Hexed (Never After #6)

41. Enzo

FORTY-ONE

ENZO

My father doesn’t stay for much longer, and I’ve never been so grateful for his absence. He lied to me. And I don’t know if I’ve been a fool this whole time when it comes to him or if there’s been an actual shift here.

I have to assume the problem is with me, and I’ve just been blind, believing his loyalty ran as deep as he preached. If he’s lying to me now, what else has he lied to me about?

Is anything he tells me true?

Throughout my entire life, with all its difficulties, there’s been one constant: The foundation on which I was raised was sturdy. Strong. Never made me stumble or shake, and I could always come back to that in the face of adversity.

But today there was a goddamn earthquake.

I’ve just finished a meeting with one of New York City’s largest commercial builders. He uses our construction workers, our concrete, our men for everything. The setup is beneficial for our legitimate businesses but also for the racketeering where we skim money off the top and add bullshit charges to clean the cash we otherwise can’t explain.

One hand washes the other…kind of. Obviously, we come out better at the end of the deal, not that the builder needs to know that. Even if he did…it’s not like he could stay in business long if he didn’t agree to our terms.

Marino Inc. owns New York.

My door is closed, and my headache has dulled to a throb instead of an automatic drill and hammer blasting against my skull, but when I hear muffled voices from outside the door, that ache taps dangerously, threatening to come back in full force.

I’m definitely considering firing Jessica, even though she’s been with me since I took over and my pops brought her in. She’s decent at her job, but she flirts, and over the years, the skirts have gotten shorter and the buttons have gotten more undone, no matter how many times I tell her I don’t dip my dick into the company ink. She’s persistent. But she’s also good at her job, except that she’s apparently incapable of not letting people in my goddamn office today.

No matter, though. Jessica’s not my type, and maybe she’s just having an off day.

The thought of who is my type sends blood rushing through my veins. My mouth on her. Me feeling her come around my fingers and then my dick.

My heart skips a beat when I realize Scotty will have her here soon.

I’m excited. More than that, actually. I’m downright antsy to see her again, and it’s not even about the sex, although I do plan to strip her down and fuck her in my office. Something I’ve never done with anyone . But mainly, I just love her company.

I love her .

It’s fast, but I don’t give a fuck. In this life especially, you never know when your time is up, and I’m not willing to waste another second without her. Sometimes things happen beyond explanation, beyond what we believe to be realistic. The universe doesn’t give a fuck about any of that.

Laughing, I press my palms to my eyes. I sound like Venesa with her woo-woo shit.

Fuck, is she ever going to get here?

More voices from outside my door, and then it swings open, Venesa waltzing in with an annoyed look on her face. She marches across the room, her hips swaying from side to side and drawing my attention, hypnotizing me with the motion.

Arousal flares low in my abdomen, and I know she can tell as my eyes meet hers, because her steps stutter for just a second before she makes her way to my desk.

Jessica runs in after her, yelling something at her back, but I don’t even hear it. Every sense of mine is attuned to Venesa, and she drowns out the rest of the world.

Venesa leans over my desk, her hands in fists and her knuckles resting on the wood until half her body is hovering over it and her face is close to mine. She grips the lapel of my suit’s vest, then pulls me toward her and lands a harsh kiss on my lips.

I groan, grasping the back of her head and driving my tongue into her mouth, desperate to taste her again.

She makes it last a few seconds, clearly proving a point, and I let her, because frankly, I’ll do whatever she wants me to do.

Finally, she releases me, and I fall back against my chair with a whack . She stands up straight, her knuckles going back to the desk as she levels me with a look.

I glance around the room and realize Scotty and Bastien—the latter of which surprises the hell out of me—are standing inside the office now, both of them looking more than amused. I quirk a brow as I look between all of them and then back to my woman.

“Hello, piccola sirena,” I coo, trying to hold back a grin but being completely unsuccessful.

She runs her red nails down my cheek. “Call off your bitch before I put her down.”

