Page 155 of Hexed
Mrs. Coppola reaches up and pats his cheek again, then moves to get in her car. Enzo lets me go only to help her in and close the door behind her. She speeds off into the street, a bit haphazardly, and I turn to him. “Should she be driving?”
“Probably not.”
“Andyou,” I say, wrapping my arms around his middle. “You’re such agood boy.”
He grins. “Yeah? You gonna reward me for it later?”
“Play your cards right, you never know what can happen.”
I expect him to push me back toward the car, but he leads me down the street instead, taking my hand and strolling along the sidewalk like we have all the time in the world.
“I thought you lived in the city,” I note as we walk.
He looks at me. “I do. You’ll see it later, when I move you from the hotel into my place.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.” I shake my head.
He stops walking and grips my upper arms like he’s worried I’ll run away.
I’m not going to. I’m his for as long as he’ll have me.
“One day, you’ll stop telling me what to do,” he says, his hand sliding up until he’s playing with my seashell necklace. “I want you in my bed. Every night and every morning.”
“Yeah?” I grin
He kisses me again. “Yeah.”
I make a face, an unwelcome thought hitting me. “I’ll be honest, the thought of being in your bed where you’ve had my cousin is not high on my list of priorities.”
He settles back, his eyes searching mine, and then he tips up my chin, gives me another peck, and nods. “I’ll take care of it.”
I don’t argue, because honestly, I believe him.
And right now, before things get heavy again, before I focus on how I’m going to take down my uncle and take back what’s rightfully mine…I’m going to enjoy this light moment.
This is everything I never thought existed, and no matter what happens when I finally work up the courage to tell Enzo the truth, I know one thing: I’ll forever be grateful for the time we’ve had here. For him showing me that not all men are absolute trash.
Not all of them are horrible.
I don’t know if he’ll ever realize how deeply he’s changed my life and my outlook on it. It breaks my heart knowing things won’t stay this way forever.
“So,” I say, looking around because I don’t want to focus on the emotion swelling in my chest. “What’s the story around here?”
He grabs my hand, linking ours together and letting them swing between us. And it’s such a normal thing to do, but for me, it’s monumental. I never thought I’d be able to have something so…simple but have it mean so much.
“This is Trillia, Brooklyn,” he replies. “I grew up here.”
We keep walking down the street, and I’m taking it all in.
“That butcher shop right there?” I look at where he’s pointing, a bright white sign with blue writing that says “Max’s Meats.” “My ma used to send me out here every single Monday to grab beef for the week, but I was a little asshole. I used to start fights out front and then use my pops’s name to keep me out of trouble.”
I can picture what he’s saying perfectly, and it makes me smile thinking of a young Enzo with a chip on his shoulder and a whole lot to prove. “I can see it. Who’s Max?”
“The butcher. He was a good guy, tried to do his best for me and keep me on the up and up, but it never really worked out.”
“That’s sweet you had someone looking out for you, though.”
He shrugs. “I was tied to this life the moment I was born, despite Max’s best efforts. He’s gone now, though. Left the place to me, if you can believe it.”
