Page 41 of Love to Defy You (The Dark Love #2)

But I’m not sure I can handle another night of not knowing where things stand between us. It’s the unknown that’s driving me crazy.

“Fine,” I say curtly, gesturing toward the departures sign with my hand. “Lead the way.”

We venture to the other side of the airport where Enzo’s plane is waiting. As soon as we board, I take one of the plush, leather seats and pull a blanket around me. I curl my knees to my chest, keeping my back turned on Enzo in my wool cocoon.

I press my forehead against the window of the airplane and stare at a baggage tractor driving across the tarmac. The dark gray clouds in the sky overhead match my mood.

Gretchen moves about the service station, preparing the cabin for takeoff, although she’s moving at a leisurely snail’s pace. The longer we wait for the plane to depart, the longer I have to wait to talk to Alek. And right now, every second that ticks by stretches into an endless unknown.

I tug the blanket tighter around my shoulders.

Enzo’s gaze is so intense I worry he’ll give me a lobotomy by staring a hole into my skull.

“Willow?” Enzo kneels in front of my chair. “Come on, will you just look at me?” He tries to keep his voice gentle, but his gritted teeth give him away.

With a heavy sigh, I peel my forehead off the window and meet his gaze.

His shoulders relax a little when I acknowledge him. “Look, I said some cruel things to you last night. Things I regret.” He takes a deep breath. “I… I didn’t take your rejection well, and I said what I said out of anger. I’m sorry, Willow. You didn’t deserve that.”

I stare at the beige carpet on the floor. “You didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.”

“Hey, don’t say that.” He rakes his fingers through his hair to push it out of his face and blows out a breath. “Don’t let what I said get into your head. It’s not true.”

I bury my face into my knees so he doesn’t see the tears in my eyes. The lump in my throat returns, making it hard to swallow.

“Talk to me,” he says. “Whatever you’re going through, I can help.”

“I’m...” I take a breath. “I’m just... so fucking confused. I can’t think straight.” I glance at the closed door of the cockpit. “When are we taking off?”

“Are you confused about me?” He places his warm hand on my head and strokes my hair. “Because I’m not confused about my feelings for you, Willow. Not one bit. I want to be with you.”

“Enzo, stop.” I lift my head, and he withdraws his hand. “Look, I was fucked-up last night. I took things too far, and I’m sorry for leading you on. But I’m in love with Alek, and that’s not going to change.”

He lets out a frustrated scoff. “Why are you still hung up on Kurochkin after everything he’s done?

You deserve better.” He runs a hand up and down my arm over the blanket.

“For the record, I’d never do that to you.

I’ll end things with Birgitta as soon as we land in Zurich, and you won’t ever have to worry about me cheating—“

“Stop! Just stop!” I push his arm off and stand up from my seat. This is all too much, too fast, and the blanket falls to the floor as I make my way up the aisle toward the bathroom.

“Willow, wait.” Enzo chases after me and grabs my hand.

“I’m sorry. I’m getting ahead of myself.

” He gently turns me around to face him.

“Take all the time you need to figure things out. I’ll be right here when you’re ready.

” He gestures at a beige sofa behind the swivel chairs.

“Sit down. Let me get you something to drink. What would you like?”

I let him pull me over to the couch and take a seat. “Water’s fine.”

“Coming right up.” Enzo disappears into the back for a few moments, says something to Gretchen, and returns with a glass of ice water. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” I accept the cold glass and take a long sip, trying to wash away the hard lump stuck in my throat.

He takes the seat beside me, and even though he sits close, he doesn’t touch me. “Let me say one more thing, and then we’ll put this conversation to rest.”

I don’t want to hear what he has to say. All I want is to be left alone to stew in my melancholy, and to think about what I’m going to say to Alek after we land.

But I nod. “Fine. Go ahead.”

He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and stares at the carpet.

“The Order of Apollo changes people. When a candidate nears the end of the trials, they see the finish line and realize they’re about to join the most elite brotherhood on the planet.

” He taps his temple. “That kind of power messes with people. Goes to their heads. We see it every year, guys who leave behind anyone and anything holding them back from realizing their true potential, and Alek is one of them.”

I swirl my water, and the ice splashes against the inside of the glass. “I’m holding him back?”

“No, you could never hold anyone back.” Enzo turns to look at me over his hunched shoulder.

“Because you are destined for greatness, and Kurochkin is an idiot for not realizing that.

“ He lets out a low sigh and sits up. “My birth father didn’t want me. He abandoned my mother the moment she told him she was pregnant, and he left her with nothing despite his vast fortune.” He clenches his fists on his thighs.

“The elite are selfish. All they care about is themselves, and they will crush anyone who gets in the way of their power or wealth. It makes me sick.”

I knock back the rest of the water and set it on a nearby tray table. “Then why join the Order of Apollo if you hate them so much?”