I smirk. “Handle it yourself.”

Jessica’s face transforms, like she thinks I’m siding with her , and she crosses her arms with a new confidence, tapping her toe on the floor. “I’m sorry, Enzo, she just barged in.”

Venesa stiffens when she hears Jessica say my name, and the amusement that was flowing through me evaporates because who told her she could ever call me that?

“It’s Mr. Marino to you,” Venesa hisses, turning toward her with a glare.

“ You don’t tell me what to do. I’ve been working with him for years, and that’s a type of relationship you could only dream of.”

Venesa throws back her head and laughs, and I become distracted by the milky expanse of her throat. I want to hold it under my palm. Feel it beneath my teeth. Lick it with my tongue.

Christ.

I stand up and walk around to the front of my desk and reach out, grabbing Venesa’s hips and dragging her into me. She comes willingly, but her eyes stay on Jessica. Leaning down, I press my lips to her neck because I can’t help it, nibbling on the side of her throat.

Venesa lets out a soft laugh, and then her glare is on me, her hand pressing against my chest and pushing me away. “Do you mind, Enzo? I’m dealing with something here.”

“My bad.” I grin at her and lift my palms.

Jessica interrupts. “Sir, she just barged in like she owned the place, and I know you’ve made it very clear I’m not supposed to let anyone else in today.”

I slip my hands in my pockets, rocking back slightly on my heels. “ She can come in whenever she wants, Jessica. In fact, anytime you see her face, assume I need the rest of the day to myself. I expect you to clear my schedule, treat her like she owns you, and get her anything her heart desires. Do you understand?”

Jessica’s cheeks flame red, and her stature crumples, losing the ill-placed confidence she had before. “I thought you were with?—”

“It doesn’t matter what you thought, sugar,” Venesa pipes in. “What matters is that you learn how to listen to your boss before I take him up on that generous offer of owning you.”

Jessica’s eyes narrow. “You’re a bitch.”

“And you’re fired,” I return.

Her eyes grow into circles, a gasp escaping her when she looks at me. “What? No, Mr. Marino, you can’t fire me. Your father…”

I step forward and lower my voice. “Did I stutter? Go out there, pack your shit, and leave. I never want to see you in this office again.”

Jessica lifts her chin, tears rimming her eyes, shock ghosting across her face. “Your father hired me, not you.”

More reason to fire her, if I’m being honest.

The thought hits me that her having access to Pops after seeing me with Venesa isn’t the smartest thing for me to allow, but I’m so amped up from her disrespecting Venesa in the first place, I can’t find it in me to take back what I said.

“Then I suggest you go take it up with him.” My eyes fall behind her to where Scotty and Bastien still are, and I jerk my chin. “You two mind escorting her off the property?”

Scotty tips an imaginary hat. “Sure thing, E. You really know how to put on a show, you know? The ladies, they love you, although I don’t know why. We should sit down and smoke one of those fancy pipes while you teach me your ways.”

“I don’t smoke pipes.” I laugh. “That’s Pops’s thing.”

“Eh, no matter,” he replies. “Always feel like I’m trying to play the sax or something when I use those thingamabobs anyway. We can go straight up with a cigar instead, where I can snarf up the tobacco and enjoy it. I’m not picky.”

Bastien scowls at Scotty. “What the fuck are you talking about? Are you ever serious?”

They both move forward, each of them grabbing an arm, and Scotty looks at Bastien over Jessica’s head. “Do you ever lighten up?”

“You’re an idiot.”

Scotty’s face drops. “Stop being a hater, Bas. The ladies at Suzy’s Salon say it gives you wrinkles.”

Bastien’s lip twitches, and then he looks down at Jessica. “Let’s go, lady. You heard the man.”

Scotty and Bastien drag her out, and she’s sticking her heels in the carpet muttering something about my pops, but I’m not paying attention to what she says because I’m turning to Venesa with a soft grin, drinking her in.

“Hi, baby.”

“I’m going to kill her,” she states plainly.

