Page 20 of Love to Defy You (The Dark Love #2)

Willow

When my professor ends the lecture, I shove my linguistics textbook into my backpack, but in my haste to get out of here, it catches on one of my smaller books and bends the corner.

“Fuck me.” I tug the damaged paperback from my bag and turn it over in my hand. A Tramp Abroad by Mark Twain, the current required reading for my American literature elective.

Poetic irony at its finest.

I smooth the folded edges back into place before sandwiching it carefully between two hardbound textbooks, then zip up my backpack and throw it over my shoulder.

Jesus Christ, it’s almost as heavy as my book bag at the President’s Academy.

It’ll be a miracle if I don’t graduate college with a hunchback.

It’s the fourth Thursday of November, so Alek hired a private chef to cook Thanksgiving dinner at the apartment.

Mikhail and Josie are coming over, and I can’t wait to see the revulsion on their faces when I present my mom’s lemon Jell-O salad to them.

Alek and I had a heated debate last year about whether it was a side dish or a dessert.

It’s called a salad, so obviously, it’s a side dish.

This recipe is one of the ways I keep Mom’s memory alive, and since I’m not going to hand it over to the chef to butcher it, I need to get home to finish the Dream Whip topping in time.

I peel out of the classroom so fast I don’t see the person rounding the corner of the hallway, and I collide into a hard wall of muscle.

“Whoa, easy there.” Copper arms reach out to steady me before I keel backward.

“I’m so sorry—“ My voice catches when I glance up into the dark eyes of my rescuer. “Enzo?”

His eyes light up in recognition. “Oh, hello, Willow. Are you all right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”

It’s hard to believe this guy is a cold-blooded killer, especially when he looks at me with genuine concern. Alek said he recognized his voice as the hooded figure who slit someone’s throat, but if he didn’t see the face behind the mask, is it possible he got it wrong?

Enzo keeps his hands wrapped around my arms, even though I’m no longer in danger of falling over.

I pull away from him. “Anyway, I should get going—“

He steps in front of me to block my path. “Hold on. Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

“Just eager to get home. It’s American Thanksgiving, so you know...” I tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear.

“In that case, Happy Thanksgiving.” He gives me a disarming grin. “I’ll walk with you.”

“Oh, you really don’t have to do that.”

“Please, I insist. I’ve been wanting a chance to talk to you.” He gestures ahead for me to start walking.

After a moment’s hesitation, I resume my path through the grand hallways of the Literature and Arts building, past oil paintings of historical figures and rare artifacts in glass cases. Through the aged glass windows, orange leaves fall to the ground, ushering in the chill of winter.

Enzo falls into step at my side. I catch the fresh scent of his aquatic cologne, which takes me back to lazy days in Saint-Tropez.

Maybe Alek and I should never have left our seaside haven, where the threat of death didn’t loom over our heads.

“So,” he begins, “you remember that night I met you at the restaurant?”

How could I forget? He watched Alek fingerfuck me, which was, admittedly, super-hot, but I didn’t know he was the ruthless leader of a secret cult at the time.

But then again, I’ve always been drawn to the dangerous ones, and knowing that he has me in his crosshairs doesn’t scare me as much as it should.

The danger sends a thrill weaving through my body.

“I sensed a kindred spirit in you, Willow. You and I are surrounded by wealthy, self-absorbed elites, and no matter how much they pretend they’ve accepted us, we’ll always be seen as outsiders.”

“Outsiders?” I raise an eyebrow. “Isn’t your mom dating the wealthiest monarch in Europe?”

He chuckles. “Rumor spreads fast.”

“Sorry, that was rude of me.” I shake my head and glance at my sneakers.

“No, no, it’s fine.” Enzo waves his hand.

“Yes, my mother is the Prince of Liechtenstein’s mistress, but she started with nothing.

My father abandoned her before I was born, so she was left to fend for herself in the world.

” He shoves his hands into his pockets as we slow our walk.

“We didn’t have much money when I was young.

She worked as a maid for different hotels around Europe, and we moved around a lot.

It wasn’t until she met the prince that our luck finally changed. ”

“I can relate. I mean, we weren’t struggling, but it was just my mom and me for a long time.”

“I knew I sensed a kindred spirit.” The muscles in his jaw relax. “Money can get you anywhere, but earning the respect of the one percent? That’s another hurdle entirely.”

When I first arrived at the President’s Academy of Olininburg, I felt like an outsider among the ultra-wealthy sons and daughters of oligarchs.