He angles his body toward me and rests his arm on the back of the sofa. As he leans closer, his anger melts, and his lips stretch into a wide grin, his teeth glinting in the light. “Because I’m going to beat them at their own game.”

I’ve never seen such an unhinged expression on his face, but it feels like I’m pulling back the curtain and seeing the real Enzo Messina. Diabolical mania flickers like fire in his dark eyes, and it sets off alarm bells in my brain.

This is the same guy who kills people without a second thought in the name of the brotherhood. It was easy to push that knowledge aside this week, especially since Enzo was there for me more than once.

But right now? I remember exactly who I’m dealing with.

“I need to use the restroom.” I abruptly push off the sofa and slip into the bathroom, breathing hard as I lock the door behind me and press my back against the wall.

The mirror reflects my wide-eyed fear and pale complexion, and my hands are shaking so badly that I grip the sink to steady them.

I don’t know what the fuck that was about, but I just caught a glimpse of a version of Enzo I’ve never seen before, and it scared the shit out of me.

It was the look of a guy who would scorch the entire earth just to taste revenge and dance on the graves of his enemies.

He’s a volatile concoction of bloodthirst that could explode at any moment.

I take a minute to splash water on my face and collect myself, but it takes me some time to work up the nerve to rejoin Enzo in the cabin. We’ll be taking off any minute now, which means I need to get buckled up in my seat.

With a deep breath, I unlock the door with a click and push it open. I peer around the corner and find Enzo seated in his chair. When I return to my seat, he glances up from his phone and gives me a gentle smile as though he didn’t just threaten to burn the world down.

“Oh, good, you’re back,” he says with an affable tone.

I sink into my seat and wrap the blanket around my shoulders once again. A deep fatigue settles in my bones, and my limbs grow fifty pounds heavier.

I pull out my phone, but when I open my text messages, the words are blurred. Even after I blink a few times, the screen won’t come into focus. I feel weird.

Something’s wrong with me.

This isn’t depression or a sudden onset of flu. I’ve taken enough recreational substances to know when I’m under the influence of drugs, but I haven’t taken any pills since yesterday. When I woke up this morning, I had a hangover, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.

No, whatever is happening to me makes me feel like I’ve been injected with a horse tranquilizer.

“Are we taking off… soon…?” My words are slow and slurred, and just getting them out takes a great effort.

I peer at Enzo in my peripheral, and he’s staring back at me with a smirk on his face. “Willow, you don’t look so good. Perhaps you should lie down?” There isn’t a trace of concern or surprise in his voice.

The water.

Oh, shit. The water.

Enzo spiked my glass with something, and now he’s waiting for me to pass out. I’m sure of it. So, I didn’t give him what he wanted last night, and now he’s going to roofie me and take it by force?

“I’m fine.” I give him a tight smile as I slide my phone discreetly from my pocket, using the blanket as cover.

I send a text to Alek under the blanket, praying that it makes sense as I type out a message through the blurry haze gripping me.

ME

If you still care about me at all, I need you to meet me at the Zurich airport ASAP when I land. Enzo drugged me.

It’s going to be hard, but I can’t let myself fall asleep until we’re in Zurich, and if I try to leave before takeoff, Enzo will know I’m on to him and stop me.

I hit send on my text to Alek and cross my fingers that he’ll answer. Before I can reach out to my dad, something vibrates in Enzo’s bag on the floor, even though his phone is sitting out on his tray table, screen dark.

Enzo bristles. “I must have forgotten to turn off my work phone.” As he reaches for his bag, he gives me a tight smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.

Conjuring a basic thought feels like wading through sludge. The gears in my brain are grinding to a halt, but one idea fights its way to the forefront, and if I’m right, it would explain everything that’s happened over the past week.

But being right also means I’m well and truly fucked.

I press the call button for Alek, and moments later, Enzo’s bag starts vibrating nonstop.

No. No, no, no, this is bad. This is really fucking bad.

Blind panic seizes my chest as Enzo rifles hastily through his bag, and he pulls out a black phone that looks an awful lot like Alek’s. He turns the device over in his hand and looks at the screen just as I mash frantically on the end call button.

But I’m too late. A dark expression settles over Enzo’s face as he stares at the screen.

When he looks up, he pins me with a lethal gaze that makes icy dread seep through my veins.

My eyelids weigh about the same as lead dumbbells, and I fight to keep my eyes open with everything I’ve got, but I’m slipping away.

Enzo clucks his tongue. “Oh, Willow. I’m so disappointed in you.”

My phone slips from my hand and clatters to the floor.

When Enzo speaks again, his voice is muffled as if we’re underwater. “Looks like you’ve caught a bad case of the flu. I don’t think you’re well enough to fly.”

As my vision tunnels, the last thing I see is his cold face floating in pitch-black nothingness before I pass out.