I wrap my hands around her waist, dragging her into me. “Okay. You want to do it right now, or can I have some time with you first?”

She huffs and presses her hands against my chest, shaking her head. “I hope you know I’m not kidding. How long did she work with you anyway? And you let her call you ‘Enzo’?” Her fingers pick at my shirt. “I thought only I called you that.”

Her possessiveness turns me on. I grab her hand and put it on my cock to show her as much. “You’re hot when you’re jealous.”

She scoffs, but her fingers wrap around me and give me a slight tug, a smirk gracing the sides of her mouth. “I don’t get jealous.”

“Clearly,” I mutter, maneuvering us around until she’s pressed against the edge of the desk. “I think I have a fetish for you on desks.”

“Enzo, please, can we talk?” She laughs when I nip her neck, and she must be ticklish there, so I do it again. The noise of her happiness is cute and so different from her normal tone, but I like them equally, and I make a mental note to ensure she gives me both her joy and her neutrality every single day.

Because I plan to have her with me now, every single day, and I want to have every part of her.

“Enzo, I’m serious,” she tries again.

“So talk.” I bury my face in the crook of her neck, picking her up, putting her on the edge of my desk, and settling in between her legs. “But if I don’t have you right now, I’ll go insane.”

She laughs like I’m joking. “Can you be serious?”

“I am serious.” My hands move to her hips, and I lean into her, whispering in her ear. “Now be a good girl and let me eat.”

I drop to my knees, and I make quick work of pushing up her skirt until it reveals her glistening, puffy pussy to my eyes.

Sending up a quick prayer of thanks that she both almost always wears a dress of some sort and that she seems averse to underwear, I spread her legs apart, my palms pushing the insides of her thighs until my head can fit between them.

And then I dive in, not wasting any time, because I’m starving for her, and ever since my first taste, I haven’t been able to get the memory of it out of my mind.

My mouth suctions around her clit immediately, sucking in a rhythmic motion while my tongue swirls the bud like it’s ice cream.

Better than , if I’m being honest, but again, I’ve never been a sweets kind of guy. I much prefer the salty, tangy taste of a woman.

She moans and collapses against the desk, the same way she did last night, and I make quick work of her pussy, paying attention to where she needs me most. I reach down with one of my hands and undo my belt and zipper while I keep my tongue on her cunt, freeing my cock, tugging from the base to the root and back again.

She sits up slightly on her elbows, her mouth half-open as she watches me eat her out. Her gaze moves to my arm. “Are you stroking yourself?” She pants. “I want to see.”

I almost tell her no, that I’m not letting her move until she comes all over my face, but she sits up fully and forces me off her. My hand keeps moving on my dick, and her eyes flare before she’s off the desk and shoving me back until I’m lying on the floor, my cock sticking straight up.

My eyes widen, surprised by how quickly she took control, and I’m about to say something, but then she’s there and her mouth is sliding down my length, and instead of being able to speak, I find she steals every ounce of breath from my lungs.

It’s hot. Wet. Fucking incredible.

She keeps going, working her way until she’s at the base of my shaft, the flat of her tongue slipping out of her mouth and licking the top part of my balls while I’m inside her throat from root to tip.

Goddamn .

I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone take me this deep.

She breathes through her nose, and my hands shoot to the back of her head, holding her in place. I expect her to complain about it, but her eyes flick up to mine, and she stares devilishly at me from beneath her lashes; it sends a spark of arousal arcing through my body like a meteor. My hips lift from the ground without thought, and my dick moves farther down her throat.

She moans—she fucking moans —and the vibration massages my cock and makes my hips thrust harder, my fingers tangling in her strands just to keep me grounded.

I won’t last long if she keeps this up. My hands move to grip more of her hair, holding it back so I can see her pretty face as she works my dick from base to tip, her tongue swirling around the shaft as she does.

My abs tense, every muscle tightening as I fly higher and higher. “Goddamn, baby, you look so fucking good taking my cock.”

