“Terrible,” I lied in response to his question. It was odd.I couldn’t remembermy lastnightmare-lessnight,yetI’dslept just as peacefully as I had when I used to snuggle under cashmere sheets. At the reminder of my nightmares, I shut down that part of my brain before the images couldsuffocate all other thoughts.
He raised an eyebrow at my answer, disbelief apparent on his face. But he didn’t push it.
“What time is it?” I asked, eyes back on the fingers of the sunrise.
Sebastianglanced down at his phone for a moment then his eyes targeted back on my face again. “5:30,” he said.
How had I slept that long? Even if I ignored the warm gusts of wind, and the light sheen of sweat coating my skin, how had Ifallen asleepnext to someone whose family had ruined my life? This man wasa threat, even if my body refused toacknowledgeit.
I fought against the feeling of relaxation in my stomach thatcoaxed meto stay exactly where I was. Ignoringit, I swept my feet off the chair and moved towards the glass railing of the balcony that barely reached my stomach.
“What did you do?” I asked, tappingmy fingersagainst the hidden spot of my knife.
“What are you talking about?” hesaid.
I glared at him, threats in my eyes that I could easily follow up on. We lived in a world where someone was always taking, and someone was being taken from. By letting my guard down, I’d been in the losing position last night. He’d lulled me into a sense of safety.What had he gained from it?
Did he hackinto my phone?Wereall of his men outside, ready to strong arm me into giving him the information he wanted?
“Relax,” he said, flicking his hand as if he was flicking away my thoughts.“You looked so peaceful sleeping, I didn’t want to disturb you.”
I snorted,yeah right. Like I would believe that. Keepingmyhandin reach of theknife, I strode along the marble decking towards the door. My eyes locked on his reflection in thesliding glassdoor as he stood up from the lounge chair.Sebatianstretched his long, muscled arms towards the orange and pink sky.
I crackedopenthedoor,tracking the sound of hisnearly silentfootfalls behind me.Confirmingthe lack ofnoisein the room ahead of us, Inudgedthe door open quietly, and sidestepped in so my backpressedagainst the light grey wall.
WhileSebastianfollowed in after me soundlessly, Iglancedaround the room. AWall Street Bro waspassed out on Piper’s custom made couch, drool thankfully coming out of his mouthinstead of investment talk.Redstains bloomed onaone-of-a-kindchair, but thatwasdue to aknocked over glass of Malbec, not the blood of the recently stabbed. After all, this was Piper’s world, not my world. Stepping over broken glass, I soundlessly padded towards the front door with Sebastian step-in-step beside me.
I shot one last glance at the chaos before we exited and almost felt sorry for Piper’s maidAnett. She was an older Hungarian woman who prepared Piper’s meals along with transforming the apartment so itappeared the previousnight’s debauchery had never occurred. IfAnettever got sick of cleaning up after bored socialites, she should consider a career withthe Reganfamily. The knowledge of getting dark stains out of carpets was always very much in demand.
Once we were down to the lobby, I nodded towards the doorman. It was a different man from last night, although this one also had an impeccably ironed suit and vacant look.
“23F,” Isaid while reachingmy hand out.
When he handed my bag back to me, I unzipped the bag and felt around for my gun and few remainingworldly possessions. No offense to the doorman. He was a polite but sterile staple of this building, and he had seen plenty of Piper and I stumbling back into the apartment without evenraising an eyebrow. But everyone in this city had a price. And I wasn’t about to walk out that door without a gun or money close by. If I walked out of this building withoutRay’smoney…
Sebastian’s eyes never left me as I finished checking the bag. I’m sure he had been asking himself a lot lately whatmyprice was.
When I was outside of the blissful air conditioning, and sweating below the rising sun, I checked forsigns of an ambush. Instead, all I saw was one or two curious looks at my heelless shoesand slightlycrumpleddress. Most people paid us no mind, too numb to the city to have had a reaction if I had been walking around wearing nothing but candy wrappers.
When I finished checking theperimeter, I swiveled towards Sebastian and raised an expectant eyebrow.
“Yes?” he asked, looking almost amused.
I crossed my arms and remained silent. He obviously was going to push me for more information.Why else would he still be standing there?
“Need a car?” he asked,jerking his chintowards the passing yellow taxis. I shook my head and nodded towards the nearby subway entrance. Somehow, I thoughtthe taxis would decline the offer when I told them how deep in Brooklyn I needed to go.
He rolled his eyes and held out his hand as if to say ‘after you.’ We walked in silence until we hit the staircase to the subway. Down below, the stench of sweaty air greeted me like a smack in the face.
I stopped before the gum dotted staircase and waited for him to pepper me with questions.
“Are you planning on coming home with me?” I asked sarcastically, steppingaside as a miserably hungoverwomanmoved pastme, mascara smeared underneath her eyes.
Sebastianmovedcloser, and it surprised me that I allowed him to get that close without pressingmyknife against him.
His warm breath tickled my ear as he whispered, “When I come home with you, you’ll be begging me.”
The warmth traveled from the shell of my ear down to my chest. I internally reminded myself that it was dangerous to be around him. The sooner I was away from him, the better.Sebastianstared down at me as Ihobbleddown the stairs, stepping over a passed out man. The stale vomit besidethe mansent up whiffs of soured pizza and scents I didn’t even want to identify.
