by Nicole Fox
He shakes his head. “They’re both bull-headed and opinioned,” he says, the happiness in his voice still thrumming. “But they’re good kids. I have nothing to worry about.”
You can always tell how involved a parent is by the way they talk about their kids. It’s clear to me that Enzo’s been there every step of the way.
It’s in the way his eyes light up and soften at the same time.
It’s in his tone when he talks about his girls.
It’s in the way he can’t stop talking about them once he’s got going.
And, whether I meant to or not, I’ve definitely got Enzo going.
Fifteen minutes later, he’s still going.
“…and Luna’s in track,” he’s telling me. “Fastest in her division. Teresa’s the brain in the family. She’s big on climate change at the moment. She’s always joking about being the next Greta Thunberg, except older. She just did this thing where...”
I tune out while he keeps rambling.
Not trying to be rude or anything.
I’m just idly wondering what my mother says about me when strangers ask.
“…Yeah, I have a kid. A girl. She’s around… uh, eighteen, nineteen, maybe. Pretty thing—she looks just like me when I was her age. Except she’s never made the best use of her looks. She could have been in beauty pageants with eyes like hers…”
I’m distantly aware of my hands clenching the lush grass. Tightening. Choking the life out of it.
“…She never did have any ambition. She’s like her father that way: no dreams. Not that I even know who her father is… But doesn’t matter anyway, ‘cause all the men I fucked were the same…”
“You okay?” Enzo asks, pulling me abruptly from a pretty weird hallucination.
I’m so startled by getting yanked back to reality that I actually blurt out the God’s honest truth.
“Sorry… I, uh… I was just thinking about my mother.”
Shit.
I shouldn’t have said that.
“Yeah?” he asks. “You close with her?”
I wince, but it’s my own fault, really. I’m the one who decided to start the damn conversation.
“Not really,” I admit. “She lives across the country. Different trailer, same trailer park.”
“Ah. Do you see her often?”
“Not since I was fifteen,” I reply. “But I talk to her a couple of times every year.”
“What about your father?”
I shrug. “Never had one,” I say. “He split before I was born. In all honesty, I don’t even know if he knew he was gonna be a dad.”
Enzo’s eyebrows rise sympathetically. Out of some mutual sense of awkwardness, we both look over at Evie.
She’s got her hands in the fountain now harassing the koi fish, but I don’t have the heart to stop her.
“You’re good with her,” Enzo observes.
“Are you just giving me a compliment because you feel sorry for me?” I ask bluntly.
He gives me a sad smile. “A little.”
“You asshole,” I laugh. “A gentleman would’ve lied.”
“No one ever accused me of being a gentleman.”
I’m shaking my head at him as Evie runs up to me.
“Can we play hide-and-seek?” she asks. Sometimes, her attention span makes the goldfish in the fountain look patient by comparison.
“Sure thing, princess.”
“Not out here,” Enzo interrupts immediately. “If you’re playing hide-and-seek, you can do it in the house.”
I pull a funny face at him, tongue out and eyes bulging. Evie follows suit.
“Nice,” Enzo sighs. “Real nice. What kind of nanny are you?”
“The kind that doesn’t get paid,” I inform him.
He doesn’t bother taking that bait.
Smart man.
We head back into the house together. Enzo disappears almost immediately after—off to handle some more pressing Mazzeo business, I suppose.
Evie and I end up on the third floor, because it has the most rooms.
And also because I’m curious about all the closed doors that I still haven’t been inside.
I haven’t forgotten about my forced mission. In fact, it looms over my head, ever present.
It isn’t really a question of determination anymore. It’s more about opportunity…
In that there is none.
My days are confined to the common areas. My only companion is a six-year-old who knows even less than I do.
It’s not exactly ideal.
Which means I need to get more creative, and probably a lot bolder to boot.
Since the house is so damn large, we usually play hide-and-seek on a floor-to-floor basis to keep things fair. We work our way through three rooms on the third floor before we arrive at the fourth.
Evie pushes it open and scampers inside. I follow behind.
But she stops short a few steps into the room and I nearly bowl over her.
Both of us, though, are looking at the other occupant of the room.
And, God help me, Lucio is looking back at us.
He’s seated behind a sleek black desk. Before I can stop myself, I’m already scanning him, assessing—maybe even admiring.
White shirt, rolled up at the sleeves to reveal tattoos encircling his forearms and open at the throat to show the ones on his collarbone, too.
Dark hair swept carelessly back, with one strand swooping over his forehead.
I save his eyes for last. Like dessert at the end of a ten-course meal.
And even though I know what to expect, they still deliver on that promise and then some.
Searing but cold at the same time.
Light-years distant and yet so focused, so here-and-now, that I shiver despite myself.
I’ve never felt quite so seen as I do when Lucio looks at me.
So pinned in place.
So stripped completely and utterly bare without him lifting so much as a finger.
His expression gives nothing away, either. That’s terrifying in its own right.
Evie feels it, too. She stumbles back into me, and I can tell she’s about to bolt—when Lucio stands.
