Hexed

Two years after the murder, Venesa arrives at a seedy section of the Hudson River while tracking her cousin, Aria Kingston. Both women are now 23, but Aria is the spoiled only child of South Carolina tycoon-gangster, Trent Kingston. Venesa works for her uncle and has been ordered to find Aria. The latter came to New York to pursue a singing career six years earlier, and she isn’t pleased to see Venesa. As the two argue, they realize that a man is lying on the rocks next to the water. He has been stabbed in the side and is unconscious.

Venesa feels an urge to help him even though Aria wants to leave him to die. However, Venesa convinces her cousin that saving a dying stranger will bring her publicity. Venesa packs the wound and revives the man briefly using one of her potions, speaking directly to him at one point: “And then, although I’ll never be able to explain why, I lean down and whisper in his ear, ‘Don’t die. Don’t let them win’” (16). She leaves, but Aria, attracted by the young man’s good looks and the prospect of publicity, stays with him until help arrives.

The story picks up a year later from the viewpoint of the young man found on the rocks: Enzo Martino, who is the 29-year-old son of New York’s top crime boss, Carlos Marino. During the preceding year, Aria, who he believes saved his life, became a singer in one of his clubs. He began dating her and proposed marriage, the union pushed for by Trent Kingston and Enzo’s father.

The couple is now on their way to South Carolina, where Trent is throwing an engagement party for them. This will be Enzo’s first encounter with the Kingston family of Atlantic Cove. As they are about to enter the mansion, Enzo gets a call. While he stands on the porch to take it, he sees a woman watching him from across the yard. He feels an instant attraction toward her. She flirts but won’t tell him her name.

Shortly after this encounter, Venesa’s uncle calls her to his office. He thinks that she botched her latest hit, but she explains that leaving the victim alive with permanent brain damage will send a message to the family’s enemies.

Venesa switches her attention to an heirloom painting on the wall. It depicts seven empty chairs at the bottom of the sea with a trident between them. The picture symbolizes the lost kingdoms of Atlantis, which the ancestors of the Kingston clan supposedly ruled. Venesa’s dead mother inherited the picture, but it now hangs in her uncle’s office. Trent informs Venesa about the Marino-Kingston alliance and cautions her to behave herself. He wants everything to run smoothly and sends her to the kitchen to check on the food.

Shortly after Enzo and Aria enter Trent’s office, Venesa returns, and Enzo feels drawn toward her once again. He finally learns her name and senses the antagonism between her and Aria, who leaves to wait in the dining room because Trent wants to talk business. To Enzo’s surprise, Venesa remains for the meeting: She is obviously a trusted member of Trent’s inner circle.

Enzo learns that his dead brother, Giuseppe, was working on a deal with Trent to build a Marino Hotel in Atlantic Cove. Enzo never liked working the real estate side of his family’s business, but Trent urges him to go ahead with Giuseppe’s plans. After initially resisting, Enzo proposes that Venesa give him a tour of Atlantic Cove to convince him that a hotel would be a good investment. She warily agrees and leaves the room, but Enzo can’t stop thinking about her: “I follow, heading back to the woman I’m about to marry. But my thoughts are filled with [Venesa], and the realization that I can’t get her out of my mind makes me sick to my stomach” (51).

That night at dinner, Venesa remembers middle school, including Aria’s mean-spirited behavior when Venesa came to live with the Kingstons after her mother’s death. She was a poor girl at an upscale prep school, and nobody befriended her except the local drug dealer, Fisher Engle.

Back in the present, the family manages to get through an uncomfortable meal. Enzo learns that Venesa’s first name is Yrsa. Her father was from Denmark, and he used to beat her mother. Enzo also finds out that Venesa runs a dive restaurant called the Lair for her uncle.

Fisher, whom Venesa calls “Gup,” arrives at the house, breaking the tension. Fisher is infatuated with Aria, but he is still Venesa’s best friend and an employee of Trent’s. Not knowing their relationship, Enzo appears jealous of their easy camaraderie. Venesa abruptly leaves the party with Fisher.

Later that night, Enzo thinks gloomily of his pending marriage and his father’s growing mental health struggles. Carlos is becoming paranoid and fears that he is being watched. Enzo is constantly on guard, trying to appease his volatile parent.

The next morning, Enzo meets his gofer, Cousin Scotty, at a local bed and breakfast. While there, he learns some gossip about Venesa from the owner, who tells him, “Speaking about that girl is none of my business. She could use a good church, though, always walking around doing her witchy spells and wearing all those crystals. Girl needs Jesus, if you ask me” (72).

Enzo has a phone conversation with his father, who urges him to pursue the hotel deal in Atlantic Cove. After this call, Enzo arranges to have Venesa meet him and show him the sights around town.

That morning, Venesa finishes dying her hair platinum blond in her studio apartment above the Lair. She is aggravated when Trent calls and tells her to meet Enzo: Trent wants Venesa to push for the hotel deal.

Venesa takes the bus to the boardwalk, where Enzo meets her. The location brings back bittersweet memories of her neglectful mother and brutal father. Venesa explains that on her birthday, her mother would bring her to the boardwalk and allow her to pick out a present.

Enzo offers to buy her a seashell necklace so that she’ll have positive memories of their visit, too. Deeming this inappropriate, Venesa suggests buying Enzo a present instead. To please her, he agrees. Venesa thinks, “If it will make you happy. I don’t know if anyone has ever said those words to me. It’s dangerous how much I like the way it feels” (93).

Venesa selects a tourist T-shirt for Enzo, which he buys. Then, they stop for lunch at a local restaurant. Enzo senses that his attraction to Venesa is mutual, which makes him feel less guilty about Aria. Even though both he and Venesa are guarded by nature, they soon develop an easy rapport, which worries Enzo: “Comfort with someone is a red flag, in my experience, especially with someone I’ve only just met” (97).

Venesa asks how Enzo met Aria, pretending that she herself wasn’t there the night he was stabbed. Enzo says that he was grateful for Aria’s help and still has no idea who tried to kill him. When Venesa tries to delve deeper into his life story, he deflects her questions and asks to go to the Lair.