Page 49 of Love to Defy You
“Fuck me.” I tug the damaged paperback from my bag and turn it over in my hand.A Tramp Abroadby Mark Twain, the current required reading for my American literature elective.
Poetic irony at its finest.
I smooth the folded edges back into place before sandwiching it carefully between two hardbound textbooks, then zip up my backpack and throw it over my shoulder. Jesus Christ, it’s almost as heavy as my book bag at the President’s Academy. It’ll be a miracle if I don’t graduate college with a hunchback.
It’s the fourth Thursday of November, so Alek hired a private chef to cook Thanksgiving dinner at the apartment. Mikhail and Josie are coming over, and I can’t wait to see the revulsion on their faces when I present my mom’s lemon Jell-O salad to them.Alek and I had a heated debate last year about whether it was a side dish or a dessert.
It’s called a salad, so obviously, it’s a side dish.
This recipe is one of the ways I keep Mom’s memory alive, and since I’m not going to hand it over to the chef to butcher it, I need to get home to finish the Dream Whip topping in time. I peel out of the classroom so fast I don’t see the person rounding the corner of the hallway, and I collide into a hard wall of muscle.
“Whoa, easy there.” Copper arms reach out to steady me before I keel backward.
“I’m so sorry—“ My voice catches when I glance up into the dark eyes of my rescuer. “Enzo?”
His eyes light up in recognition. “Oh, hello, Willow. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”
It’s hard to believe this guy is a cold-blooded killer, especially when he looks at me with genuine concern. Alek said he recognized his voice as the hooded figure who slit someone’s throat, but if he didn’t see the face behind the mask, is it possible he got it wrong?
Enzo keeps his hands wrapped around my arms, even though I’m no longer in danger of falling over.
I pull away from him. “Anyway, I should get going—“
He steps in front of me to block my path. “Hold on. Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“Just eager to get home. It’s American Thanksgiving, so you know...” I tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear.
“In that case, Happy Thanksgiving.” He gives me a disarming grin. “I’ll walk with you.”
“Oh, you really don’t have to do that.”
“Please, I insist. I’ve been wanting a chance to talk to you.” He gestures ahead for me to start walking.
After a moment’s hesitation, I resume my path through the grand hallways of the Literature and Arts building, past oil paintings of historical figures and rare artifacts in glass cases. Through the aged glass windows, orange leaves fall to the ground, ushering in the chill of winter.
Enzo falls into step at my side. I catch the fresh scent of his aquatic cologne, which takes me back to lazy days in Saint-Tropez.
Maybe Alek and I should never have left our seaside haven, where the threat of death didn’t loom over our heads.
“So,” he begins, “you remember that night I met you at the restaurant?”
How could I forget? He watched Alek fingerfuck me, which was, admittedly, super-hot, but I didn’t know he was the ruthless leader of a secret cult at the time. But then again, I’ve always been drawn to the dangerous ones, and knowing that he has me in his crosshairs doesn’t scare me as much as it should.
The danger sends a thrill weaving through my body.
“I sensed a kindred spirit in you, Willow. You and I are surrounded by wealthy, self-absorbed elites, and no matter how much they pretend they’ve accepted us, we’ll always be seen as outsiders.”
“Outsiders?” I raise an eyebrow. “Isn’t your mom dating the wealthiest monarch in Europe?”
He chuckles. “Rumor spreads fast.”
“Sorry, that was rude of me.” I shake my head and glance at my sneakers.
“No, no, it’s fine.” Enzo waves his hand. “Yes, my mother is the Prince of Liechtenstein’s mistress, but she started with nothing. My father abandoned her before I was born, so she was left to fend for herself in the world.” He shoves his hands into his pockets as we slow our walk. “We didn’t have much money when I was young. She worked as a maid for different hotels aroundEurope, and we moved around a lot. It wasn’t until she met the prince that our luck finally changed.”
“I can relate. I mean, we weren’t struggling, but it was just my mom and me for a long time.”
