A Twist In The Plan

JADEN

My hands trembled as I slipped the powder into the whiskey. The faint hiss of it dissolving was barely audible over the thud of my heart. 

The glass felt cold against my clammy palm. The liquid sloshed as I swirled it to erase the traces of my betrayal. I’d crushed the sedative earlier, grinding it fine between two spoons in the bathroom, but I hadn't thought about how difficult it would be to get it into his drink.

It wasn’t poison, but it was just enough to drop Enzo into a deep, dreamless sleep. I exhaled slowly, forcing calm into my bones before I turned from the counter. The ice clinked as I carried it to him.

Enzo lounged in his leather chair like a king on his throne. The room smelled of him: cigar smoke, cedar, and that masculine tang of power. His dark hair spilt over his shoulders, framing the snake tattoo that coiled down his collarbone.

His blue eyes flicked to me and he patted his lap softly. “Come here, Jade,” he said in a low rumble. 

I lowered myself onto his thighs, the heat of him searing through my pants. His arm slid around my waist possessively, pulling me against himself until I felt the steady thud of his heartbeat against my back.

“One hour,” he muttered, his breath brushing my ear, warm and laced with whiskey. “You turn twenty in one hour. My husband by morning.” 

My stomach twisted, but I nodded, plastering a smile on my face as I turned on his lap to look at him. “Can’t wait,” I said. The lie tasted like ash. My pulse hammered so loud that I could swear that he heard it. 

“I’ll be gentle,” he added, his tone tender, a rarity that made my skin crawl more than his usual roughness. He reached for the glass in my hand and I tilted it to his lips. 

“Drink,” I said in a steady voice despite the storm inside me. He took a long pull, then another, then another until he drained half the glass. Good boy, I thought. He set it down and licked his lips, oblivious to the clock I’d just set ticking.

Sophia’s letter haunted me. The words burned into my skull. 'Pier 17, 1 a.m. I love you. We’re free.'

She’d been my lifeline since I was sixteen, when my parents’ debts sank the family and Enzo claimed me as payment. Sophia stayed as a shield while everyone else turned away. 

We’d fallen in love over the agony that was a part of me at that time, and for weeks now, we had been passing letters through cracks in Enzo’s world, plotting this night. She was out there now, waiting for me to show up so we could escape to somewhere far away. Hope, as I liked to call it. I clung to that because that was all I had. 

I lingered in Enzo's lap a while longer while his fingers idly traced my spine. When his grip loosened, I slid free and muttered something about getting some fresh air. 

He waved me off, already sinking into the chair, and I slipped out before the drug fully took him. Outside, the night was crisp, the air biting my bare arms as I joined the men by the fire pit. Flames crackled, spitting sparks into the dark. I watched the men pass a bottle around, laughing rough and loud. 

“Jade, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” one of them said, giving me a once over. 

I forced a chuckle as I leaned against a crate. “Just tired.” I forced my hands in my pockets to hide the tremble.

They cracked jokes—crude ones about wives and whores—and I nodded along while counting the time. The drug's effect would hit soon; I’d timed it perfectly. 

After ten minutes of their banter, I stretched casually, putting on a perfect act. 

“Gonna check on the boss,” I said, and none of them even showed interest. They were already too tipsy to care. I slipped inside the house and crept to Enzo’s door, easing it open a crack.

There he was sprawled across the bed, his chest rising slowly. He was knocked out cold. My heart surged. A wild, giddy rush flooded my chest. It worked! 

I stood there a second, watching him, half-expecting those blue eyes to snap open and catch me. But he didn’t stir. I turned and bolted to my room, my legs shaky with adrenaline. I snatched Sophia's letter and slipped it into my pocket. I would need it to navigate my way to the location.

“I am talking a walk,” I told the guards at the door. My voice was steady now, almost rehearsed. One raised a brow and offered to tag along. “Nah, I’m good,” I said, waving him off with a grin I didn’t feel. 

I expected more questions, but it didn't come. Not even from Kai, who was Enzo's right-hand man and most trusted confidant. It felt so easy, like the universe had connived with me to make my escape a success. 

The men turned back to their cards, and I slipped through the gate. The second it clanged shut, I ran. My lungs burned, my legs slamming hard against the pavement, but I kept running, watching the night swallow me whole. 

Sophia. She’d be waiting. I couldn't wait to be in her arms again. Reaching her through letters had been hell.

I reached the spot from her letter. It was an abandoned company lot, too quiet and almost eerie. “Sophia?” I called, my voice cracking in the stillness. 

Nothing. 

My breath fogged the air as I scanned the shadows, and then I saw a paper pinned under one of the flickering bulbs. 

I grabbed it with clammy fingers and read out loud: “If you want to see her alive, come to the warehouse behind this company.” 

Fear slammed into me and clawed with terror up my throat. My eyes darted to the warehouse’s dark silhouette, and soon I was running, my legs pumping as fast as they could.