And they reminded me that I wasn’t a part of their inner circle at every opportunity.

Alek’s parents thought I wasn’t good enough for their son, and even though he won’t admit it, his mother still doesn’t see me as a suitable girlfriend. She probably never will.

We turn the corner into a less-traveled corridor in the building, and Enzo comes to a stop. “I believe I owe you an apology.”

I pause my footsteps. “Huh?”

Am I imagining the pinkish hue on his cheeks?

He hesitates, rolling his bottom lip between his teeth. “I may have read into something that I thought was there between us. That night at the restaurant, I... I thought we had a moment.”

I gulp down the sudden dryness in my throat.

“I thought we were flirting.” He lets out a nervous laugh and runs his hand along the back of his neck. “I realize it was just wishful thinking on my part.”

When I used him to rile up Alek, did I lead him on? Shit, of course I did, and I didn’t feel bad about it.

“Aren’t you with Birgitta?” I ask.

He shrugs. “We aren’t exclusive.”

I fold my arms. “Does she know that?”

He steps closer to me, so close we’re almost touching. “Birgitta knows her role as my pythia.”

When I inhale, I breathe in his alluring cologne. “And what is my role as Alek’s pythia?”

He lifts his hand to sweep my hair off my neck, and his knuckles graze my skin.

It affects me, knowing he wants me despite having a girlfriend, and even though I’m taken.

Enzo’s attention is forbidden, and it sends electric sparks dancing across my exposed flesh, which works its way down to my core.

But that’s all I want from him: his attention. Nothing more.

“You’ll find out,” he whispers, leaning so close that his mouth hovers over mine. “But I’ve never seen a pythia more suited for the role than you. I knew it the moment you walked out of the restaurant that night.”

Our faces linger close, his breath mixing with mine in this sensual dance.

“Hmm, that’s all you’ll tell me? What a letdown.” I pull away abruptly and turn my back on him. As I walk, I feel his dark gaze on the sway of my hips.

As expected, he follows, remaining five paces behind me to enjoy the show I’m putting on. Our footfalls are the only sound in this quiet, abandoned hallway.

He doesn’t say anything for a while, not until I reach the stairwell. “If you ever get bored with Kurochkin, let me know. I would worship the ground you walk on.”

I snort. “I know you would.”

He lets out a low groan. “Fuck, you’re killing me, Willow. How long are you going to make me wait?”

Without looking over my shoulder, I continue down the stairs until I reach the first floor. “You’ll be waiting forever.”

“We’ll see about that.” His voice grows rough. “I’m very good at biding my time.”

I reach the exit and push the door open. The chilly November air whips at my face, and I draw my fitted coat closer around me.

Enzo jogs to catch up until we’re side by side once again. “Do you have room for one more at Thanksgiving dinner?”

“Jesus, you’re persistent,” I say, though I can’t help but laugh. “I think Alek will kill you if we show up together, and then he’ll kill me. By saying no, I’m really saving your life.”

Conversation comes easily with Enzo, which is unexpected, and I’m not sure what to make of that.

He bumps his shoulder against mine. “Come on. Use me as a pawn for your little mind games with Aleksandr. It’s a delight to watch you play.”

“This has been fun.” I throw him a demure smile. “But I should get going.”

He grabs my arm, and when he pulls me in to whisper in my ear, I gasp. “It’s in Aleksandr’s best interest to invite me to dinner.”

That sobers me up real fast. The molten heat between my legs is extinguished by the icy chill that washes over me, and I start to tremble in his grasp.

It’s a brief glimpse of the predator underneath the charming mask, but it’s enough to make me realize that Alek was right.

“Are you saying you’ll hurt him if I don’t bring you to Thanksgiving?” I murmur.

“I could if I wanted to.” He presses his lips into my hair. “But is it worth the risk of finding out?”

Alek’s life is on the line. It’s been on the line since the moment we stepped foot in Zurich, and I’ve been toying with the man who holds Alek’s life in his hands.

After the feast, I got complacent and let my guard down.

I thought maybe, just maybe, the danger was exaggerated.

I mean, murders on a college campus by a secret organization that runs the world?

It sounds more like a conspiracy theory from a novel.

But this is real life, and Alek is in very real danger if I don’t cooperate.

Fear twists my gut as I whisper in a rattled voice, “Would you like to come over for dinner?”

His lips curl against my ear. “Thank you. I’d be delighted.”