Page 59 of Enzo

Iwoke up as dawn broke out over the dark sky with a distinct feeling that something was wrong. I felt off somehow, but I coughed it up to stress surrounding our imminent travels.

Yesterday hadn’t been the perfect first day of marriage, but it could’ve been worse. We bickered a little—okay, a lot—but I got to know my wife better. On her terms, this time.

Needless to say, our day ended worse off than it started when I foolishly overestimated my comedic timing during dinner.Cazzo, I was lucky to escape unscathed when I casually dropped the little bombshell about my voyeuristic extra-curricular activity in regards to her.

Once we made it home, and showered, we got ready for bed like two grumpy ghosts haunting the same mattress. As she turned her back to me and yanked the blanket, she muttered under her breath, “Psychopathic stalker.”

I didn’t say anything back, mostly because I enjoyed having my eyeballs. After all, watching her had been a top-tier hobby of mine for the last three years.

This morning will be better, I thought to myself.Everything is usually better after a good night’s sleep.

I turned over on the mattress, my mind still fuzzy from sleep and yesterday’s events, and reached for Penelope’s pillow only to find it cold. And then I saw it: my forearm covered in angry red patches.

“Meow,meowww…” The sound registered as my mind was catapulting over itself trying to understand. And it was then that I spotted it. There was a fuckingcaton my balcony.

Once I noticed, it was impossible to ignore. My skin itched furiously. My tongue and throat were swollen. I could barely peel my eyes open for how puffy they felt. And… my wife wasn’t next to me.

“Who let this cat onto my property?” I roared loud enough to cause an earthquake. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

I swung my legs out of bed and ran to the dresser where I kept a stack of EpiPens. As I stabbed myself with one, relief slowly flooded me, and I released a sigh. The drug’s effects would take about five minutes to kick in.

“It better work faster,” I rasped as I caught my reflection in the mirror and grimaced. It wasn’t pretty. I looked like I’d been stung by a hundred bees.

I turned my back to the mirror and let the injection do its thing, grateful that Penelope wasn’t here to witness my current state.Where is she…?

The cat moved forward as if to reenter the bedroom. It probably wanted to lounge on my bed. That would have to be a big fatfuck nobecause if that fucking creature got any closer, I’d wind up dead.

“Shoo,” I hissed, then stomped my foot on the ground. When that didn’t work, I bellowed, “Fucking shoo, you evil thing.”

At least the cat stopped moving, and my shoulders slumped in relief.

“Take another step and it won’t end well for either of us,” I warned, eyeing the animal as it swung its tail and meowed again, probably contemplating the best way to murder me.

Slowly, the reaction subsided and I could finally think straight.

I fumbled, putting on my jeans and shirt, then grabbed my cell and made my way to the balcony, shutting the door in the cat’s face. I’d tell one of my men to get rid of it.

Then I turned around and searched the empty room.

I was usually a light sleeper, but for the second night in a row, something about having Penelope close by had sent me into a deep sleep.

Except there was no sign of her.

A sense of foreboding crept into my chest, along with suspicion.

Surely, she would have heard me shouting and come running by now. I headed out of the bedroom and into the hallway.

“My stubborn wife must have moved rooms,” I muttered under my breath, but as I searched room after room, finding untouched beds and silence, my dread thickened.

“Giulio,” I roared.

I reached the bottom of the stairs just as he was leaving the kitchen, a steaming coffee mug in his hand. “Good morning, sir.”

Nothing ever riled him up.

“Where’s my wife?”

“Asleep, sir?” His eyes widened. “Are you all right? Do you need a doctor?”