Hexed (Never After, #6)

by Emily McIntire

It’s funny, because for the longest time, I was wishing for the fire she just showed me, but now it feels like a square peg in a round hole or a shoe on the wrong foot. Uncomfortable and out of place.

“Where’re the men?” “Oh, I’m sure they’re out somewhere being a disappointment.”

“Who the fuck are you?” “I’m the guy who’s about to kill you if you touch her again.” Enzo’s voice is low and lethal, and it’s inappropriate timing, but heat flares between my legs. “In fact, don’t even look at her.”

All traces of the fun and easygoing friend I’ve spent time with are gone, and in his place is E: the man the rumors are all about. I’m not sure which version of him I’m more attracted to.

There’s a thrill working its way through me, pumping adrenaline through my body like a drug at the violent display. One that’s happening because of me. Even better: for me.

“I want to make something crystal-clear: killing you right now would cause problems for her, and that’s the only reason I’m being generous and letting you live.”

The way he’s speaking, it’s soft and low, like sex and candy mixed with a tinge of violence, and I wonder if this is why they call him Lover Boy. Because he whispers sweet nothings into their ears while he hurts them.

Nobody has ever stood up for me the way Enzo does. Repeatedly, he’s proven he cares.

“I can take care of myself,” I say, the same way I always do. He reaches out to grip my chin, tilting my face up to meet his. “I know. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should have to.”

I lean over the console to brush my lips across his cheek. He turns at the last second, and I pull back quickly, but not before our mouths graze. Just like last night. Just barely. Just a hint. A whisper. But it tilts my world on its axis anyway.

I’m a big believer that time is an illusion and doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, but that doesn’t mean I’m comfortable with knowing someone for a couple of weeks and letting them have such a big impact on my life. And Enzo has impacted me in ways I’m not sure I’ll recover from.

The theme of the party itself is the Lost City of Atlantis, which I know was more Uncle T’s idea than it was Aria’s because she’s never been too into the Kingston lore—at least not the way Uncle T is.

Enzo just stares at me like he wants to either fuck me or kill me.

“Well, I’ll tell you a secret, sweet Cousin.” I cup my hand around my mouth and incline my body toward her. “The women make me come harder, but the men are easier to train. So I like them both but for very different reasons.”

Uncle T huffs, but he doesn’t disagree with me. It stings. Like salt water in an open wound.

Enzo eclipses everything around him.

“You’re getting into business that has nothing to do with you, son.” Enzo chuckles, and a dark look crosses over his face. “I’m not your son, Trent. And I promise you don’t want to make me your enemy.”

If we give in… It’s wrong. Even if I can’t stand Aria. Even if it feels like he’s the only person on earth who has ever understood me. Even if he’s the only one who cares. He’s not mine, and he won’t ever be.

“Well, sometimes what we want doesn’t matter.” I try to make my voice sound stern, but I don’t think it works based on the way it wobbles as it hits the air. His face lowers until it’s next to my ear. “Sometimes…it feels like you’re the only thing that does.”

can’t help but notice the difference in the way my body feels when I’m with Athena as opposed to Enzo.

Uncle T drones on for a long time about how much Aria means to him and how long he’s waited for this moment, and I try real hard not to roll my eyes at the sentiment, because we get it. She’s his sparkling jewel. A lot of occlusions if you ask me, but maybe I have a keener eye than everyone else.

I’ve done the one thing I promised myself I never would do. Fall for a man. How…disappointing

If there’s one thing a man will do, it’s disappoint you. And I shouldn’t have thought my uncle would be the exception.

So I follow him out of the room. Because maybe it’s time I truly put myself first and go after the things that I want. Starting with my cousin’s fiancé.

Venesa’s standing there, determination in her gaze. She smirks at me and saunters forward like I’m her prey.

“Shut up,” she demands. I close my mouth, throwing my hands in the air and miming that I’m zipping my lips. I’ll never say another word again if it means she’ll keep looking at me the way she is right now.

She looks ethereal. Cheeks flushed, a gorgeous floor-length black gown lined with purple, hair a beautiful swirl of a mess on her head, and I’m… ...

“I want to pretend…just for one night, that it is a different life.”

If this is the only chance I’m ever going to have to be with her, I’m going to take it.

“What do you need?” I ask, keeping my voice low because I’m afraid to ruin the moment. “You.”

She’s just as soft and perfect as I imagined. And she’s clearly out of sorts, so if she needs me to keep her anchored, then I’ll be that for her, and if it gets out, if there are any repercussions after, I’ll deal with them as they come.

And for as strong of a woman as she is, for everything she is that no one else sees,she’s asking for me to take control. To relieve her from being someone who always has to take care of everything on her own, because if she doesn’t, then no one will.

“I know what you need,” I interrupt, then put my lips next to her ear. “Let me take care of you.” And I mean it, even if I shouldn’t. Because the only thing that matters is her

This isn’t about me; this is about what she needs, and I don’t know what pushed her to this point, but I know that if this is my only chance to be with Venesa, then I’m going to make her remember it. I want her to feel cherished. Taken care of. Even if it’s just this once.

Because what it is is fucking everything.

“I’m not going to fuck you,” I repeat. “Because when I do, I’m going to take my time, cherishing every single inch of you, drinking up your cries and drowning in your moans. Tell me you understand.”

“Such a perfect girl,” I murmur against her skin.

“Show me,” I tell her. “So when I’m alone, late at night, I can close my eyes and picture it. Knowing you’re lying somewhere, touching yourself and thinking of me.”

“That’s it, baby. Give it to me,” I urge.

“In a different life,” I start, my voice shaky from the restraint of holding myself back, “I would be on my knees, feasting on you every day for the rest of our lives.”

“In a different life, it would be you on my arm, and you I’d get to marry. And I’d take you home and fuck you in our bed, sinking my cock so deep inside you that you’d never get me out.”

“In a different life…” I pause, emotion suddenly clogging my throat. “I’d love you out loud.”

She’s a vision. She’s everything. But she’s still not fucking mine.

And I have this sinking feeling this is all we’ll ever get. A stolen moment, hidden away in a locked bathroom, and it makes me sick because she deserves so much more.

Was it the smartest choice to do this here, right across the hall from everyone, at my engagement party to another woman? No. Do I feel like a piece of shit? Yes. But I don’t regret it.

She’s strong, she’s so fucking strong, but her uncle is her weak spot, even if she can’t see it, and familial ties are hard to break, even the dysfunctional ones. I would know.

“How many times do I have to tell you, Trent? You don’t get to tell me how high to jump and expect me to submit.”

And then she rises, her hand wrapping around the nape of my neck and dragging me down, and she presses a soft, chaste kiss to my lips. My heart stalls out, and I free-fall because it wasn’t supposed to be like this.

In a different life… But in this one? I’m bound by the Mafia and a woman I’ll never love.

I didn’t want Enzo to leave; I would have done anything to let him stand next to me as a pillar of strength. The one he’s been for me since the moment we met. The one I don’t deserve for many reasons.