Page 101 of Love to Defy You
The mirror reflects my wide-eyed fear and pale complexion, and my hands are shaking so badly that I grip the sink to steady them. I don’t know what the fuck that was about, but I just caught a glimpse of a version of Enzo I’ve never seen before, and it scared the shit out of me. It was the look of a guy who would scorch the entire earth just to taste revenge and dance on the graves of his enemies.
He’s a volatile concoction of bloodthirst that could explode at any moment.
I take a minute to splash water on my face and collect myself, but it takes me some time to work up the nerve to rejoin Enzo in the cabin. We’ll be taking off any minute now, which means I need to get buckled up in my seat.
With a deep breath, I unlock the door with a click and push it open. I peer around the corner and find Enzo seated in his chair. When I return to my seat, he glances up from his phone and gives me a gentle smile as though he didn’t just threaten to burn the world down.
“Oh, good, you’re back,” he says with an affable tone.
I sink into my seat and wrap the blanket around my shoulders once again. A deep fatigue settles in my bones, and my limbs grow fifty pounds heavier.
I pull out my phone, but when I open my text messages, the words are blurred. Even after I blink a few times, the screen won’t come into focus. I feel weird.
Something’s wrong with me.
This isn’t depression or a sudden onset of flu. I’ve taken enough recreational substances to know when I’m under the influence of drugs, but I haven’t taken any pills since yesterday.When I woke up this morning, I had a hangover, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.
No, whatever is happening to me makes me feel like I’ve been injected with a horse tranquilizer.
“Are we taking off… soon…?” My words are slow and slurred, and just getting them out takes a great effort.
I peer at Enzo in my peripheral, and he’s staring back at me with a smirk on his face. “Willow, you don’t look so good. Perhaps you should lie down?” There isn’t a trace of concern or surprise in his voice.
The water.
Oh, shit. The water.
Enzo spiked my glass with something, and now he’s waiting for me to pass out. I’m sure of it. So, I didn’t give him what he wanted last night, and now he’s going to roofie me and take it by force?
“I’m fine.” I give him a tight smile as I slide my phone discreetly from my pocket, using the blanket as cover.
I send a text to Alek under the blanket, praying that it makes sense as I type out a message through the blurry haze gripping me.
ME
If you still care about me at all, I need you to meet me at the Zurich airport ASAP when I land. Enzo drugged me.
It’s going to be hard, but I can’t let myself fall asleep until we’re in Zurich, and if I try to leave before takeoff, Enzo will know I’m on to him and stop me.
I hit send on my text to Alek and cross my fingers that he’ll answer. Before I can reach out to my dad, something vibrates inEnzo’s bag on the floor, even though his phone is sitting out on his tray table, screen dark.
Enzo bristles. “I must have forgotten to turn off my work phone.” As he reaches for his bag, he gives me a tight smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.
Conjuring a basic thought feels like wading through sludge. The gears in my brain are grinding to a halt, but one idea fights its way to the forefront, and if I’m right, it would explain everything that’s happened over the past week.
But being right also means I’m well and truly fucked.
I press the call button for Alek, and moments later, Enzo’s bag starts vibrating nonstop.
No.No, no, no, this is bad. This is really fucking bad.
Blind panic seizes my chest as Enzo rifles hastily through his bag, and he pulls out a black phone that looks an awful lot like Alek’s. He turns the device over in his hand and looks at the screen just as I mash frantically on the end call button.
But I’m too late. A dark expression settles over Enzo’s face as he stares at the screen.
When he looks up, he pins me with a lethal gaze that makes icy dread seep through my veins.
My eyelids weigh about the same as lead dumbbells, and I fight to keep my eyes open with everything I’ve got, but I’m slipping away.