She hums around me, and my eyes roll back in my head, my movements growing jerky.

Saliva drips from the corners of her lips and down onto my lap, and it’s messy and fucking amazing, and I’m so close to exploding in her sweet, hot mouth, but I don’t want to come this way.

I tell her as much, trying to pull her face off me, and she follows, releasing me with a pop, a string of saliva connecting from my tip to her lip, her red lipstick smeared.

My dick slaps against my stomach, and I’m so on edge, I reach down and grip myself at the base, gritting my teeth and trying to think about fucking anything other than how sexy every single experience with her is.

I count to ten and get myself together, and when I open my eyes, she’s staring out my floor-to-ceiling windows that line the far wall.

She looks back to me and smirks. “Interesting choice of office for someone with a fear of heights.”

That does it. I am no longer close to coming. “It would be if I was afraid of heights. Which I’m not.”

“Oh yeah?” She arches a brow. “Prove it.”

Anxiety pumps through me, but I’ll be damned if I let her think I’m a coward about it, so I accept her challenge and lean back, stripping off my clothes entirely until I’m naked.

She watches me with a gleam in her eyes, and it doesn’t miss me how the power balance has shifted since she threw me on the ground and drank up my cock like it was dessert. And now I’m here on full display, and she’s fully clothed.

But I don’t need her naked to fuck her, so I move quickly, diving forward and scooping her up before standing and walking us both over to the windows.

My heart ratchets in speed, but I ignore it, pushing her against the glass and sliding my hands down her arms until my fingers slip between hers.

“Hands on the window, baby. Don’t you fucking move.”

I avoid looking down, because we’re thirty-five stories up, and I’m trying to stay hard, not have a panic attack. I release her fingers and move back down her body, slipping her skirt off her hips and dragging it along her legs until it’s pooled at her feet. She steps out of it and tosses it somewhere to the side, and I pull her until her spine arches beautifully. I drag one of my hands down it, then lean forward, my dick brushing against her, slipping between her legs. My mouth follows the trail of my touch along her back, pressing kisses to every inch until I reach the dimples that dot just above her full, round, delicious ass.

“Enzo, please fuck me.”

I groan, my cock jerking against her cunt. “I love the way you say my name.”

And then I’m gripping myself and slipping between her folds, thrusting back and forth, teasing, torturing us both with how close I get to her entrance before I move back up until I skim across her pulsing clit.

Her thighs tighten, adding to the friction against my length.

“You want me to fuck you?” I ask, hovering over her and moving one hand to grip her hip tightly, the other wrapping her hair in my fist.

I’ve decided that’s my favorite thing to do.

“Tell me how you want it,” I whisper. “Hard or fast.”

“I want you to shut up and just do it,” she snarks back.

My hand flies out and smacks her ass. She moans, just like I knew she would.

“You and that fucking mouth.”

My fingers tighten in her hair, and I pull hard, her head dragged toward me by the tension, making her back arch even more, her ass pushing into me and forcing the tip of my cock to spread her open as I slip inside.

Fuck, she feels so damn good.

I thrust forward until my hips slap against her ass, and I’m transfixed by the way she sucks me in like she was made for me, her body immediately moving to try to get me in deeper.

She moans, and I grip her hair tight as I start a punishing pace. I’m already so ramped up, I could come any second, but I’m determined to feel her quiver and explode around my cock again.

It’s my new drug.

My eyes skim over her body, focused first on the way it looks as I disappear between her thick thighs and into her tight pussy, and then to the way her ass cheeks ripple and shake with every thrust. They continue up her beautiful hips that flare out from her waist. My hand leaves her hair and wraps around her to cup one of her heavy breasts, molding it into my palm and squeezing, leaning over until my chest is almost touching her back.

My eyes flick to the window, a shot of panic rushing through me when I see how far away from the ground we are, but then Venesa moans, taking one of her hands off the glass and moving it down to rub her clit, and I focus on that instead, my fear dissipating.

