Page 162 of Hexed
I crawl over to her, gripping her face until shehasto look me in the eye. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
Something flashes across her features—trepidation maybe.
“Youwere there.Yousaved me.” I laugh and shake my head.
“Enzo…” she says again, warily.
My heart feels like it might burst out of my chest, but I have to ask her. “I need you to be really honest with me. Did you know about your uncle and my pops?”
I don’t know what I’ll do if she was part of it.
Disquiet fills the air. “No. I was sent to New York that night to check up on Aria. Uncle T used to have me do it all the time. She was there…just walking along the Hudson with a broken heel and a tale about a date gone wrong. And then we heard you groaning, and I didn’t know who the hell you were, but I knew you were probablysomeone. To be honest, if I knew the truth, I probably wouldn’t have tried to save you. I was scared to be seen there with you anyway, so I gave Aria what she needed to wake you up, knowing she’d want to be a news story, and I ran away.”
“DidAriaknow?” I ask, even though I’m sure she won’t have the answer.
Venesa purses her lips. “I doubt it. She didn’t really want to save you; honestly, she was kind of freaked out by the whole thing.”
I let out a disbelieving chuckle. “So this whole time I felt chained to a life with a woman who saved me, and it was…you? I should have been chaining myself toyou.”
She breathes out a small laugh, her eyes fluttering. “You shouldn’t chain yourself to anybody, least of all me.”
“Fuckthat. I lived a lie for an entire year, and that bitch manipulated me every step of the way.” I sit back on my heelsand stare at Venesa. “But of course it was you. It’salwaysbeen you, hasn’t it?”
I literally owe her mylife.
“There are a lot of things you don’t?—”
Leaning forward, I cut her off with a kiss. “I don’t care. I don’t care about any of that.” My thumb brushes along her jaw. “All I care about is that you’re here now, with me. You’remine, and I am so fucking yours, Venesa Andersen. Tell me you know that.”
She swallows heavily and leans into my palm, closing her eyes. Then she nods like it’s painful for her to admit. “I know.”
I wish I could stay here all day, blow off my responsibilities, and sink inside her while I prove just how true my words are, but I won’t be able to relax until I make moves. The quicker I take care of things on my end, the faster I can help Venesa take care of hers.
And then there will benothingstanding in our way.
“I need to go meet up with Gio and figure out what the hell to do.”
I kiss her again and drag her into my lap. Her thick thighs wrap around me, as she grinds down, just a quick movement back and forth. My hands shoot out and grip her hips, thrusting up into her. “Don’t start something we don’t have time to finish, piccola sirena.”
She grins. “What’s the matter, Lover Boy, can’t take a little tease?”
I smack her ass, and she bites her lip and moans, andfuck, she’s doing this on purpose.
“Be good. Let me take care of this so I can come back and take care of you.”
She sighs and stops her hips, ending the torture.
“I’m gonna have Scotty come by and pick you up in a little bit, okay? Don’t go around the city without him. I should have keptJessica in my sights just to make sure she doesn’t run to tell Pops that you’re here.”
She scoffs.
I brush the back of my hand against her cheek and shake my head. “It’s not a leash. I’m not trying to control you. I just want to keep you safe.”
“Okay. But I have Bas too, don’t forget.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t know enough about Bas to trust him with your life.” I pat her ass, then move her off me and head to take a shower.
An hour later, I’m in the passenger side of Gio’s car, and we’re sitting in the parking lot of a secret spot just on the outskirts of Brooklyn. Turns out, while I was busy trying to figure out what to do, Gio had reached out to the De Lucas, who agreed to meet with us.
