God, I hate the sun.
I wish it would explode.
After a long mental debate, I decided to finally open my eyes. The sun fell onto my bed, making my already light hair look even lighter.
I tried to roll out of bed, when the weight of something stopped me.
"Good morning," Ezra's voice whispered in my ear.
"Jesus Christ!" I gasped, jumping out of bed, making his arm release me.
His mouth formed a smirk as he sat up, his dark hair messy. His head tilted slightly and his tone was teasing, "Morning prayer? Since when are you religious?"
My eyebrows lowered at him. I crossed my arms and watched him as he stood up, grabbing his shirt that he had taken off.
My brain slowly remembered last night.
Him sleeping in my room.
Not being able to use the tranquilizer.
Him telling me that he loves me.
"Lilac?" his voice made my head snap up.
I spoke quickly, "Hm? What? Oh. No, I'm not religious - well, I don't think so, maybe-"
He pulled his shirt over his head as he cut me off, "Are you nervous?"
The smirk on his face already told me that he thought I was.
"No," I said in a 'duh' tone.
He did a small nod, and made a slight 'hm' sound.
"Were you just, like, watching me sleep?" I asked.
His eyebrows lowered, "Why would I not want to watch the most beautiful thing on earth? Even though your big head made my arm fall asleep."
"My head is not big!" my hands immediately went to my head to feel it. "It's normal. If anything, I need a bigger head."
The asshole smiled.
I pointed my finger at him, "I don't mean it how you're thinking it."
"I didn't even say anything," he shrugged while smiling.
Why couldn't I use the fucking tranquilizer?
"Ezra?" Martíns voice could be heard echoing in the hallway, as well as quick footsteps.
Ezra turned his head toward the door as he called back, "In here."
Footsteps echoed in the hallway until the door swung open, revealing a confused Martín. His eyebrows lowered and he pointed between us, "You...slept together?"
"No-"
"Yes-"
I shot Ezra a death glare as he smirked.
"He slept in here, but only slept," I enunciated the word 'only.'
Ezra rolled his eyes, "What do you need, Martín?"
Martín cleared his throat and looked away from me, trying to move on, "The guys you killed last night - their bodies have been taken care of. But the cars haven't, so you need to deal with that since I have to go help Eliza."
My eyes widened at how quickly Martín just glossed over some people's murders.
"No problem," Ezra shrugged.
Martín nodded his head at him once before leaving the room.
Ezra tried to act like nothing happened, "So, what do you want for break-"
"Who did you kill last night before coming and sleeping in my bed?" I cut off his question with crossed arms.
He let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair.
"I was trying to get answers on who stole my money and put the bounty on you. They all claimed they didn't know, I got annoyed, so I killed them," his hands slipped into his pockets as he spoke.
I stood there in silence for a few moments, staring at him with a 'what the fuck?' expression.
"Don't worry, I'll put their cars to good use, donate them or something," he shrugged casually.
I let out a scoff, unable to believe what I was hearing. He made a face as if he had no idea why I'd scoff.
"It's really not that big of a deal, sweetheart," he continued talking casually. "Only two of them had children."
"Only?" my voice was louder than his.
He thought for a second.
"Ah, three of them. My mistake," he spoke nonchalantly.
I shook my head in disbelief. I started to walk out of the room, heading straight past him.
His eyebrows drew together in confusion before quickly walking in front of me, blocking my path. I hate how much taller than me he is.
I gave him an irritated look, "Move."
"Wait," his voice was softer now.
He put his hands on my upper arms gently, bending down to be eye-level with me. I swallowed my saliva, staring into his brown eyes.
"I want you to come to my nightclub with me tonight, since we didn't end up going," he told me. "And I know you'll be protected while you're with me. I'd do it with my life."
I opened my mouth to say hell no.
But then I thought about it for a second.
And it would be way better than being stuck here. Plus, it's not like I have to stay with him all night.
"Okay, fine," I told him, and his mouth instantly turned up in a smile. "But don't think that this means I like you. I'm just bored."
His eyes looked me up and down, "And beautiful."
"Asshole," I tried to keep my voice strong, although it wavered a bit.
"Goddess," his voice was nearly a whisper as he slowly tucked some hair behind my ear.
"Fucking psycho," I tilted my head, looking up at him as he moved back upright.
