Page 103 of Call You Mine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

WYNTER

2124173422: 12900 Canyon Drive, Hillcrest Hills, CA 90012. Come fast and come alone. Your boy will reap the consequences if you disobey me, Snow. This ends today, carina. - E

My hands vigorously tremble as I wrap my fingers around the steering wheel of my brother’s car, my knuckles turning white from just how fiercely I’m holding on. If my mouth wasn’t shut so tightly, I’m sure my teeth would be clattering against each other as my nerves rattle my entire being.

Deep breaths, I remind myself, though it's no use. Not when the only thing I can focus on is the image of Damon and the look in his eyes when he discovered the extent of my lies.

Every time I closed my eyes last night, as I lay in my brother’s guest bedroom drowning in my melancholia, trying my hardest to get any semblance of rest, I could see it clear as day. His dark green eyes, ones which used to look at me with adoration and desire, now watched me with a sense of regret and despair. He was hurt. Beyond that, he looked defeated. Like he had beenexpecting something like this to occur. Something that would impede our being together. Only I know he could have never expected it would be this bad.

Damon was disappointed—in me, in himself for allowing himself to be vulnerable and dragged into something he fought tooth and nail to avoid—a relationship with me.

Some would call me foolish to come here alone. Other’s just plain fucking stupid, but I, I’m looking at this as a show of bravery. It’s not, but maybe if I force myself to believe it, I won’t feel so terrified to walk willingly to my death. I see this as the only way to stand up against those who threaten to hurt me, my family, and those I love and care for. I never knew there were such people. But over these last few months, I realized everything that was missing from my life, all I longed for, I now had. Now, he’d made me lose it.

Entering through the large iron gates of the property, I drive toward the opulent mansion—the sun blinding me as it rises in the sky—surprised to see this is the place he’s asked me to meet him. It hides in plain sight, a new build, or at least newly remodeled—not some dark concealed cave like I was expecting a dead man to be hiding and lurking in the shadows.

Have I truly lost my mind by coming here alone?Definitely, but I can’t allow Enzo to have any more control over my life and everything I do. He pulled the strings for three years, had me forcefully tethered to him, but this ends today. All of this has been such a heavy weight on my shoulders, a wicked presence looming over me, sending me into a wave of panic anytime I allow myself to think too deeply about it, which was not very often. I figure if I pretended everything was good in the world, I’d somehow manifest it.

So, I used Damon as a distraction, to pretend that all was right so long as he was in my life. My protector, even when he was reluctant, even when he did not know what he was savingme from. But Enzo had gone too far. He’d threatened Damon, the one person who meant more to me than anyone else. Threatened to tell him everything, which honestly at this point was pointless for me to prevent, but it was the threat on his life, that he’d hurt him if I didn’t come, or worse, if I told anyone that he’d summoned me to him. I know Enzo well enough not to test his threats or take them lightly. Although, up to this point, he’s done nothing more than harmlessly taunt me.

A dead man walking is just as dangerous as any monster who’s supposed to be lying in a grave.

Then there’s the other thing.Do I know for a fact it’s Enzo and not one of his men or enemies who’ve summoned me here?No, but I’m sure I’ll soon find out. Enzo texted me this morning and said if I wanted this to be over once and for all, to meet him at this address. I panicked, not knowing what else to do, and snuck out of the house when I asked Ace to grab me a few necessities from the drugstore. I hadn’t slept a wink, my fears and worries keeping me up, not to mention I was terribly nauseated.

Yet I’d found myself alone for the first time since I’d arrived the night before. Caeli was still sound asleep at Jade and Sebastian’s house. Scarlett had left earlier with Ruby, I assume to go look for Damon. I’d overheard Ace and Scarlett say they hadn’t heard from him. That, of course, added to my worrying.

Where could he have gone? Why couldn’t they get a hold of him? Was he hiding from me, drowning his sorrows in the bottom of a barrel or bourbon? Or had Enzo gotten to him first?

I couldn’t keep thinning this way. I would completely crumble apart if I let my mind keep wandering off to its darkest corners. It was a curse I had to bear—my pessimistic outlook on life. My mother had once said, the only way to ensure no one disappoints you is to always expect the worst from them.

I took that to heart, and had lived with it as my number one outlook toward life for too long. It had become second nature.

