Zeke's Rule(14)

“I don’t want to be hurt.”

“You’ve been hurting a long time,” Zeke said in a hard tone.

“I’ve had sex with men I find repulsive.” She paused, and her gaze landed at her feet. “I’m not a woman anymore. I’m not the woman I ever wanted to be. I’m a whore, a dirty filthy whore.”

He pushed her against the wall near his office, trying to be gentle, and placed his palm across her mouth, silencing her. Her eyes grew wide, but she didn’t fight him. There was fire in this woman and a brokenness about her. The combination contradicted each other, and yet it made perfect sense to him in a strange kind of way.

“Don’t call yourself that.” He released her mouth, and she started to speak, but he stopped her by speaking himself. “I’m giving you the chance to be a woman you always wanted to be. Who did you used to be?”

“I don’t know.”

Silence passed between them. It was long, tense, but it was real.

“Let’s go into my office, take a seat, and talk. Once we’ve talked, we’re going to go into the kitchen and eat.”

“Why are you being nice to me?”#p#分页标题#e#

He tilted his head to the side and stared at her for a second, thinking about her question. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “You’re a beautiful woman, Alessandria.”

“No, I’m not.”

“You are, but that’s not why I brought you here.”

“Then why.” Her voice shook harder.

“Why are you afraid of me? Have I done anything to make you feel that way?”

She shook her head. “You’re scary, and you’re powerful.” A moment passed before she spoke again. “Why would you want anything to do with me? Beautiful women will gravitate toward you because of what you offer them.”

“I don’t know if I should be insulted or not.”

“I’m not insulting you; I’m only speaking the truth.” She shrugged, and he didn’t like it.

“You can speak the truth here with me. But don’t talk honestly in front of my men.”

“Why?”

“I don’t like being questioned. If my men believe there’s room for negotiations, they will take advantage. I’m not about to give them the chance to take advantage. They know their place with me.”

She nodded.

He entered his office and pointed for Alessandria to take a seat while he moved to his desk. Removing his cell phone from his pocket, he saw there was a message from Dani.

Are you coming for dinner tomorrow?

Smiling, he typed back a quick response that he would. Glancing up at Alessandria, he saw her watching him stoically. He placed his cell phone into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

Taking out the gun tucked in the waistband at the small of his back, he laid it on the desk. Alessandria tensed up.

“We will have your test results back in a couple of days,” he said.

“Okay.”

“Do you know if you’re clean or not?”

She shook her head. “Condoms were not exactly his concern. Making sure the men got off was.” She shrugged.

Zeke stood and walked over to her, taking a seat in front of her. She wiped away a tear, and he reached out, tilting her head back with a finger under her chin. Every time he touched her, she tensed.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I’m sure you’ve got a history of hurting and killing people.”

“You didn’t even know who I was. Gerald didn’t exactly give you a portfolio of all my misdeeds.”

“Misdeeds? You’re one of the deadliest men; everyone fears you. I’ve heard enough while I was with your women at your club and from…him.”

“It’s just talk.”

“You’re telling me you’ve not killed people besides the two I’ve seen?”

He liked that she seemed calmer right now, that she was open to asking him questions. Any other person knew not to open their mouths, but she was amusing him with this. “I’ve killed a lot of people.”

“Did you enjoy it?” she asked in a soft voice.

Zeke stared at her, and wondered why she was pushing the question. “Do you want me to kill you?”





Alessandria had never considered herself suicidal before, but staring at the gun laying on his desk, she wondered how easy it would be. She hated her life and didn’t even look forward to tomorrow. And she was asking this man questions that probably put other people in the ground. But for how frightening he was, she actually believed he wouldn’t hurt her, even if he did scare her. How long had it been since she’d last looked forward to waking up in a morning? She couldn’t remember; it had been so long.#p#分页标题#e#