AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I stop breathing, certain I misunderstood. I replay her words in my mind. Holy shit, she’s asking me to come in for an interview at the second-most read magazine in the country.
“Lily?” she says, and I realize how long I’ve been silent.
“Hell yes!” I clap my hand over my mouth and take a deep breath, then manage to answer more calmly. “I mean, I’d love to. When would be good for you?”
“Does today at two work for your schedule?”
On the inside, I’m celebrating like I won the lottery, but I keep my voice even. “It does.”
“Perfect. You know where we are, right?”
I cycle past your building every damn day. “Yes, I’m familiar with the building.”
“Wonderful. Then I’ll see you today at two.”
As soon as she hangs up, I toss my phone onto the couch and squeal at the top of my lungs. Pumping my fists and shaking my hips, I dance around the apartment. Alison Steadman wants to chat about me working there. “Fuck yeah!” I clamp my hand over my mouth. I might be alone, but these walls are thin. I go on dancing but sing quietly to myself.
I might have a new job. Betty is back. And between the severance package I got from my mail room job atGenevieveand what I saved from my last two weeks’ pay at my new job, I have enough for a deposit on an apartment in Brooklyn. It’s tiny but it’s mine, and I move in next week.
Life is finally looking up.
ChapterFifty-Five
LILY
Even after two days, I still smile every time I let myself into my new building. I’ve never lived on my own before. It’s so liberating. Taking out my shiny new key, I open the front door, and my heart almost stops beating. I scream, which only makes him smile.
“Zeke? What the hell? How did you even get in here?” He’s sitting at the tiny breakfast bar in my little kitchen, hands casually resting on the countertop.
“I’m a man of many talents, Lily.”
“Yeah? I didn’t figure breaking and entering was one of them.”
“You’d be surprised at the extent of my skill set.”
I put my hands on my hips. “How did you even know I moved here?”
“I made the mistake of not being thorough in my research on you once before, Lily. It cost me everything, and it will never happen again. I know everything there is to know about you now.”
I sure hope not because then you and I could be in a whole heap of danger.“Highly doubtful,” I say instead, crossing my arms over my chest.
The corner of his mouth curls up. “I know you got your pussy waxed two days ago and your nails done later the same afternoon.”
My cheeks burn with mortification, and I hate giving him the satisfaction of knowing he’s right. My new job came with a small advance, and I decided to treat myself to some long overdue grooming. “You’re stalking me now?”
“Keeping a careful eye on you,” he corrects.
Yeah, same thing. “You know there are laws against that kind of thing, right?”
He stands suddenly, and his broad frame seems even bigger than usual in my tiny kitchen. “There isn’t a law in this land that could keep me from you, baby doll.” His declaration is made with such confidence that I’m unable to fight the urge to roll my eyes. Conceited asshole.
Closing my eyes, I rub my forehead. I am so not in the mood for his games. “What the hell are you doing here, Zeke? If you’re looking for —”
He cuts me off midsentence “I’m not here for forgiveness, Lily.”
“You’re not?”
“I’m not looking for redemption. More like retribution.”