“Evie,” he says. “Wait.”
His voice is gentler than I expect. And maybe Evie recognizes that, too, because she does wait.
“What are you two up to?” he asks.
The weirdest thing of all is that he says it like he genuinely wants to know.
We haven’t spoken in two days. Not since our little stand-off by his Rolls Royce.
It’s strange how his mere proximity is dredging up the memory.
Not that much dredging is necessary.
“Go on, Evie,” I encourage. “Tell him.”
“Uh… we were playing… hide-and-seek,” she says in the tiny voice she reserves exclusively for her father.
“But obviously, we didn’t know this was your office,” I amend. “So we’ll just, uh, leave you to it.”
“Don’t,” he barks. He winces and softens his tone. “I mean, it’s okay.”
He must note the incredulous look on both our faces, because he chuckles and sweeps his hand to take in the room.
“Have at it, I should say. I don’t mind you playing hide-and-seek here.”
I just keep staring at him.
Is he serious?
There’s a devilish glint in his eye as he looks me over shamelessly. His eyes dance over my breasts, my hips, and then back up to my face.
It’s not like I’m wearing anything scandalous—denim shorts and a plain white t-shirt aren’t exactly tabloid material.
But something about the way he drinks me in makes me feel like I might as well be naked as far as he’s concerned.
I swallow past the knot in my throat. “Evie doesn’t want to play in here. Do you, Evie?” I say. “I mean this room is dark and—no offense, but it’s ugly. It’s probably gonna scare her.”
He seems completely unaffected by my insul
t. In fact, it only seems to amuse the shit out of him.
He glances towards Evie and gives her a smile.
An actual fucking smile.
What’s the bastard up to now?
“Evie, you strike me as an explorer, and all the explorers I know are brave,” he says. “You’re not scared to play in here, are you?”
Who woulda thought? He’s actually been paying attention.
“You won’t get mad if we play here?” she asks cautiously. She’s glancing around the room with tentative excitement.
“Not at all.”
“Then I’m not scared,” Evie announces.
Agh, you little traitor.
“I knew it,” Lucio says proudly. He gives her a wink that makes my ovaries shiver just a little, then diverts his glance to me. “Evie’s not scared, Charlotte. So feel free to play here. Unless, of course, you’re the one who’s scared…?”
I narrow my eyes at him.
He’s dangling the bait right in front of me, and he’s know I’m gonna take it.
He hasn’t left me with any other choice.
“The only thing that frightens me is just how terrible the decor is,” I shoot back at him. “Seriously, was the designer blind or something?”
He ignores me and sits down behind his desk. “Just pretend like I’m not here. Evie, you can start counting. Charlotte will hide first.”
I hate what he’s doing here. And even more than that, I hate that he knows that I hate what he’s doing here.
It’s the same shit he always does: seizing the reins. Taking control. Making us all dance in his orbit like puppets.
It’s another power play, same as the last.
I just don’t know what the end game is.
Evie is totally oblivious to all this. In fact, she seems pretty damn delighted by how accommodating Lucio is being.
The moment her back is turned, she starts counting. I look around the room for somewhere to hide.
But all I see is black glass and sharp corners. As big as this place is, it might as well be a transparent cube.
Begrudgingly, my eyes find Lucio’s.
“There’s only one good hiding spot in this room,” Lucio whispers. He juts his chin down towards his desk.
I step around and see the hollow underneath the desk, at his feet.
I raise my eyebrows. “That’s convenient.”
He shrugs. “Just a suggestion.”
Behind us, I hear Evie counting—loud and proud, just like I taught her.
“Eighty-five! Eighty-six! Eighty… Eight-seven!...”
Time’s running out. I look back to Lucio.
The smile on his face infuriates me.
Does he think his presence is so intimidating that I’ll cower away from him?
He probably thinks he’s put me in his place.
I belong to you.
I had said those words to him, hadn’t I?
But not of my own free will. He had coerced them out of me. Practically dragged them out of my throat with his own bare hands.
The memory sets my skin on fire.
I find myself striding forward, right towards him.
If he’s surprised, he doesn’t show it. He moves slightly to let me through as I duck down and slip underneath his desk.
Of course, once I’m underneath, he repositions himself so that I’m situated right between his legs.
I grit my teeth and try not to be affected by that.
But the warm darkness underneath here just makes me more aware of the charged space between us.
It feels like my heart is so loud in my ears that everyone else in the room should be able to hear it.
“One hundred! Ready or not, here I come!” Evie calls.
I hear the rustle of her clothes as she whirls around. She darts closer, then away, then pauses.
I bite my wrist to keep from breathing too loudly. On the other side of the desk, Evie is shuffling about the cavernous room.
But she’s less confident now that she’s alone with Lucio.
“Where’s that odd little duck you carry around with you?” Lucio asks innocently.
He pushes into his desk and his knee nearly hits me in the nose. I dig my nails into his calf in retaliation, but he doesn’t so much as flinch.
I hear Evie giggle and it almost makes me forget that I’m pissed off.
