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“I might not like it when I’m in my right mind.”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t do it unless you were.”
This was the strangest conversation of my life. “Okay, so besides that.”
“I can make it so no one can ever do this to you again. You’ll be in control of your own destiny. People will never try to intimidate or punish you again.” He leaned forward. “Unless you want them to. Think about it. We can decide at dinner. Here’s lesson one, and it’s a freebie. Say no if you want to. Always. A lot. Say it so many times, people are actually afraid you will. Say it just because you want to fuck with someone’s day.” He paused. “Tell me no. Kick me out. Tell me you’re not going to do what I want.”
Zeke stared at me a long moment, which was when I realized he really wanted me to answer that. “No?”
“That’s too bad. Now, I’ll have to kick you out.” He pushed away from the bed, and I waited for the wink. It took him a second longer than I would have preferred it to. “Take a nap, Layla. I’ll see you at dinner.”
I sat up. “No,” I practically shouted at the door, and he laughed as he closed it behind him.
Who was Zeke Scott, and why was he so confusing?
Much as I was now yawning, there was no way I was going to actually sleep.
“Layla.”
A deep voice called to me, pushing through a haze of sleep where I didn’t have to think about anything. No, I didn’t want to wake up. I liked it where I was. I was comfortable.
“Layla.” This time the voice was accompanied by a gentle stroke on my head. I couldn’t ignore the sweetness since I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had woken me up pleasantly. It was strange, and the oddness of it was enough todraw me out of the happy place where I’d been so contented to stay.
Zeke was back in the place where he’d sat by me earlier. “There she is. You sleep hard.”
I groaned. “Truthfully, I hardly sleep at all.” I sat up on my elbows. “Maybe it all hit me.”
“I woke you because I wanted to show you something. I try to see it every night when I’m home. You’ll like it.”
I rubbed at my face. “Okay. Give me a second.”
“Yep.” Zeke shot me another look before he exited my room.
This was a strange situation. I’d dreamed of him for years. Some of my most early sexual awakenings revolved around fantasizing about him. Now, here I was with him, in his house, having conversations I didn’t really understand. He wanted me to make my father pay. That much I understood, and he was going to help me if I agreed.
I quickly washed my face and brushed my teeth. He was right. I’d slept hard. It was difficult to clear my head. I couldn’t even remember if I dreamed. There was a headache forming behind my eyes the way that always happened when I actually did sleep after too long of not sleeping. I’d be back on track if I could actually rest steadily for the next few nights.
That was unlikely, considering things.
It seemed to make sense to just stay in my socks. I padded out to find him, which turned out not to be challenging. Two doors were open to the left of my room that led out to a balcony I hadn’t seen earlier, because it was on the opposite side of the house from where I’d entered it.
He stood in the center of the balcony, starting at the changing sky.
It was sunset. I walked over and stood next to him, staring out at the city ahead of us as everything seemed to turn pink around us.
“It’s beautiful.”
He nodded. “I live here because there is nowhere else I’d rather watch sunsets in the world. I’ve been practically everywhere. And it never looks better than right here.”
In the distance, the Eiffel Tower almost seemed to glow. “Is it true that Parisians didn’t like the Eiffel Tower when it was first built?”
“I think that is mostly not true, but the story persists.”
That was true of most things. The stories liked to persist, even when there wasn’t an ounce of truth to them. “The radio tower one.”
He nodded. “That’s right.”
I stayed quiet to watch the pink turn into orange and move over us. He didn’t want to watch the sunset anywhere but here. That was sort of beautiful. I’d never spent much time watching them, even in places like this that were considered the most beautiful in the world. I had no new messages on my phone but stared at the time. It was nine-thirty. Sunset came later here. At least this time of the year.
