Chapter 49: Chapter 49

◇ KEL ◇

"Cosa vuoi mangiare?"

"Huh?" As I tried to catch my breath after another long lap, I held onto the edge of the pool while Enzo stood idly next to me.

His slight frown preceded a quick sigh, and he shook his head at the numbers on his phone screen.  It was his stopwatch.  He was timing my laps;  he knew I hadn't had time to work on my cardio for months now because of med school and everything else.  "You put in another twelve seconds."

"Sorry." I took deep, noisy breaths as I loosened my ponytail. My chest felt like it would explode any second now. I tilted my head and tried to lessen my loud intakes of breath.

Sunset now dappled the clear sky with pale hues of orange, and if I wasn't burning calories for the past half hour, by now I'd be shivering and covered up with a robe and a thick towel. The pool was almost empty. We could do laps without bothering the kids playing on the shallow end, right on the arc-shaped stairs.

"Want  pasta? Some steak? Salad?" Enzo glanced at me before talking to someone on his phone. His bodyguards, probably.

Was he asking me to have dinner with him? Alone?  "Where?"

"There's a restaurant out front. Unless you prefer someplace else?"  He took off his sunglasses to gauge my reaction. His damp hair remained slicked back. His skin looked tanner now that we'd been under the sun for almost an hour.  He was taking a break because he'd been swimming for fifteen minutes straight like a freakin' Olympian.

He said it was HIIT workout for the weekend.  He made it look so effortless.  I, on the other hand, couldn't even finish a short lap without feeling like my lungs were going to burst.  Most likely he'd burned off a thousand calories already, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed with his athleticism and physique.

Now that he was wearing small swimming trunks that showed off his trained muscles and upper body strength, he looked more like an athlete instead of a business mogul busy hopping from city to city all month long.

As much as I could, I tried to stare at the pristine, shimmering sky-blue pool water and not at his body. It wasn't that easy, though.  "No. It's okay."

"What d'you want for dinner?" Enzo kept staring at me.

"You pick."

"Alright then." He put his phone away and gave me a quick grin.  "Any food allergies I should know about?"

"Uh...none. Why?" I pulled a face at his question.  "You have food allergies?"

"None that I know of," he muttered.  "Just wanna make sure. 'Cause, this morning, you had a bad one."

"Oh."  Drats. Of course he remembered. I had to lie to him about my swollen eyes and pinkish nose earlier, after that serious heart-to-heart discussion with my mom this morning. Long overdue, but, at least we had talked things over.

"Something wrong?"

Ugh. Great. He looked curious now, and I couldn't think of another white lie. Fine. I should just come clean. Lying to him now would only force me to lie again some other time. My overwhelmed brain just didn't have the energy to keep track.  "I lied. Sorry."

"Oh." Enzo made a face but almost instantly tried to show a timid grin of confusion. "So you don't have allergies."

"No." I glanced away. "You?"

"None that I know of, like I said." He snickered while he stared at me. His thick brows were creasing. "Why lie?"

"We were..." I rubbed my nose and found it challenging to look him in the eye now.  "Mom and I were arguing."

"Ah. That's why."

"It got...pretty emotional. Fast."  I shrugged lightly.

"About what?"

"My dad."

"Ah..." Enzo nodded weakly and stood closer to me, while everything below his firmly muscled chest stayed submerged in pool water. "Sorry I didn't get to attend the funeral. I would have sent flowers at least if you told me." He sounded somewhat rueful now.

"It's fine," I said, appreciating his apology.  "I didn't text you 'cause I know you're busy."

His long-lashed eyes narrowed as he fixed his gaze on my face.  "You told Maxim? Was he there? At the funeral?"

"No." I looked away.

Why was he full of questions today? Almost like he was doing some kind of interview.  I wiped the droplets of chlorinated water off my face and kept up a calm facade.

The fact that my mom told me everything about my real father—and the adoption—was enough to lessen my pent-up anxiety, but him being so interrogatory today was making me a tad uncomfortable. Then again, perhaps he just wanted to get to know me better.  He said so himself that he wanted us to be friends.

Well, I should just keep in mind that I shouldn't hang out with him often because it pissed off Miles, but, Enzo had been generously helping me deal with my problems lately, and I didn't want him to think I lacked good manners at the very least. I should just try to be friendly as much as possible.

"Non ne vuoi parlare—ho capito." For a second, Enzo raised both his palms to assure me he didn't mean to pry.

"No. It's fine. It's just...old family issues," I murmured as I stared at my fingertips. They looked like bleached raisins now.

"What about your dad?"  He cleared his throat and stood closer to me.  "What's the problem?"

"Few days ago, I...just found out why UCMLE rejected my application."

"UCMLE, as in the one in London?"

"Yeah." I nodded.  "Applied for a scholarship there, when I was still living with Miles."

"Why did they reject you?" Enzo started stretching his muscular arms while his eyes stayed focused on me.

"Couldn't verify my birth records...somethin' like that."

"Really. What's wrong with your birth records?"

"I think...Niccolo sent me the real ones. Original copies."

Enzo scowled. He remained speechless for a moment after what I said.  "What?"

◇◇◇

"Niccolo? Niccolo Vinciguerra?" Enzo asked with a deeper frown. The sheer confusion was etching faint creases on his brows and forehead.