“That’s right, baby. I need to feel you come all over me,” I say. “Show me how good it feels.”

She does, her fingers slipping down even farther until she makes a V with her first two digits around my shaft, right where I’m sinking inside her, and the added sensation makes my body tense and sparks of arousal shoot off inside me like flares in the sky.

My grip tightens on her tit, my other hand squeezing her hip as my movements become out of rhythm. I’m barely hanging on here, and I need her to come for me.

And then she does.

Her cunt clamps around my cock, massaging it as she shakes, and her body tenses and then melts into my hold until it feels like my grip on her is the only thing keeping her upright.

She lets out a loud groan, and her head flies back, her body straightening until she’s plastered to my chest, and I tighten my hold to keep her pressed against me.

My balls tense up, and my cock lengthens.

“Fuck, I’m about to come.”

She flies off me, and the sudden shift in temperature, losing her body heat, puts me in a tailspin.

But then she flips around, sinks to her knees, and tells me to come on her face.

And I fucking explode without another touch, my cock jerking wildly in the air. One of my hands slams against the glass, and I grip my length quickly with the other, aiming it as I spray, painting her gorgeous features with my cum.

It’s a beautiful sight.

She’s dirty and depraved, and so fucking mine.

It takes minutes for me to catch my breath after, my chest heaving and my cock still twitching as I come back down.

Venesa grins at me, takes a finger, dips it into the mess on her cheek, and then slips it inside her mouth, her eyes fluttering closed as she moans at the taste.

My heart pitches off a cliff.

I lean down, wrap my hand around the base of her neck, and pull her to me so I can kiss the fuck out of her.

“You are the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” I say. “I’m so happy you’re here.”

She grins against my lips. “I’m happy too.”

I help her stand after and tell her to go get cleaned up in the en suite.

It’s about thirty minutes later when we’re all put back together, clothes on, satiated, and well fucked.

She’s sitting on the couch near the entrance to my office, and I plop down next to her, reaching out to twirl a strand of her hair.

“Okay, now we can talk.” I grin. “How long are you in town for?” I grab her fingers with my other hand and press a kiss to her knuckles.

She hesitates before responding. “Well…that depends.”

“Does Trent know you’re here?” I ask. “How did things play out with him?”

She shakes her head. “No, and he can’t find out.”

“Why not?” I know he was probably pissed at her for what happened between us and for the dissolution of my engagement with Aria, but Venesa’s his right hand. His family. That’s what I kept telling myself because that’s what I had to make myself believe, or I never would have been able to walk away, even knowing it was temporary.

Thinking about that possibly not being the case makes me rage.

“He kicked me out,” she says.

I sit up straight, dropping the strand of her hair. “What do you mean, he kicked you out?”

She shrugs, and betrayal sits heavy in her eyes. “He said he had Momma killed, and then he kicked me out, told me to leave and never come back to South Carolina. He took everything from me.”

“Whoa, whoa, back up a minute. I thought your piece-of-shit dad killed your mom.” She’s dropping some bombs here, and I’m having trouble wrapping my head around them.

“He was telling the truth in the end, I guess. I never actually saw my dad that night. It was all based on what Momma told me before she made me promise to stay hidden. It was Uncle T the whole time. Well…” She chews on the corner of her mouth. “He hired out to the Atlantis MC.” She spits out the name like they’re dirt beneath her shoe.

But I’m stuck on her other words. He hired out.

“Enzo.” She reaches out and grips my forearm. I move until my hand tangles with hers, our fingers intertwined, and then I bring it up to my mouth and press soft, chaste kisses to the back.

“I need your help,” she says.

“Anything you want, piccola sirena, and it’s yours.” I press another kiss to her hand. “Want me to burn his kingdom to the ground?”

“No,” she whispers, her eyes flicking up to lock on mine. “I want to burn him to the ground and take his kingdom for myself.”

Anticipation lights up my insides, and I cup her cheek, ghosting my thumb across the planes of her face. “Then let’s make you queen of the ashes.”