Page 53 of Hexed
“Fuck you.”
“Hey,” Enzo snaps, his eyes narrowing. “Watch your mouth.”
“Do you mind?” I ask, scowling at him. “I can handle this.”
His lips twitch like he’s fighting back a smile, but he leans against the wall and crosses his ankles, waving his hand at the room like he’s giving me permission to continue. The muscles of his forearm flex with the motion, and a shot of arousal hits me.
Not the time, Venesa.
“Listen, I don’t know what kind of kinky shit you’re into, but I’mnothere for this,” Sean says, pulling at his restraints again and hissing as the metal digs into his skin.
A laugh bubbles out of me because how can he possibly still think I brought him back here for sex?
“You hear that, Lover Boy?” I pout, flicking my gaze to Enzo. “He thinks we’re kinky.”
Enzo’s eyes spark. “He’s got no idea.”
Butterflies explode in my stomach, and I feel my cheeks heating, so I drop my head and focus on Sean again to hide my reaction.
“Honestly, I find it a little rude to presume.” I move closer to the edge of the table, staring down at Sean’s face, enjoying the way reality is settling into his features. All the classic signs are there: the widening of the eyes, his forehead lines creasing deeper, sweat forming at his temples as panic sets in and triggers that pesky fight-or-flight instinct.
“I’m curious, Sean. If you’re not here forthis,then what are you here for?”
He doesn’t reply, but his eyes flick to Enzo and back nervously.
“You need me to teach you some manners?”
“Let me go, you crazy bitch,” he grits out. “And keephimaway from me.”
“If you don’t teach him some, I will,” Enzo cuts in. His voice is smooth and dark, like glassy water beneath a stormy sky. A shiver rolls down my spine.
“And they say chivalry is dead.” I grin widely at Sean.
I run one of my nails along the side of his face, digging in just enough to leave a red line on his pasty cheek.
He jerks from my touch, and my smile grows. “You never said where you were from, darlin’.”
His thin lips tighten, and a flash of panic coasts across his gaze.
Oh.I don’t like that at all.
My grin drops, and I grip his chin harshly until his lips mash together from the force.
Originally, I assumed he was here to cheat me out of money, but that face he just made? That reeks of secrets he’d rather I didn’t know.
I release him with a sneer, his head smacking against the table as I do, and then I walk to the other side of the room, near the shelving units where Bastien likes to keep his favorite tools.
The third drawer down has a line of different knives placed strategically from largest to smallest, and I pick up the meat cleaver, enjoying the weight of it in my hand.
Sean’s voice is still in the background, spitting profanities left and right, his feet banging against the table and that ever-constantclank,clank,clankof metal on metal reverberating through the room. But it’s all muted to me now. There’s a pleasant buzzing in my ears, adrenaline pumping through my veins and muffling the outside noise. I’m in the zone. Focused.Happy.
When I spin around, Enzo’s gaze sears into me, snapping from the cleaver in my hand to Sean and then to my face. There’s a flicker of surprise, his features lifting and his eyes growing wider, but it only lasts for a millisecond, and then something else takes over. Something darker.
It feels like approval.
Satisfaction whips through me, sending my heart racing, because that’s what I’mconstantlycraving from Uncle T but rarely getting. Right here with Enzo, it’s like he’s giving it freely and unrestrainedly.
It’s a heady rush.
