Chapter 3

The car glided through the late afternoon traffic,the hum of the engine filled the silence Enzo didn't bother breaking. His hands were steady on the steering wheel but his mind wasn't.

Lorenzo sat beside him, scrolling lazily through his phone, the corner of his mouth twitching every few seconds, like he was holding back a laugh.

"Go ahead," Enzo said dryly, not looking away from the road. "Say whatever is eating at you before you choke on it."

Lorenzo grinned. " I just can't believe I witnessed Enzo Marcelli getting schooled by a woman wearing bunny overalls."

Enzo's jaw ticked. "She's not a woman."

Lorenzo's brow rose. "Pretty sure she was, brother."

"I mean she's…." Enzo exhaled sharply, searching for the right word. "She's not….normal."

Lorenzo smirked. "Normal or not, she talked back at you and you did nothing. That's rare. You've made grown men cry for less."

"Lorenzo."

"Yeah?"

"Shut. Up."

Lorenzo chuckled but didn't push it further. The silence was only broken by the sound of tires against the asphalt and the buzz of the city noise.

But Enzo's mind wasn't quiet. Every image from earlier replayed in flashes, the startled looked on her face, the soft tone of her voice and the way she didn't even flinch when he yelled. It didn't make sense. It was either she was completely fearless or completely unaware.

And for some reason, that bothered him.

"Lorenzo," he said suddenly.

"That's me," Lorenzo's response caused him to let out a sigh.

"Find out who she is."

Lorenzo blinked. " The ice cream gloman?"

Enzo shot him a look.

"What? We can't seem to come to a conclusion. You think she's a woman and I think she's a girl. So girl plus woman makes gloman. Or you want me to say worl?"

"Fuck! Lorenzo just shut up!"

"Alright, alright," Lorenzo said quickly, straightening up. "You want me to have the team pull out surveillance from the area?"

"Yes. Plates, cameras, whatever it takes I want her name, her address, everything."

Lorenzo leaned bacj, grinning faintly. "You're that curious, huh?"

Enzo didn't respond. He didn't know how to explain it, the strange pull that made him care about someone he should have forgotten the second he drove away.

He didn't even know why he wanted to know. It wasn't attraction. Not in the way he usually understood it. It was something else. Something he couldn't name.

"Fine," Lorenzo said finally, breaking the silence. "You'll have the file on your desk by tomorrow morning."

Enzo nodded once. "Good."

Lorenzo's grin returned. "You know, this might be the first time you've ordered a background check because someone asked you to apologize."

"I swear to God, Lorenzo...."

"Shutting up," Lorenzo said quickly, holding both hands up.

But even as they pulled into the Lorenzo's estate, Lorenzo couldn't shake the grin off his face and Enzo couldn't shake the flashbacks off his mind.

Lorenzo opened the door to get out but he paused and turned to Enzo.

"What now?" Enzo raised a brow.

"I'll be bring Lia tomorrow," Lorenzo said casually.

"Your daughter?"

"Unless I've got another Lia I don't know about." Lorenzo said dryly. "Yeah, Amelia. Claire and I are leaving for that Bali trip, remember?Plus she's been begging to spend the weekend with her favorite uncle."

Enzo shot him a sideways look. "Favorite?"

"You're her only uncle, Enzo. Don't flatter yourself too much."

The corner of Enzo's mouth twitched, not quite a smile but something close. "She's seven. She'll get bored."

"Please," Lorenzo said, laughing. "She worships you. Probably thinks you run a zoo or a candy factory or something."

"You didn't think to ask before volunteering me?"

"I did ask," Lorenzo said, one foot out. "You just weren't listening. Don't worry, she's easy. Just don't scare her with your serial killer face."

Enzo's glare was sharp enough to make most men step back, but Lorenzo only smirked and walked off towards the house.

"Tomorrow morning," he called over his shoulder. "Don't make that face Enzo…..she's family. And try not to scare her before breakfast. Not that she’ll get scared anyway.”

Enzo leaned back in his seat, exhaling through his mouth. He wasn't opposed to having Amelia around, she was bright, unfiltered, saying stuff no one dared to.

But still, the timing was inconvenient. He had too much on his mind already, starting with the bunny girl who'd somehow slipped past his armor.

And now, apparently, he'd be babysitting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Marcelli mansion was never quiet but it had rules, unspoken rhythm that everyone followed. No one raised their voice. No one laughed too loud. And no one disturbed Enzo before nine.

Except Amelia ( Lia).

"Zio Enzo!"

Her tiny voice echoed down the marble hallway seconds before she burst through the front door like a hurricane in pigtails. Her backpack bounced against her shoulders, and her white sneakers squeaked on the polished floor.

Enzo, seated at the breakfast table, looked up from his newspaper just as Lorenzo's drivers struggled in with a mountain of suitcases.

"Remind me," Enzo muttered, folding the paper, "is she visiting for the weekend or moving in?"

Lorenzo followed behind, laughing. " With Lia...it's always both."

