Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Ezekiel
“Did you kill him?” I find Riley waiting for me in my office. The look in her eyes is full of terror and I don’t even want to meet her gaze.
“I was pretty clear about not wanting you to ask questions, Riley,” I make myself comfortable in my chair and pick up the pile of documents waiting to be signed.
“Well,” she say sighing, “it’s a perfectly reasonable thing to ask after what I’ve witnessed.”
“You need to know your place,” I sigh, closing the file that I opened not a full minute ago.
“Is that so?” She gets up from her chair, starting to pace around the office. “What is my place then, Zeke? Because I have no idea what our relationship is.”
“It’s not one where I have to answer to you about my business decisions,” I say, leaning back in the chair.
“So that’s what we’re calling taking people’s lives now?” She doesn’t sound like herself.
“Yes,” I respond. “That is my business, and if you knew half of the things I’ve done, you would run through that door and never look back.” My voice softens as I continue. “You deserve someone better than me.”
“Don’t don’t tell me what I deserve,” she crosses her arms, her small figure standing tall in front of my chair.
“I’m not a good person, Riley,” I get up from the chair and walk over to the small office bar to pour myself a drink. “In fact, I’m the opposite of a good person.”
“Well, I can’t judge unless I know all those terrible things,” she continues, taking the bottle from me and pouring my drink herself, before handing me the glass. It’s one of the things about her that drive me crazy. She’s so unpredictable.
“You don’t want to know them, trust me,” I take a sip from the glass.
“You’re once again assuming to know me better than I know myself,” she steps closer to me. “Test me.”
“Fine, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I head over to the leather sofa and make myself comfortable. “You might want to sit down for this.”
She does as I say and walks over, filling the empty space next to me on the sofa. Instead of facing the wall, she turns in the seat and turns her body to face me.
“I’m mafia, Riley,” I say, not breaking eye contact this time. I want to see the moment her illusion about me shatters, the terror on her face. “My whole family is, and what you see here is just a front for our operation to run smoothly and to make an insane amount of money.”
She raises an eyebrow, no trace of that terror that I was expecting to see on her face. “Do you really think I’m that stupid and haven’t noticed that already? I knew it since day one when I walked in on you torturing that guy…”
“What you saw that day is not even half of it,” I continue.
“I’m surprised that let me live,” she scrunches her nose, trying to understand my logic. “I never thought that big bad mafia dudes let witnesses walk away and even give them a job.”
“I don’t kill innocent people if I can get them to keep their mouths shut.”
“So that’s why you’re interested in me?” The terror I was expecting to see on her face earlier is now finally showing up, but it’s not over what I expected it would start showing.
“No. I mean yes…” I take another sip of whiskey, trying to organize my thoughts. “That’s how it started, I hired you to keep an eye on you, but I wasn’t going to stick around.”
“I don’t think any of this is a big deal, if we’re being honest.”
“You should,” I stare at her, trying to understand how she can sit there so calmly after everything I just told her.
“Why?”
“Because you only hear the cleaned-up version,” I continue, my jaw tightening. “The version people tell themselves when they want to believe men like me are just businessmen with a darker side.”
“So tell me the real version then,” she insists.
“The real version is that I do what needs to be done.”
“That sounds like something a villain in a movie would say.”
“Maybe because villains are usually the ones who admit what they are,” a humorless smile pulls at my lips.
She studies me for a moment before speaking again. “So what? You torture people because you enjoy it?”
“No.” The answer comes too quickly, and I watch her eyebrows pull together slightly. “I torture people because sometimes fear is the only language men understand.”
“That’s not what a bad guy would say,” she insists.
“I’ve developed a torturing technique that is so painful for the receiver, they feel like their flesh is being torn off their bones, even if they’re not even bleeding yet,” I continue telling her about the things I have done and she leans in, listening carefully to every word that leaves my mouth.
“But my biggest regret is getting my brother, Malachi, in a situation where he got kidnapped and tortured because of me…” Even now, a year later, speaking about it and remembering it makes my heart ache.
“I have spent endless nights since then trying to get my revenge. and I made sure the deaths of some of the people involved were slow and painful. Unfortunately, the ones who are really to blame for what happened are still alive, and I promised myself to kill them in the most brutal way when I get my hands on them.”
The confession is followed by silence. Riley doesn’t say a word, but her eyes continue studying my face, as if she’s waiting for me to say more. A part of me regrets telling her all of this. I might have just ruined something that was becoming very important for me.
“There is more,” I’m the one to break the silence.
“Oh, I bet there is,” Riley laughs. “You keep painting yourself as this big bad guy who does cruel things and kills people…”
“Because that’s who I am, Riley,” I look down at my drink. “That’s what I am, a monster.”
“Don’t you see it? Even in the stories you just told me, there was always something humane about your actions,” she moves closer to me on the sofa. “You’re so much more than that, Zeke.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I see you.” The smile never leaves her lips as she speaks. “I know the things you’ve done for me, I see the way you treat your brothers and the other employees at the Eden… Well, the loyal ones at least.”
“That doesn’t prove I’m not a monster,” I point out. “I can respect the people around me and still take lives.”
“Yes you can, but I wish you could see yourself through my eyes, Zeke.” She places her hand on top of mine. “Then you’d understand how great a guy you actually are. And maybe also why I’m starting to fall for you.”
“You what?” That last part almost makes me drop my glass of whiskey.
“I like you, Zeke,” she smiles. “I’ve been trying to brush it off, label it many different things and find a way to justify why you were the first person I wanted to share the news about my exams with.”