His hands went to my cheeks, his thumbs holding my chin. His white teeth revealed themselves as he nodded, "I know I'm psychotic. A murderer, and all that shit."
He took a pause in his sentence as his thumb tugged down on my bottom lip for a moment.
"But I'm nothing more than obsessed with you," he finished his sentence, and I felt something move in my stomach.
Stop the fucking feeling in your stomach, Lilac.
He's a killer.
"Obsessions can be dangerous," I managed to speak.
His dark eyes moved around my face.
"Sometimes," his voice was quiet. "But you're worth it."
"You kill people because of me," how crazy my sentence was caused my voice to be quieter than I meant for it to be.
He shook his head, "I don't kill people because of you. I kill people for you."
His words caused a feeling that I couldn't explain. A mix of both fear, and feeling safe. I continued to stare at him. Into his eyes, that should scare me, but don't.
He took a step back, "Tonight at 10."
Since it felt like all the words in the world were stuck in my throat, I just nodded.
I watched his back as he turned around to leave the room, leaving me standing alone.
---------
I twist and turned my torso in the mirror, smiling as I looked at my baby blue dress.
My favorite color.
"Lilac, darling?" Ezra said from the other side of the door while knocking on it. "Are you ready?"
I gave myself one more look before turning and walking toward my door.
I opened it, and instantly noticed Ezra's appearance. Black pants with a black button-up shirt, looking like the guy I'd dream of as a kid.
"Blue hibiscus," he told me the flowers in his hand.
"Thank you," I said quietly, as he reached to set them on my vanity.
His eyes looked me up and down, "You look so fucking beautiful."
"You don't look horrible," I complimented him back.
"Aw. Sweetest thing you've ever said to me," he smirked.
He walked behind me as we headed downstairs for his car.
But as we got closer and closer to it, I let out a groan.
"Because I'm so happy to be coming," Asher said from the back seat after I groaned dramatically at the sight of him.
"He's coming for security," Ezra told me.
"Mhm. How fun."
I got into the car anyway. It wasn't that long of a drive until we parked outside. The line was long, but I knew that since he owned it, we wouldn't be waiting in it.
Ezra grabbed my hand once we were out of the car, and I followed him inside.
Asher thankfully went his own way, and Ezra guided me to two chairs.
A worker rushed over to him with a glass of whiskey, as if they didn't, they'd die. Which maybe they would.
"So, what do you think of the place?" he asked while placing his left ankle on his right knee.
I looked around. The loud music shook the floor and neon lights lit up the floor, paired with flashing ones also coming from the ceiling. There were more people here than I had ever seen in my entire life - but it caused for me to ask a question.
"Why do you own a club when you're involved with....other stuff?" I lowered my voice at the last part.
This made him smile.
"You can speak openly about what I do, I have nothing I'm ashamed of. I own this place so I can use it to launder money. Money I get from, lets say, stuff like drugs," he explained as if he were talking about his shift at the grocery store last Thursday.
I nodded, "Hm. Okay. And what do you do with all this money?"
"I was using every single dollar to search for you," he told me, and something moved in my stomach. "But now, I'm spending it on growing my assets. But there are some things that aren't for business."
"Like?"
"Like the field of lilacs. And this other thing, which I purchased for you," he said vaguely before sipping on his drink.
My curiosity grew. I asked him, "What is it?"
"It's a little far. A few hours drive," he told me. "Let me take you there soon."
"Only if you tell me what it is," I crossed my legs and smiled sweetly.
His tongue ran along his teeth as he smiled back at me.
"It's a horse ranch. I thought you might enjoy visiting it sometimes," he told me, and my inner child that always wanted to ride a horse nearly exploded.
"Oh my God!" I exclaimed, smiling from cheek to cheek.
Without thinking, I jumped out of my seat and hugged him. His body was hard from his muscles, and his cologne smelt like mahogany. His arms instantly wrapped around me, holding me tightly as his face sat in the crook of my neck.
Once I realized what I was going, I cleared my throat and took a step back.
I sat back down and smiled at him, "Thank you."
"Of course," I barely heard his response.
"I need you to promise me something, Lilac," his voice was suddenly far more serious.
His eyes stared into mine with a look that made me drop my smile and nod.
