Chapter 19
Navy ‘Nay’ Prescott
By the time we pulled away from the club, Miami had settled into that strange space between the night and morning where the city still refused to go to sleep but I loved it.
I watched it all through the passenger window while Lev drove, mostly because looking outside felt safer than looking at him especially since he still hadn’t told me where we were going nor had he asked whether I had plans.
All he did was give me a damn order, then walked out of the VIP room like there was no possibility I would tell him no.
The scary part was that he had been right because twenty minutes later and I was sitting beside him in an oversized hoodie and tights, smelling like club mixed with vanilla body oil I had rubbed on my skin before I left.
I should have been asking more questions and truthfully any woman with good sense would have.
Unfortunately, my good sense had been making questionable decisions all night.
Lev drove with one hand on the steering wheel and the other relaxed near the center console where a gun was propped.
The dashboard lights cast a faint glow across his face, sharpening the angles of his cheekbones and catching the edge of the diamond in his ear.
He had turned the music low and every few minutes, I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.
Lev had listened to every word I said tonight without giving me enough of a reaction to figure out what he was thinking.
That was what made him so unsettling because most people exposed themselves when they were angry, offended, amused, or curious.
Lev kept everything locked behind the same steady expression, leaving everybody else to guess.
I shifted in my seat and finally looked over at him. “You gonna tell me where we going?”
He kept his eyes on the road. “Not far.”
That wasn’t an answer, but the calm way he said it made me feel like asking again wouldn’t get me anything better. I tugged the sleeves of my hoodie over my hands and stared back out of the window. “You always take women on surprise rides in the middle of the night?”
His eyes slid toward me briefly before returning to the road. “You scared?”
The honest answer was yes but saying that felt too vulnerable after everything I had already confessed inside the club. “A little.”
“I wouldn’t have brought you if you needed to be.”
That should have comforted me. Somehow, it did and didn’t.
I settled deeper into the seat and watched the scenery change as he drove farther from the noise and bright lights.
The buildings became more spread out, and the traffic thinned until we were nearly alone, as tall hedges replaced the businesses that lined the earlier streets.
Every now and then I caught a glimpse of a large house far behind iron gates, but the darkness kept most of them hidden.
The faint smell of salt reached me before I saw the water. I cracked the window a little farther, letting the cool breeze brush across my face. “We near the beach?”
“Yeah.”
“Is that where we going?”
He gave me another sideways glance. “You ask a lot of questions.”
I pressed my lips together, swallowing the reply that wanted to come out. Anybody else would have gotten something slick but I gave Lev silence. That was the difference between being intimidated and being stupid.
He turned onto a narrow road lined with palm trees, then slowed down in front of a tall private gate.
The gate opened before he stopped completely, revealing a long driveway illuminated by small lights set into the ground.
The tires rolled across pale stone while I leaned forward, trying to see beyond the landscaped trees and thick tropical plants surrounding the property.
When the house finally came into view, I forgot all about trying to play it cool.
It sat low and wide against the dark sky, with cream colored stone, and glass.
The warm light glowed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, reflecting off a strip of water that ran along the front like a shallow fountain or something.
The place didn’t look like the kind of house somebody simply lived in.
It looked staged for a magazine spread where nothing was ever out of place.
Lev pulled beneath the covered entrance and cut the engine.
I stayed seated for a second, staring through the windshield. “This yours?”
“One of mine.”
Of course it was one of his. I had forgotten I was dealing with a man who could say things like that without sounding impressed by himself.
He got out, and I followed, stepping into air that smelled clean.
The wind carried the ocean, damp plants, and floral scents from the landscaping.
I trailed him toward the front door with my eyes moving over the house and the Range Rover parked off to the side.
Lev unlocked the door and stepped back enough for me to enter first. The inside was even prettier with a wide-open space that stretched from the front entrance to a wall of glass at the back of the house, with pale wood floors running beneath oversized furniture in shades of cream, brown, and charcoal.
A large piece of abstract artwork hung above a low fireplace, and the kitchen sat off to the left beneath black pendant lights that looked more like sculptures to me.