"Zio !" She sprinted across the room and launched herself into Enzo's lap before he could even react. "I missed you."

Enzo's arm instinctively caught her. For a man feared across cities and countries it was almost a comical sight. All the cold authority undone by a seven year old girl with missing front teeth.

"I saw you last week," Enzo's tone was flat, but his eyes softened slightly.

"That was forever ago," she said, frowning up at him. "You didn't come for my recital."

Enzo exhaled hard through his nose. " I was busy."

Lorenzo rolled his eyes. "Busy pretending you don't have a heart?"

Lia ignored both of them and reached for Enzo's wrist.

"What's this scar from?"

"Amelia I told...."

"Cooking accident," Enzo answered calmly, cutting Lorenzo off.

"You don't cook," she narrowed her eyes at him.

Lorenzo quickly swooped in, kissing the top of Lia's head. "Okay little detective, time to unpack your things before you start interrogating your uncle about his hobbies.

"You mean secrets?" Lia giggled.

Enzo's jaw ticked and Lorenzo smirked. " Good luck brother. She's your problem till Monday."

He gave Enzo a mock salute, then disappeared through the door leaving behind the faint smell of his cologne and the chaos in white sneakers.

Lia turned back to Enzo. "Can I see your office? The one you don't let anyone in?"

He raised a brow. "No."

"Then can I have pancakes instead?" She smiled sweetly.

A pause. "...Fine."

By afternoon, the mansion no longer looked like Enzo's.

There were crayons on the dining table, a half-built Lego castle and the faint smell of strawberry shampoo in the air.

Amelia twirled in the middle of the grand living room, her pigtails bouncing. "Zio, you house is so boring! It's all black and gray and…..cold."

Enzo looked up from his laptop, his patience thinning. "It's called minimalist."

"It's called depressing," she shot back with a grin.

His brows arched. "Excuse me?"

If there was one thing to prove that Amelia was really Lorenzo daughter, it was her ability to get on Enzo's nerves and make him want to rip his hair out. The other option was planting a bullet in the middle of their eyes but as much as he hated to admit, he loved them too much to do that.

But he could consider the second option with Lorenzo though.

"If I'm staying here, my room needs color. Pink. Sparkles. Maybe stars and butterflies on the wall." She crossed her arms, tilting her head with the same dramatic flair as her mother.

"Absolutely not."

"Then I'll tell mommy you fed me green things for lunch."

Enzo exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Get your shoes."

He eyes lit up. "We're going shopping?"

"You're impossible," he muttered, grabbing his keys.

"Love you too Zio," she sang, skipping head of him.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The mall was packed. Shoppers moved like waves, and Enzo instantly regretted the decision that led him here. He didn't even know why he let Amelia talk him out of having the mall closed for the day so that it'll just be the two of them.

Amelia darted from one stores to another, dragging him behind.

After hours of buying throw pillows, fairy lights and entirely too many stuffed animals, Enzo's phone buzzed.

He glanced at the caller ID, it was Lorenzo.

"Stay right here," he told Lia, stepping aside to take the call.

When he hung up a few minutes later, the spot where Lia had been standing was empty. His pulse ticked.

He scanned aisles as he quickly called for his security guards stationed outside the mall but then he spotted her, in the next store arguing with someone.

By the time Enzo got to the toy aisle, Lia was already in a heated argument with a young woman in a pink sundress, both of them gripping the same pink teddy bear.

"I saw it first !" Amelia snapped, tugging the teddy bear toward her.

"It was already in my hand." The woman frowned, clutching it tighter.

"It doesn't matter. My uncle said I could have it."

"Your uncle isn't the store manager!" She retorted with a huff, the innocence in her voice contradicting her grown frame.

"Lia!"

Enzo's voice cut through the air like blade. The crowd around him thinned as the weight of his tone silenced everything. Amelia froze instantly. The woman, Isla turned toward him, wide-eyed.

He took in the scene with a sharp exhale, his niece's tearful face, the childish woman hugging a stuffed toy like it was the last happiness on earth.

And something inside him, the part that handled problems with precision and authority snapped.

"You're an adult," he said, his tone low and clipped, eyes fixed on Isla. " Fighting with a child over a toy. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that looks?"

Isla blinked, confusion flickering across her features.

"I…..I….just….she grabbed it from me..."

"I don't care," his voice came out harsher than he intended. "Grow up."

The teddy bear slipped from Isla's trembling hands. Her lips parted, but no sound came. The sting of humiliation burned behind her eyes before tears began to spill freely down her cheeks.

Her babysitter rushed forward, placing a protective hand over her shoulder. "Come on Isla…..let's go."

Isla let herself be led away, her sobs echoing faintly.

Lia looked up at her uncle, guilt flickering across her face. "Zio..."

"Enough," Enzo muttered, jaw tight. "We're leaving."

He turned sharply, not realizing how those few careless words hand already began to carve themselves into isla's fragile heart, a wound that would bleed into every moment that followed.