Yet once thought continued to haunt me.What if Enzo’s already gotten to him?I guess there's only one way to find out and there’s no time like the present for it.

I’m not completely selfish—thought some would definitely argue that given my track record. I left Ace a note, not telling him where I was or with who, but letting him know I’d gone of my own free will and it was something I needed to do. He wouldn’t understand, none of them would, but I couldn’t move on with my life if I didn’t deal with the monster who terrorized me for so long and would continue to do so unless I put a stop to it, or he put a stop to me—whichever came first.

Pulling up to the front of the house, I shift the gear into park and turn off the engine. Stepping out, I lock it and tuck the key into the front pocket of my jeans to keep it safe in case I need to make a quick getaway. My legs are trembling just as vigorously as my hands were just a moment ago. My stomach recoils as a wave of nausea hits me, yet I swallow back the acidic bile and force myself to walk toward the steps leading to the front door.

I cradle my stomach in my hands as I step up onto the front porch, hating myself for being so selfish and risking my sweet baby. But we’re dead either way, so at least this is me giving us the best chance I can.

My chest is thundering as my heart beats sporadically when I reach for the handle. It’s open, of course, and like a lamb being led to her slaughter, I follow the trail of red roses that forms a path into the house. The same roses Enzo would buy me every year on our wedding anniversary, or anytime he felt guilty for killing someone because they dared to look my way.

His calloused fingers, wet with blood, caressed me, gently sweeping a tendril of hair off my face as I lay still, pretending I was asleep. His voice was a soft whisper against my templeas he lay a kiss on the top of my head. “Hair white as snow, lips red as the blood I shed for you, carina. Snow, you are as beautiful and delicate as the red roses you love so much.”

Bile rises in my throat as I recall one of my last nights with Enzo in New York, and I have to hack it out on a planter sitting beside the front door on the porch. Wiping my mouth with the back of the sleeve of my brother’s hoodie I threw on over my top before leaving this morning, I push open the door. The hinges creak as I step inside.

The interior, much like the exterior of the home, looks newly remodeled, the scent of fresh paint and brand-new wood flooding my senses as I walk into the foyer. Front and center, there’s a stunning winding staircase with intricate railing leading up to the second floor. An array of chandeliers and light fixtures hang on the ceilings and walls, but other than that, the house is strangely vacant. Come to think of it, it makes sense for it to not look lived in if Enzo’s been hiding out here since my disappearance a mere few months ago.

A wave of terror floods me at the possibility of soon coming face to face with him again. I thought that chapter of my life was done with after his death. That I’d awoken from the nightmare I lived in for years, but now, standing here in this vacant mansion, the walls so bear you can hear the echo of the wind flowing through the space, it's that same fear which comes creeping in like a coat of darkness looming over me, reminding me I’ll never be truly free. Not so long as Enzo’s alive.

Reaching into the front pocket of my brother’s hoodies, I firmly wrap my hand around the gun I took from his safe, my fingers quivering as I hold it tight. I’m not sure what I was thinking as I reached for it, easily breaking into my brother’s safe and deciding I needed to bring it with me. Enzo will surely have me patted down upon arrival. His paranoia always got the best of him, especially since daily he feared for his life or the betrayalof his men. Once, he’d found one of his closest associates wired during one of their weekly meetings. I can still hear the screams the idiot let out as Enzo tortured him for his betrayal before finishing him off with a bullet to his temple.

Point blank, execution style—that was my end goal today. Even if it meant I’d die, I wouldn’t let Enzo get to Damon.

I continue to look around, taking these last few minutes of solitude before I’m met with the man who’s haunted me for the last three years. To my right, I can see an expansive kitchen with bare countertops and a handful of bar stools lined up along the island in the middle of the space. To the left is the living room, strangely empty except for a white sofa sitting in the middle of the room across from an enormous fireplace which is currently burning.

A sudden, ghostly melody comes through the air, playing on what can only be a built-in home surround sound. My heart races at the sudden jolt of panic of the familiar song. A song Enzo would play for me every time he wanted to remind me exactly where I belonged. Without thinking, I follow the sound, walking toward the lit fire, almost as if I’m being pulled in by the sight of the flames flickering inside the old wood-burning fireplace. The way they dance is mesmerizing.

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