“She was then she took a walk in the park, and you’ve broken her, boss.”
Cursing, Zeke, made a move and the two women left his office. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong, but she’d pretty shook up about something.”
Zeke cursed internally. “I’ve got to let her go.”
#p#分页标题#e#
There was a moment of silence. “I don’t question your decisions, because you know what you’re doing, but, boss, I think you’re making a mistake.”
Zeke closed his eyes and rubbed them. “Let her take her walk, and get her ass back home. I’ll be there soon.”
“Okay.”
“And make sure the car is ready. Tonight, she’s going out on her own, getting the freedom that she deserves.”
He hung up the phone, hating what he’d done.
Zeke loved Alessandria, but no matter how much he tried to deal with his personal problems, he couldn’t find a way to be with Alessandria without breaking her. It was simple; he had to give her up.
Chapter Nineteen
Her heart thundered in her chest, her palms sweated, and all she could do was think about Zeke getting rid of her. Had she been a fool again, thought a man loved her when he really didn’t, when he was done with her because he’d gotten a piece of her ass?
Don’t think like that. Zeke’s different. You know that, can feel it.
She closed her eyes and wiped her tears away. She’d made a fool out of herself by crying in front of Boscoe. Although she had no clue what in the hell was going on with Zeke, was only thinking he wanted to get rid of her, she hadn’t been able to stop the flow of tears.
But she knew Zeke cared for her, had seen it in his touches, kisses, the words of possession he spoke. He’d killed Gerald, for fuck’s sake, and he’d done it to help her feel safe.
Wiping her hands on her jeans, she tried to calm herself. She didn’t want to be a wreck when he came back. She wanted to be strong, to face this, whatever this was, head on.
And then she saw the gleam of his black Mercedes coming up the drive, the sun glinting off the polished exterior. Her heart started beating even harder, even faster. She stood there in her room, staring out the window, and watched as the car came to a stop. Boscoe was already moving toward it, and when Zeke climbed out of the driver’s seat, his three-piece suit making him look powerful, dangerous, she felt her love grow for him.
He and Boscoe stood by the car for a moment and talked, and then Zeke lifted his head up and looked right at her. They stared at each other before he was striding toward the house and disappearing inside. She turned, faced the door, and it was only a few seconds before she heard the pounding of his feet coming up the stairs, down the hallway, and toward her. She grew so nervous, as nervous as she was when she’d first came to his house.
And when he stepped through the doorway, stopped, and their locked gazes, she knew by his expression that something was wrong.
“Zeke?” she said his name softer than she’d intended.
He sighed, but moved toward her, and gestured that she take a seat on the small couch across from the bed. Alessandria moved toward the couch, took a seat, and looked up at him. She was waiting for the ball to drop, the other shoe to drop. She was waiting for the end of all of this to come.
“Why were you crying with Boscoe?” He moved over to her and took a seat beside her.
She didn’t answer right away, but then she took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. “Because I have a feeling something bad is happening…with us.”
He took her hand in his, gave it a squeeze, and she knew that what he was about to say wasn’t going to be something she wanted to hear. “I love you, Alessandria.”
She exhaled, feeling that pleasurable warmth fill her.
“I would kill ten times over in order to make sure you’re safe, would take down anyone or anything that thought to bring harm to you or make you unhappy.”#p#分页标题#e#
She was going to cry.
“I would die for you, Alessandria.”
His voice had gone deeper, the emotion clear, but the hardness was still in it, too.
“But I can’t help but feel that I’m holding you back, not giving you that freedom you deserve, you seek. I want you to have that freedom, to have that sense of yourself. You deserve it above all else, and keeping you here, being with me when you came into my life unwillingly, isn’t something I can live with.”
She was crying now, not able to help herself. She loved this man. He’d given her the peace she never thought she’d have, had her feeling like she was not some doormat, like she could make up her own decisions in life. He was stronger, had helped her find the courage when she realized she didn’t have to be a victim.