Taken by Lies (Truth or Lies 1)

I nod and continue to scarf down the sandwich. Maybe if I eat quickly, we can go back inside.

When he’s satisfied that I ate my entire sandwich, he pours me a glass of red wine.

I take it and smell it first. I’ve never had a good glass of wine, but I expect this is more expensive than what most people drink. I’ve seen enough people smell it first before taking a sip to know that’s what you are supposed to do.

I sip. It tastes bitter and dry, but soothing at the same time.

The sadness overcomes me immediately.

“What’s wrong? Do you not like the wine? I can get another.”

“No, the wine is fine. I just…”

I look up at Enzo. “This is the first time I’m drinking, legally.”

He holds out his glass. “To drinking legally as an adult. May we drink smarter than our previous, reckless selves.”

He waits, but I don’t know what he’s waiting for. “You are supposed to clink your glass with mine.”

“Oh.” My cheeks burn as I clink my glass with his.

Enzo Black, what are you doing to me? My eyes travel up and down his bare chest again, and I give a silent plea for him to find a way through my walls. To make it so he can touch me again. So one day, he can fuck me. And I can find the pleasure I’ve been missing all these years.

We both sip our glasses, while our bodies yearn to touch. Like a magnet, I feel my body reaching out and trying to join with his. But I’m not brave enough to even brush my hand against him.

“How has work been this week?”

“Huh?” Enzo asks.

“You never talk about work. I don’t even really know what being the all-powerful ruler you are means.”

“It means I make the rules and all the men follow. It means I make millions of dollars a day. It means I own the underground, the darkest places in Miami and the ocean surrounding. No one takes a foot in this town without me knowing about it.”

I nod. “I know that, but what do you do every day? Where do you go?”

“Surrender mostly. That’s where I can get information and gather my team to ensure everyone is doing their jobs, which mainly means running the clubs and yachts and protecting those that have paid us for protection. I spend my day looking as menacing as possible, so no one dares defy my rule, and if someone does, I make an example of them.”

I sip more wine.

“And women, you can’t forget the women who dance all over you and let them fuck you at night,” I force a smile to my face as I say the words that hurt more than they should.

Enzo isn’t yours. He can fuck whoever he wants. And even if he were yours, he shouldn’t be. You can’t forgive him for selling you.

“Yes, the women make the job more enjoyable,” his jaw hardens as he speaks.

“Ever had a serious girlfriend or someone you considered making Mrs. Dangerous?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because there will never be a Mrs.”

“I

t seems a King needs his Queen.”

“Not this King.”