Everything was expensive, but it was not loud about it.
That was what made it feel different from the houses of men who wanted every guest to know how much they had spent. Lev’s place didn’t need to announce money because the materials and the space did it for him.
I moved farther inside while he locked the door behind us. “You live here?”
“Nah.”
He crossed toward the kitchen and reached for a set of switches on the wall.
One press caused the lights near the back of the house to brighten, revealing an outdoor space that made me stop walking.
Beyond the glass sat a long rectangular dark blue pool, surrounded by a wide patio with furniture and a covered section built around an outdoor kitchen.
Past the pool, a wooden walkway cut through a strip of sea grass and disappeared toward the beach.
The moon hung low above the water, showing a pale trail across the waves.
I slowly approached the glass. “Oh my God.”
Lev slid one of the doors open, and the sound of the ocean rushed inside. The air was cooler near the water, and the constant rhythm of the waves calmed something inside me. “This is beautiful.”
Lev came to stand a few feet away with his hands tucked into his pockets as he looked past me toward the beach. “I bought it for the location.”
“You rent this out?”
He shrugged. “When I want to.”
I turned toward him. “As an Airbnb?”
He nodded answering my question. I looked back at the house. “People must tear this place up.”
“Some try.” He replied.
Something in his tone told me the people who tried regretted it. I walked closer to the pool, staring at the way the edge seemed to disappear into the darkness beyond it. “You ever stay here?”
“I do sometimes but it just depends.”
“For what if you don’t mind me asking.”
“When I don’t want nobody bothering me.” He winked.
I could see that. The place felt removed from the rest of the world, like the gate had closed behind us and cut off every problem waiting outside it.
For the first time since leaving the club, I realized I could not hear a car, a voice, or music from anywhere nearby.
There was only the water and the faint rustle of palms moving in the breeze.
Lev went back inside, and I followed, reluctant to leave the view even though the glass walls kept it visible from almost every room. He opened a cabinet near the kitchen and pulled out a bottle, then set two short glasses on the counter. “You still drinking tequila?” he asked.
I slid onto one of the stools. “It depends. You trying to get me drunk?”
His eyes lifted to mine as he poured. “You think I need to?”
I started feeling hot all of a sudden. I looked down at my hands. “I didn’t say that.”
“Well, you asked it.”
I smiled and I accepted the glass he placed in front of me, taking a small sip to give myself something to do. The tequila was smoother than what we served at the club, but I wouldn’t have expected nothing less from him.
Lev leaned against the opposite side of the island with his own glass in hand. For a while, neither of us spoke. He seemed comfortable with the silence for now and I usually wasn’t but the quietness in that house didn’t awkward.
His gaze dropped to the rhinestone pouch I had carried inside and placed beside me. He studied me for a long moment. “You think I’d lie about what you paid me?”
“I don’t know you well enough to know what you’ll do.”
That answer seemed to satisfy him more than any reassurance would have. He took a drink and looked toward the water. “But you’re here with me right now though.”
“Guilty,” I sighed with a shy smirk before sipping my drink again.
Lev’s eyes focused on mine, but he didn’t force me back into that conversation. Instead, he lifted his glass and asked, “You hungry?”
The sudden change made me stare at him. “A little.”
He pulled out his phone. “What you eat?”
“Anything simple.” I told him all of a sudden feeling my stomach growl.
“That don’t answer the question.”
I looked around the expensive kitchen. “I don’t know, a burger, fries. Something normal.”
He made one call and said, “I need two smash burgers, fries, and fruit. Bring it here to the Air Bnb.” That was the entire conversation. He ended the call and placed the phone beside his glass.
I stared at him. “You got somebody on call to make you burgers at four in the morning?”
“He’s up, and if he isn’t up, he gets up for me because he’s paid well.”
“That don’t mean he wanted to be up though.” I laughed.
“He’ll get paid good.”
I laughed under my breath this time. “That is such a rich person answer.”
He shrugged. “What was I supposed to say?”
“That you feel bad.”
“I don’t.”