“Riley, I—”
“I can’t run from it anymore, I like you,” she leans in closer, the warmth of her breath gracing the skin on my arm where the sleeve is rolled up. “And I know you like me too.”
Without saying another word, I reach out for her face with my free hand and pull her in for a kiss. The moment our lips meet, everything I have been trying to ignore, every tucked emotion, spills over and I feel free, maybe for the first time in my life.
The kiss is desperate, the symbol of everything I’ve tried to lock away breaking free. She tastes sweet, and I wonder if she’s had something sweet to eat on her way here, but beneath that she tastes like safety, which is something I have no right to claim.
“No,” I suddenly pull away. “You need to see all of me before you decide whether or not you like me. And you haven’t seen it all.”
“You’re still trying to convince me?” Riley smiles, moving even closer to me.
“I’ll show you what I’m capable of,” I set my glass of whiskey down on the side table and then pull her in again for another kiss.
My hands slide down her waist, gripping her tightly to pull her up with me as I stand.
She gasps into my mouth, her feet barely touching the floor as I carry her a few steps across the office toward the full-length mirror leaning against the wall.
I put her down and turn her around to face the mirror, her back pressed against mine, as I set aside her hair and kiss her back. She releases a loud moan, tilting her head back to rest against my chest. Instead of leaving her, I move her gently so she faces the mirror again.
“Look at me,” I command, catching her gaze in the reflection when she opens her eyes. “I want you to look at me and see the monster that I am.”
She opens her mouth to speak but I turn her head to me and shut her up with my mouth, my tongue sliding into her mouth.
Grabbing both of her wrists, I bring them together behind her lower back, wrapping them with my silk dressing gown belt tightly around them and knotting it secure.
Without her hands for balance, she’s entirely at my mercy, her hips arched back toward me.
“Zeke,” her breathing accelerates as I pull her body to me. “If this is your way to prove me you’re a monster, maybe you should try harder.”
“Don’t move,” I step back just enough to take in the sight in front of me. Her robe is loose and underneath she is only in her stage clothes, a very tiny G-string and a see-through bra.
I unzip my pants and slide them down my hips, my dick thanking me for setting it free. All along my eyes never leave Riley’s in the mirror and by the way her body is twitching, I can see how badly she wants this.
“You’re driving me crazy, Riley,” I whisper in her ear.
I lean in close, my chest brushing her bare back as my hands slide under the edges of her lose robe.
I palm her hips, my fingers digging into her skin to anchor her right where I want her.
Her eyes meet mine in the mirror, wide and hungry, and I let her see the predatory smirk on my face as I show her exactly what she asked for.
Slowly, deliberately, I move my hands up her torse, dragging them over her ribs until I cup her breasts through the sheer lace of her bra. My thumbs press hard against her nipples, twisting just enough to draw a sharp, breathless gasp from her lips.
“This isn’t nearly as convincing as you might think.” She tries to lean back into me for balance but with her wrists knotted tightly behind her, she can only arch her spine, thrusting her chest deeper into my welcoming palms.
Before she can draw another breath, my hand flies up, wrapping securely around the front of her throat. I press her head back against my shoulder, my thumb anchoring firmly under her jaw to cut off her smart mouth.
“Shhh…”
My other hand comes down in a hard, stinging slap against the bare curve of her ass, the sharp sound echoing in the room, causing her to jolt against me, a muffled cry caught in her throat as her reflection turns frantic. Then, to my surprise, I notice a smile in her reflection.
I let go of her chest and slide one hand down the flat of her stomach, dipping beneath the thin string of her underwear.
She’s already dripping wet, her heat scorching my fingers as I stroke down her center.
I slide two fingers inside her, stretching her slowly, making her whine as I establish a brutal rhythm.
Her thighs twitch and she tries to ride my hand but I hold her still, forcing her to watch herself break in the mirror before I give her the rest of me.
I press myself to her back and reach down to move her G-string to the side, before I guide myself to her entrance and push inside. The moment my dick stretches her, she moans, trying to throw her hips back and take all of me, but I place my hands firmly on her hips, locking her in place.
“You’re such a good girl for me,” I whisper, my tongue grazing her earlobe. “Look at how well you’re taking me, Riley. Look at yourself.”
She forces her eyes open, looking at our joined bodies in the reflection, her lips forming a smile. “Yes, just like that, Zeke. You feel so good.”
I begin a slow, shallow rhythm, pushing only the tip of my dick into her and then pulling it out entirely, forcing her to watch how her entire body squirms in desperation when I pull my dick out of her.
I feel my pulse accelerating from the intensity of the moment, and that awakes the animal inside of me.
I push myself back in, teasing her, deliberately avoiding the deep friction she’s begging for.
“Zeke…” A plea escapes her lips, her breathing getting louder and heavier. “Please.”
“Do you still think I’m a good man?” I kiss her earlobe, my teeth grazing it gently. “Even when I’m doing this to you? When I’m torturing you like this?”
“Yes.” She tries to squirm and reach out for my dick with her tied hands, but I still her. “You’re not a monster, Zeke.”
That’s all I need to hear to pick up my pace and start moving inside of her.
The deep, heavy strokes tear a loud sob of relief from her lips.
It doesn’t take her long to reach an orgasm and when she comes hard, her body clamps down around me as she struggles to stay on her feet, her hands tugging against the silk tie on her wrists.
“Oh, I’m nowhere near done with you,” I grin, continuing to fuck her hard and fast, the sound of our bodies slamming against each other filling the office.