Chapter 16
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
EZRA
My car smells like your perfume, and I can’t stop sneezing. I think I’m allergic. Or maybe it’s just you, to be safe, let’s end things now. Yesterday I sneezed so hard I almost shit myself in rush hour traffic, I don’t need this.
—Bryant
T he second Harper disappeared into her room for a shower, I slipped onto the balcony with my phone. Cold air cut through the morning haze, but it wasn’t enough to clear my head.
I scrolled past the endless mentions, the hashtags, the videos slowed down frame-by-frame analyzing the way I’d looked at her like she was oxygen. None of that mattered. Not compared to the text I’d gotten.
Call me.
No name attached. None needed.
I hit the number.
The line clicked, and then that voice—smooth as glass, sharp as knives. “Ah. I was expecting this.”
My stomach sank. “What do you really want?”
“You know what I want.” He sounded almost amused. “You promised me a show. I never got the show. And now? Now you’re trending worldwide. You fell right into my lap. Or should I say—right on my FYP page, never been more thankful for social media in my entire career.”
“This isn’t about you.” My voice came out rougher than I intended. “If this is about-“
“—Sure it is. You think your little friend thought this through? A TikTok dating stunt? Cute. But dangerous. It would be a shame if someone started digging into her family or even into her. Who knows what might crawl out of the closet once my team does a little digging and you know we specialize in that.”
My chest tightened as memories of my past came pounding into the present. Dead things were supposed to stay buried but he had an uncanny way of digging them up and bringing each and every one personally back to life. “Leave her out of this.”
“Relax.” He chuckled, low and dark. Good, he was in his supervillain era. “I don’t want to hurt her. I want what I was promised. And you, Ezra—you ran. You owe me. That’s on you, not her.”
I gripped the railing until my knuckles went white. “It was my choice.”
“Yes. And I’m fairly certain you’ll choose her. Because you’ve got that same look you did when you got your first paycheck.” His voice sharpened. “Obsessed. Hyper-focused. Determined. You won’t let her go.”
He let the silence stretch. “And I won’t let you go either, not until I get what I’m owed.”
The line crackled faintly. “So. Plan your first outing. Make sure it looks good. Post. Upload. Tag us as your sponsor. The network will be thrilled, do what you need to do to convince her to play nice and we’ll be in touch, this will be fun. You’ll see.”
The call ended with a click.
I stared at my phone like it had burned me.
Inside, I could hear Harper humming to herself over the sound of running water, completely unaware that I’d just pulled the devil back into our orbit.