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Every morning, I was astonished at my ability to sleep with this man in my home. Shit, maybe I was crazy or twisted. It definitely wasn’t because I felt safe with him.
“W-what?” I yawned.
He plopped down on the bed, nearly sitting on my leg. “Get up and get dressed. The car is waiting for us.”
I made my eyes focus on him. His back was to me, black sport coat in place. “Car?”
Turning his head to the side, he eyed me. “Lilith, get the fuck up, put some clothes on, and let’s go!”
I jumped at the boom in his voice. “Damn, okay! I’m still half asleep. How should I dress for this occasion? Should I match you? Business attire?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
Thirty minutes and a very rushed job of showering and putting myself together later, we were in the back of a vintage Rolls Royce. I didn’t know a lot about cars, but I knew about this particular car because my dad loved them. He even had an old one he bought but never got running sitting in his back yard. The one we were riding in was in peak condition, beautiful, and had my mind full of new questions about the killer sitting beside me, questions I kept to myself as he rode in silence, his attention out the window beside him. Something was on his mind and I couldn’t help but wonder if him finally letting me leave my building after literal weeks was the end, my finale. Had I dressed for my own burial or disposal or…shit. I cast my gaze out my own window, deciding to try and figure out where we were headed, anything but ruminate on my impending demise, but the tears still came. As hard as I tried to hide my slow descent into madness, he still knew. He probably heard me sniffle or something.
“Calm down, baby. I’m not taking you somewhere to kill you,” he said without turning to look at me. He sounded rather bored.
Bored with me?
And why would I care if he sounded bored with me?
This demon was driving me crazy.
I didn’t bother to reply although I was a tad relieved.
I guess.
With one last sniffle, I scooted closer to the door.
I could jump out, couldn’t I?
Nah, I’d probably still end up dead.
Oh, we’re on the west side of the city, the financial district.
There’s Memphis’s building.
With that last thought, I forced myself to turn and look at Ray, finding his gaze on me. His scent smacked me in the face, confusing me even more than usual when it came to him.
“Uh…um, this is the rich part of town. Where are we going?” I asked.
“You’ll see. We’re almost there,” he answered, patting my thigh.
I pushed his big hand off me and returned my attention to the scenery outside my window as he softly chuckled.
“So…what do you think?” Ray asked once he’d led me into the building, the empty building.
I was familiar with this piece of real estate, a new build I’d passed several times while running errands and such. I’d often wondered what would eventually be housed in it.
Shrugging, I said, “I mean, it’s nice, spacious, empty. What am I supposed to think, and can you let go of my hand? What do you think I’ma do? Make a run for it?”
He tightened his grip on my hand and leaned in close to my ear. “I think you’d try, and I ain’t got time to punish you for failing to succeed.”
I jerked my head away from his, craning my neck to look at him. “Punish me? The fuck does that mean?!”
“Whatever you think it means, baby. Use your imagination. Now, what do you think about moving your boutique here?”
“Huh?” I muttered, partially still processing the punishment thing and partially trying to process the boutique part. “What? Why would I move my boutique?”
