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“First day you were here. After the club. And then again, this morning. He’s ranting pretty hard. Screwing things up. My guys are in his account.”
I swallowed, anxiety creeping up my spine. Had he brought me here because he wanted to tell me something he knew I wouldn’t like, and he knew enough to understand I’d never make a scene in a nice old man’s pizza restaurant. “And?”
“He is so fucked, Layla. I’m going to get out of the arrangement I have with him. I don’t want to be anywhere near this crap. Let him keep all of it. Then, however, I remember that I’ve known him forever. That he’s your father. And maybe it’s not too late to save him from this.”
My anger fled. “Did you tell me tonight because you want me to tell him?”
“No, I don’t want you within miles of that mess. Thirty billion dollars. That is…unfathomable money. You could get hurt. I…I want you to tell me if you want me to try to save him. Do you? I’ll do it for you.”
I swallowed. “I…” I stopped talking before I even really started. “He’s my father, and even though he’s done with me…” It was still hard to say that, to even think it, let alone let the words form on my lips. Despite his declaration, he was still my father. And he held the livelihoods of hundreds of people under his thumb. What was more, Zeke knew that since they shared that responsibility.
“He’s not done with you.” Zeke finally spoke. “He’s not even close to being done with you. I almost…I almost wish you could hear how angry he is that you’re with me. He feels like I’m corrupting his little girl. Totally weird, considering he was willing to basically sell you to the Allards, and who knows what would have happened to you in their care if they’re really as mixed up in things as I think they are. But I am the big bad bogeyman going after your virginity, in his mind.”
I smiled despite how terrible the topic of this conversation was. “I’m years from being a virgin.”
“Well, then, maybe you’re corrupting me.” He lifted his eyebrows as though that were an actually reasonable assertion, and I rolled my eyes. “Well, Layla? What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t want anyone hurt if it can be stopped. I don’t want you to get tangled up in something that could get you injured in any way. But if you can help, please help them. Not just my father, but all of them.”
He nodded slowly. “I’ll do what I can.”
“Thank you, Ezekiel.” I don’t know why I used his full name. I’d never done so before. It just seemed to fit in the sanctity of this moment. He was going to try to help my dad, even though he’d never done a thing to deserve it. Just because I wanted him to.
“You have such a big heart, Layla. I won’t let them hurt you. Whoever these people turn out to be. They can’t have you.” He looked away. “I’m not a relationship guy. I’ve explained this. You know it, but someday, you’re going to have an incredible life, and it will be far away from all of this bullshit.”
They were sweet words, but still, they made me sad. The more I knew him, the more I wanted what he said I couldn’t have. Or maybe that was why I wanted it, because I couldn’t have him. Although that was absolutely not the way I usually did things.
“How do you know I have a big heart?” He was the second person that day to say it to me.
“Because you wear it on your sleeve.”
The pizza arrived right then, distracting me from that statement. I thought I was really pretty good at pretending to be okay, at always acting like I didn’t care about anything. If he and Bridget were to be believed, I was pretty lousy at it.
But the pizza really was just as good as he said it was going to be. When I went to drink my wine, he shook his head mid-bite. “Don’t drink that.”
“Why not?” If he needed me to drive, we were in trouble. I’d never handled a motorcycle, wouldn’t be starting tonight. I didn’t even drive a car.
“Because life is too short to drink wine you don’t like. Let’s get you something else.”
Arthur had brought me Merlot, probably because that was what Zeke drank when he was here. Could two people work out a life together if they didn’t like the same wine? What did it matter? Zeke had been clear in that regard. He didn’t do relationships, and he’d rightly spotted me as a person who ultimately wanted one that would last forever.
I was that woman.
And I was more than okay with it.
But he was so handsome. And now it turned out that when he wasn’t saying douchey things, he was actually really kind and thoughtful. The reason behind the occasional meanness eluded me, but it was happening less and less frequently, almost like the more he knew me, the nicer he got.
Then again, he was the guy that only kept women four days. Could I handle that? Was he even offering that?
Arthur came by and poured me a glass of something I liked a lot better. It was sort of smokey. “Is this a Pinot?”
“Yes. You like it better?”
I sipped it again. “Worlds.”
“I always want to give you what you want, Layla.”
Well…that remained to be seen. I didn’t even know if I wanted what I wanted. Fuck. Life was confusing.
