CHAPTER THIRTEEN: ENZO
Thefirstdaythat I met Winter Chastine, I thought she wouldn’t live long enough to regret getting involved with the Costas.
How could she when the first words she said to me were “Can I not even take a breath?” after I’d told her not to keep Giovanni waiting. But surprisingly… Winter Chastine is at the halfway mark of her contract.
She stumbled through Winter.
She fought through the Spring.
And now she seems determined to win the Summer.
It’s too bad her fall is scheduled to come early.
“She’s so delicate isn’t she?” Maximo says as he peers out of the window. He watches Winter with a look that’s too close to being dreamy for my liking.
I don’t like the change I’ve seen in him recently, to be more specific, the way he acts with Winter. How he’d wrapped her in his arms at that warehouse after finding her in the midst of a panic attack. It’s wrong to be that way, I know, considering the amount of times those same strong arms have pulled me out of my own panic attacks or a bad memory.
But they’re my fucking arms, not Winter Chastine’s.
I shift uneasily, trying to cover the movement the moment I catch myself doing so. But I know it’s too late as Maximo’s gaze snaps to the side and his eyes zero in on me. A slow, cruel smile takes over his face and I feel trapped by his stare.
His lips twitch at the corners and he stands up straight. He brushes a hand over his shirt and I can’t help but to follow the motion with my eyes. His hands move even slower and I know that he’s aware he’s caught me once again.
Entranced me.
As he drags his hand down over his crotch to the prominent, hard bulge, my mouth goes dry and my heart loses its steady tempo.
“Oh Enzo, my little soldier,” he drawls out as he prowls closer to me.
I’ve looked down the barrel of more guns that I can count, had enemies plunge knives, bullets, and more into me, but I’ve never felt more in danger than when Maximo gives me his full, undivided attention.
I take a step back and his grin widens as he lets out a low chuckle.
“Are you running from me, baby?” From anyone else's lips the words would sound like an endearment, but from Maximo’s they sound like a threat.
You know better than to run, it only feeds into his depravity.
Which is why I continue to back away from him.
Because I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t like when Maixmo reminds me that I’m his favorite prey, that he’s the predator I’ll always allow to catch me.
That I’m his until the day my heart stops beating, and even after.
My back slams against the wall and I draw in a shaky breath, my skin tingling. Maximo stops a foot away from me, close enough that he can reach out to touch me if he wants.
“Tell me, what’s going on in that head of yours?” he asks with a twinkle in his eyes.
He’s trapping me.
No matter what words come out of my mouth, they’ll be wrong. Somehow, someway, it’s going to lead to him deciding that I need to be taught a lesson.
One way or another.
It’s up to me to decide which lesson that is though.
I take a long swallow, my eyes moving to the ground as I try to get my thoughts together.
“Eyes on me, soldier.”