un-trackable burner.”
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“There’s a grocery store across the street,” Clara said quietly. “I’ll go when the morning shift arrives.”
“No,” Enzo said, his voice carrying the old command. “You don't leave this building alone. From this moment on, you are the most dangerous thing in Chicago—because you are the only person who knows I am still breathing.”
