I wait until they’ve both headed inside before I slip through the sliding glass door. I’ve done this hundreds of times before, but usually to hang out with Enzo, Zeke, and Langston. Never just Enzo alone.
A grin stretches through my entire body as I race up the back staircase to Enzo’s bedroom. I run so hard that I don’t notice someone is watching me. Someone is standing in the hallway just outside Enzo’s bedroom.
I run smack into his chest.
Only when I look up does my smile vanish.
Enzo isn’t the chest I ran into. It’s his father.
“Hi, Mr. Black. I, uh…, I was looking for Enzo. We have a school project that we have to work on together. I was just looking for him to see what time we should meet. Is he in his bedroom? Or is he upstairs?”
Mr. Black looks at me with a stern expression. His eyes are thin slits, his nostrils spread, and his mouth tightens.
“Don’t lie to me, girl.” His eyes run down the length of my body. “You aren’t studying looking like that.”
I instinctively move my hands over my body to hide it from his gaze. But I’m wearing a tiny red bikini, and I don’t have a towel. I’ve been dripping water all over the hardwood in the hallway.
“I’m sorry. I’ll just go.” I turn to head back out, hoping like hell he doesn’t take my indiscretion out on my mother. I hope he doesn’t fire her, thinking that it’s the best way to keep me from Enzo.
As I turn, I hear him speak a low command. “Stop.”
I don’t know why I stop. I just do. My feet seem to stop midair like I just ran into a wall.
“Good girl.” He steps closer until I feel his hot breath on my neck. “You’re a very obedient girl, aren’t you?”
My mouth runs dry. The mouth that was just kissed by a boy I’ve dreamt about for years, that thought my life couldn’t get any better, is now dry and speechless.
I nod, it feels like the right thing to do.
“Liesel?” Enzo asks quietly from up the stairs.
I open my mouth to answer, but Mr. Black grabs my neck. “Don’t speak.”
There is no threat at the end. Just a command. But with his hand on my neck, I don’t have to know what he will do if I speak.
Mr. Black drags me by the neck into his son’s bedroom, still gripping my neck so hard that I’m not sure I’m going to be able to breathe much longer. He leaves the door cracked.
“Liese—” Enzo stops dead in his tracks when he sees his father through the crack in the door. The room is dark, so I have no idea if he can see me or not.
“I told you to go to the club and handle business,” Mr. Black says demandingly.
“I’m headed there right now.”
“See that you do.”
Enzo turns. His eyes leave the room. He looks straight at me, and my heart freezes again.
Enzo sees me. He has to.
Do something.
Stop this.
Save me.
I beg Enzo to do something, anything. Just don’t leave me here alone.
The seconds creep by in extremely slow motion. But a second later, Enzo turns, and he’s gone.