I needed to leave. I shouldn't be here. Just because I didn't recognize anyone didn't mean that one of these assholes didn't know my father or hadn't seen my picture. And sooner or later, my luck was going to run out.
Yet I couldn't stop myself from searching the crowd below me for a glimpse of spiky dark hair and a hard jaw, eyes hidden by dark sunglasses so no one could see the fire behind them that I knew so intimately. When I didn't see him, I slammed down the rest of my drink and set my glass on a shelf set into the wall beside me. This was stupid. I needed to get the hell out of here and stop torturing myself. Fuck this. I was going to walk to the nearest bus stop, steal a wallet or some cash or something, and get the hell out of this city instead of just waiting around for someone else to decide how my life was going to go. Enzo could keep my fucking money. And I'd pay back the person I stole from the first chance I got.
I ignored the pain in my chest and the longing in my soul as I gave the room one more good search, telling myself it was only to get their location so I could make sure they didn't see me leave. I didn't see Enzo or Jade, so I could only assume they were still at the bar. Lifting my chin, because I was fucking better than this, I turned away from the railing…
"What the fuck are you doing here, Sera?"
His soft tone couldn't contain the rage seething beneath his calm words. My eyes widened as I came face to face with Enzo. Unable to help myself, they skittered down his body and back again. He'd added a black tuxedo jacket with a vest underneath to the black slacks and black dress shirt I'd seen earlier. Instead of a bowtie, he wore a satiny, narrow black tie. His pants showed off his muscular legs perfectly, and his shoes were scuffed to a shine. My breaths sped up with my heartbeat and I felt my stomach tighten at the sight of him. "How did you know I was here?" It was the first thing I could think of to say.
He took a step closer, forcing me to take a step back and to the side until the railing was at my back and his big body completely hid me from view of the people behind him. Even in my heels, I barely came up to his chin. "Did you think your little disguise would hide you from me?" His eyes dropped to my breasts, then lower to my hips. My nipples hardened, and the silky material of the dress felt scratchy compared to the wet heat of his tongue that I longed for. "Did you think I wouldn't know the way you walk and the sexy curves of that ass?" He frowned as his chin lifted and I could feel his eyes traveling over my face and hair. "I fucking hate that blonde wig," he informed me.
With the way his mouth was twisted in disgust, I half expected him to rip it from my head and expose me to everyone there. "Jade wears wigs all the time." The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
He cocked his head to the side. "I couldn't tell you if Jade has ever worn one around me. I've never paid that much attention to her."
"That's not what it looked like when I got here. I saw you at the bar. It looked like you were paying quite a lot of attention to her."
He didn't feed my jealousy or try to explain his way out of it, which only pissed me off more. "So I take it you somehow talked the guards into letting you leave Luca's. And yet, instead of running-like you keep telling me is the only thing you want to do-you come here. Tell me why."
I dropped my eyes. I couldn't look at him. "Because I wanted to see."
Hooking his finger under my chin, he brought my eyes back up to his. "Wanted to see what?"
I tried to see his eyes behind the dark lenses of his glasses. "I wanted to see you with her," I said after a pause.
He stroked my cheek with the back of his fingers. "Why?"
It took me a moment to respond. "Because I thought if I did, I would stop wanting you."
"And did it work?"
I shook my head as tears of self-pity filled my eyes. I wanted to lie. To spew my jealous rage into his knowing expression. But I couldn't. All I could do was admit the truth. "No."
He brushed my cheek with the back of his knuckles, down my throat to the center of my chest, following the curve of one breast until the material of the dress stopped him. "No," he repeated softly.
The electricity that always crackled between us grew stronger. I wished I could see his eyes. "Where is Jade?"
"I put her in a cab."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want her," he told me. "I want you."
One tear escaped to slip down my cheek, and he brushed it away. "But I saw you whispering in her ear," I told him. "Saw you touching her back. Like you do to me."
"Not like I do to you."
"What's the difference?"
"I touch you like that because I can't not touch you, Sera. If I was touching her, it was just…" he paused, searching for the right word, "…habit."
I sucked in a shaky breath.
The tip of his finger followed the neckline of the red dress. "All I can think about right now is getting you out of this dress and being inside of you. I don't even remember what Jade was wearing."
"It was a gold-"
He cut me off. "I don't care." Glancing around my arm to the floor below, his brows came together in a frown. "Come on. I'm taking you out of here before you get us both killed, because if I see one more stronzo down there eating you alive with his eyes, I'm going to lose my shit."
My heart stopped, and I dug the narrow heels of my shoes into the floor as he reached for my hand and started to drag me away. "No, please!" I whispered loudly. "Enzo, wait!"
I didn't think he would stop, but he did. His jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscles pop out on the sides of his jaw, he waited.
"I can't go back there," I told him. "I can't go back to the lake house. Please," I begged. "I'm sorry I came here. I really am. But I was about to leave anyway." I paused, gathering my courage. "You can keep the money. You've taken what you wanted from me. Just let me go and I'll be out of the city by morning. No one will ever find me."
The corners of his mouth lifted in an evil smile. "Oh, baby girl. But I'm not finished with you. We're just getting started."