“It’s not a duck!” she yelps. “Paulie’s a platypus.”
“Platypus, huh?” Lucio repeats. “Well… he’s funny-looking.”
“No, he’s not. He’s handsome.”
“I’m handsome.”
That gets another giggle. I roll my eyes and try to slap his feet away from me.
It makes absolutely no impact on him. He might as well be carved out of rock.
“Where is Charlotte?” Evie asks slyly.
“Pretty sure it’s cheating to ask for my help,” he says with a light chuckle.
I hear Evie shuffle around some more, but I’m sensing she’s still not totally at ease around Lucio.
Her footsteps fade a little and I hear the creak and click of a door.
Wait.
Did she just leave the room?
That’s… not good.
Now, I’m the one who’s less confident about being left alone with Lucio.
He pushes back just a little so that he can glance down at me. It’s the most embarrassing position I could have possibly found myself in.
My face is right in line with his crotch. It’s very hard not to notice that he’s packing.
In fact, it’s pretty fucking obvious.
And it’s clear that he knows it, too.
“Having fun down there?” he asks pleasantly.
“Clearly, you’re the one who’s having fun,” I snap at him.
His laugh is low and sort of dark. It makes my skin tingle with anticipation that I don’t fully understand.
“Where exactly is Evie?” I ask.
“I think she went down the hall in search of you,” he tells me with a smirk.
“You asshole,” I growl. “Let me up.”
I try and push my way out from under his desk, but he blocks me. “Stay down,” he orders. “I think I hear her coming.”
I rock back on my heels and adjust my position, so I’m sitting on my butt with my legs cast off to the side. But I still find myself smack dab in between Lucio’s thighs.
“Can you move your legs so I have room to breathe?” I snap.
“You’re the who chose to hide down there.”
“Excuse me—you’re the one who suggested it.”
“Exactly,” he agrees. “It was a suggestion. You weren’t obligated to take it.”
“You’re an ass.”
He chuckles, and the sound sends a spasm of desire straight between my legs. He seems more relaxed than he usually is. More… playful?
The word doesn’t exactly suit him, but it’s the closest I’ve got.
“Since you’re down there, you can make yourself useful,” he says suggestively.
I narrow my eyes. “Just because you’ve managed to get me on my knees in front of you doesn’t mean I’m gonna suck your cock.”
I wince as soon as that leaves my mouth. Why the fuck is my pussy reacting so dramatically?
It was a joke—a dumb joke, a crass joke, the kind of joke I wouldn’t normally make.
But something about Lucio short-circuits my brain.
And unfortunately, the mere act of saying the words “suck your cock” is doing additional insane things to me.
Maybe it’s because I’m feeling very flustered and it’s dark down here and hot and Lucio’s scent is filling my nostrils and the combination of all those things is going to my head like an intoxicating drug and he knows it and I know it and oh God, something very bad and dangerous feels like it’s lingering on the horizon.
Lucio raises one eyebrow as he glances down at me with those simmering gray eyes.
“I only meant that you could clean sinc
e you’re down there,” he murmurs. He points to a corner. “That spot always gets a little dusty. Clearly, you’re the one with other ideas.”
I’m actually thankful for the darkened space that hides the fierce blush on my cheeks.
“That’s not… I didn’t… urgh!”
He laughs.
“Congratulations,” I continue, trying to act unaffected. “You’re the big freaking winner of the day. You’ve managed to trap me between a rock and a hard place.”
“Pun intended?” he asks.
I almost laugh myself, but I manage to hold it back at the last second.
“I don’t hear Evie coming.”
He makes a big show out of stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Well, then I guess I was wrong.”
“Jerk!” I hiss. I put my hands on his knees and shove him back from the table.
Thankfully, he’s sitting on one of those massive chairs with the rollers on the feet. I put my weight on his lap as I clamber upright.
“Hope you enjoyed that,” I say, leaning in just to show him how unintimidating I find him. “Because it’s never gonna happen again.”
“Don’t speak too soon,” he suggests. His eyes are dancing with the hint of a promise.
Then he rises to his feet slowly, forcing me to take a step back when he turns the table on me and leans in.
The backs of my thighs hit the desk. I have nowhere else to go.
My hands scrabble for something, anything—but all they find is the edge of the desk to cling to desperately.
Lucio is all I can see. All I can sense.
“You’ll be on your knees in front of me sooner than you think,” he says.
“You don’t know me at all.”
He grins dangerously. “I don’t have to.”
His body isn’t pressed against mine. That would be overkill.
But we’re still only half an inch a part. Close enough that I can feel his heat engulfing mine.
Our eyes are locked together, but I refuse to be the first one to break contact.
His lips are only a breath away. The slightest movement, and…
Is he going to kiss me?
The thought sends a jolt of electricity coursing through me. For a second, I can’t decide if that’s what I want or not.
Then I hear footsteps running down the hall, getting louder with every passing second.
Lucio steps back, releasing me from his hypnotic hold just as Evie bursts into the room.
“Charlotte! There you are,” she exclaims. “I’ve been looking everywhere.”
