I know without Enzo confirming it. I guessed correctly, although it never felt like speculation. I’ve always been good at telling the difference between a lie and the truth. Enzo is harder to read than most, but even he has his tells.
He’s never raped a woman.
It warms me a little to know he never did anything that horrible.
But he has.
He’s shot someone. Killed someone.
I don’t know the circumstances around either. It could have been self-defense. I have no doubt, if I could afford a gun, I would have shot someone by now and killed if my aim was good.
Somehow, I don’t think Enzo has done either only in self-defense.
Enzo glares at me, frustrated I won and he lost. I expect him to argue with me about my truth and lies. I expect him to call me out and claim that surely a sixteen-year-old like me has been kissed, especially if, as I claim, I’ve given a man a blow job. I expect him to whip his dick out and force me to suck it, to prove I’ve given head before.
Instead, he’s a statue, giving me nothing of what is going on inside his body.
“You’re not going to question my truth?”
His head cocks to the side as if he’s trying to figure out what game I’m playing. “No.”
“You sure?”
He nods his head. “Yes, I know you wouldn’t deceive me during the game. I know you’ve masturbated before. And I know you’ve sucked off some man’s dick like a whore.”
I wince at his harsh words.
His eyes meet mine, filled with want. “And I know you’ve never been kissed.”
I bite my now sore lip, that aches to be kissed, but I’m sure is red and swollen from the number of times I’ve chewed it today to keep myself from kissing this boy. This very dangerous, off-limits boy who I shouldn’t be on this yacht with.
Enzo stands up and walks back to the railing, where the sun is now well below the horizon. The sky has opened up, allowing the darkness to begin to overtake the heavens. Soon there will be nothing left but the stars and the moon to shine down upon us.
I consider pouring myself another drink before I approach him, but I’ve had enough alcohol. I need my wits about me around him. He won’t express it, but I can feel the anger radiating off him as I approach. He has considerable control though to not let it show on any of his features.
I stop next to him, ensuring I don’t touch him.
“Ask me.”
His voice is low and rumbling. It’s deepened since he was talking to me earlier. This voice is the one he uses to scare people. It should frighten me. Instead, I want to hear it again.
I know how he expects me to use my newfound power. To ask questions about the game. To ask who he’s shot or killed and why he’s never raped a woman before if he’s done the other two.
“How did you learn to drive a yacht?”
His head turns to me, and I can see his thick, dark eyebrow raise. “I grew up around the water in this business. You were taught to take care of the yachts, while I learned everything else about them. How to drive them, maintain them, sell them. There is nothing I don’t know about how a ship like this works.”
I inhale and then exhale, trying to remind myself to keep breathing. What is he doing to me? They are just words. I shouldn’t be so hot and bothered when he merely speaks. And I’ve let it affect my judgment. I know better than to get on a boat in the middle of fucking nowhere with a strange man. A man who has already admitted to killing someone. But his words are intoxicating, pulling me deeper until I have no brain cells left and will do whatever he wants.
“Who do you work for?”
“Black.”
I stop breathing. Black. His name is synonymous with evil. He’s a myth and a legend. I’m not even sure he’s a real person, but I have no doubt Enzo works for the most dangerous man in the city.
I need to gain back some power, because even though I won, it doesn’t feel like I have any control.
“Have you ever been kissed?” I ask, wiggling my eyebrows trying to break the serious mood.