In reply, I nodded twice and kept staring at the kids in the corner of the pool. They were giggling and playing with their inflatables, not a care in the world.

It put a smile on my lips for a second. Was I ever that carefree? I couldn't quite remember. For the past couple of years, I had always been a worrier. Like I didn't run out of things to worry about. Neurotic, basically.

"Can I ask, why were you so eager to find him?" Enzo then asked when I zoned out.  "Do you know the Vinciguerras personally?"

"No. Not really. Nicco and I weren't even friends, actually," I muttered while trying not to frown at the thought.  "I probably wouldn't have met him if he and Miles didn't break up."

Who really killed Niccolo? Was his death mafia-related? We still had no definite answers. The Italian police didn't seem to care enough to conduct a proper investigation.  Why?  I just had no clue.

"What original copies?" Enzo asked with scrunched brows. "Of your birth certificate?"

"Yeah." Plus the adoption papers, in fact.

"How did he..."

"I dunno, actually. All I know is that, he was...a hacker for a while."

"Yeah. Heard about that. But, why did he send you copies of your birth certificate?"

"I don't know," I said with a feigned blitheness. While I stared at the blue sky, my thoughts drifted to those emails again.  Why on Earth would Niccolo send me those copies?  Why did he even care to look for those old records?

"You showed it to your mom?"

"I asked her about it, just this morning."

"That's why you were arguing."

"Yeah."

"Okay." Enzo slightly nodded, as if acknowledging the thought that I didn't want to discuss the matter any further.  "Did Maxim tell you anything about Umbria?" he mumbled after he leaned closer.  "About who put a hit on us?"

"Not much." I shook my head faintly.  Mr. Falco's warnings for me then occupied my mind again. But, like Miles said, I shouldn't trust Enzo fully.  Especially if it was about what happened back in the Falcos' estate.  "Miles wants me to just...forget all of it."

"He doesn't even want you to tell your mom and sister." Enzo suppressed a crooked grin. He obviously recalled that I asked him to lie to my mom earlier about how and where we first met in Italy.

"Like I said, paranoid," I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest.

Would Miles give me a call later? Or was he waiting for me to call? I still wasn't sure of what to do about the money he sent me. But, maybe I should just follow his advice and pay off my debts to Enzo now—not any later.

"Can you send me your bank account information?"

"What for?" Enzo held back a scowl.

"So I could send your money back, using my banking app," I muttered while his pointed nose almost touched my forehead. He stood in front of me now.  His warm breath smelled of menthol gum.

In a curt manner, he stretched my arms out across the poolside tiles behind me. "Keep stretching them for the next few days. Your legs, too. Minimize the muscle tear pains."

I tried not to frown. Did he just snub my reply? It was the third time I asked him to send his bank account details. Like the first time, he seemed to want to ignore the whole thing.  "You could just write it down later, if you don't want to send it through text, or email."

"You're unemployed. Where would you get the money?"

"I'll figure it out," I murmured after glancing away from his wary and attentive gaze. Now he was massaging my upper back and shoulders.

"You can't work right now. You're too busy with school."

Ugh. Here we go again...  "Miles sent me some money." I sighed to myself. There. I said it. I knew I was such a bad liar. Why did I even try to lie to his face earlier?

"Ah." Enzo stood beside me now as we leaned against the tiled wall. "How much did he send?"

"A lot, to be honest." I scoffed and shook my head, still trying to get over the shock and surprise.

"You think I don't keep my word?"

"No. No—  I-It's not that. It's just that...Miles doesn't want—"

"I really don't care what he told you." Enzo snickered while he shook his head weakly.  "Like I said again and again, I just want to help, and I never said you have to pay me back."

"Enzo..."

"Dai, Mykaela. Non essere testarda." He rubbed his face with his palm.  "È il mio modo per ringraziarti.  Nient'altro.  Non ti fidi di me?"

Oh crap. Now he looked and sounded annoyed. Did he just ask whether  I  trusted him or not?

"You don't trust me? Still?" He made a hand gesture that drew my attention back to his bare chest. He was right in front of me again, his handsome face inches away, questioning me with his intent blue-green eyes and a deepening scowl.

Did I just insult him? Hurt his ego? At the mere thought, a lump of apprehension formed in my throat.  "Frankly, I just don't like owing people money."

"It's a thank-you gift. Alright? Nothing more." He got out of the water in haste, his loud sigh and stern tone clearly showing his irritation.  "Stop thinking of it like a bank transaction." He started drying himself off with his black towel. He kept his back to me.

For a minute or two, I stayed underwater, just minding his sentiments and the guilt. Ugh. Fine. I upset him. I should just apologize.

Using the silver pool rails, I got out of the pool  and watched him frown at something on his phone screen. I wrapped a towel over my torso and quietly sat beside him on the plastic recliner.

Enzo ignored me and kept reading some messages.

"Sorry."

Instead of responding, Enzo only sighed and got busy texting.

I sat in silence next to him while waiting for his sulking to pass.

"Give him back his money. I don't need it."

"Okay," I said in an apologetic tone. "Sorry."

Instead of replying to me, Enzo placed his arm over my shoulders and resumed reading something on his phone. "You cold?"

"Yeah. A bit."

"Let's eat."

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