"I need you to promise me that you won't try to run away," his words made me feel guilty for some reason. "Somebody wants to hurt you to hurt me. I won't fucking let that happen. Protecting you is the most important thing in the entire world to me - I just need you to promise you won't try and run away, and you'll stay with me, where you're safe."
I couldn't exactly tell him about the tranquilizer - and my deal with Asher.
But for some reason, his words made me feel something. Something I couldn't explain.
"Promise me," he repeated over the sound of the music.
The words left my lips, "I promise."
A smile slowly spread across his face. He said a quiet, "Good."
He reached across and grabbed my hand, lifting it to his lips and kissing the top of it.
I kept thinking about what I just said over and over again.
"I need a second," I said abruptly before quickly standing up.
I started to push past all of the sweaty drunk people, getting whiffs of alcohol as I did so.
Why did I just promise that?
My eyes fell onto an area with no people, and I let out a sigh before walking over there. I stood by myself, taking a deep breath.
I thought I lost his eyes, but as I looked around the room, I locked eye contact with them. Watching me protectively.
I sighed to myself, running a hand through my hair.
I looked around the room, trying to find somewhere I could go for some privacy.
That's when my eyes fell onto a black and gold door. I began walking towards it, the flashing purple and blue lights mixed with the smell of vodka making me dizzy for a moment.
I entered through the door, and felt calmer immediately. Music still played, but not as loud. Lights still flashed, but not as bright.
My eyes moved up, and I froze for a moment.
I went into the stripping section.
Beautiful women danced on golden poles, their hair flowing as they spun around. Men sat everywhere, enjoying the show, while sipping on drinks and smoking both cigars and cigarettes.
"This isn't your kind of crowd, Lilac," Ezra's voice spoke slowly in my ear.
I turned my head to the side to see him slightly. My eyebrows went up, "No?"
He kept his face the same, sure of his words.
I turned my head back forward, looking at the girls. I said to Ezra while looking at them, "We'll see."
I could feel the confusion on his face, even though I couldn't see him.
I began walking up to an empty pole in the middle. I heard Ezra call my name, but I didn't turn around.
I stepped up on the small stage, my hand nervously wrapping around the pole as I looked at it up and down.
Never in my life had I ever done this before. The pole was colder than I thought, and looking at my heels, I began to wonder how girls did this in these kinds of shoes.
But then I looked back up. When I did, I noticed all of the other girls were now walking to the side, towards a door with 'Staff Only' written on it. My eyebrows lowered until I saw Ezra again.
He was standing in the middle of the room, which was still filled with men, who were now only looking at me.
I could tell Ezra was pissed from how he looked at all the other men. If looks could kill, they'd all be dead.
But he was also looking at me with a look, as if now, he didn't think I would do it.
So I started to move around the pole. Men are stupid and only think with their dicks, causing all of their heads to lift.
I spun around the pole, my movement matching the music playing. My hair whipped around from the movement, and I smirked seeing Ezra looking at the men with even more hate on his face. He crossed his arms and kept his jaw tight.
I smiled at him, which only made his jaw get tighter.
My black heel almost fell off as I wrapped my leg around the pole. I spun, tilting my head back, making my hair reach my ass. I was just copying movements I had seen the other girls do - but judging by the fact that the men were now leaning forward in their chairs, I'd say I was doing a pretty good job.
I leaned forward as I grabbed the pole, purposefully showing my cleavage. Leaning down now showed me the bills on the ground, which I hadn't even noticed being thrown.
I stood back up, spinning some more as I heard a man whistle.
I bit my lip as the song playing came to an end. I was smiling widely to myself - but it only lasted for a second before a pair of strong hands lifted me off the stage.
I didn't say anything. I already knew it was Ezra, even before he put me down.
The blue light highlighted his face as he looked down at me, "Now, we have two problems, Lilac."
"Oh do we, Ezra?" I spoke innocently. "And what would that be?"
His voice was firm, "First, I'm as hard as a fucking rock."
I felt my eyes widen, not expecting him to say that. My cheeks turned hot, but from the blue light, you couldn't tell. Why the fuck am I blushing?
"And the second one, I'll deal with," he said vaguely. "Go wait for me outside of the door."
I rolled my eyes, but didn't feel like arguing.
I walked away from him and went back out the door I came in from. I stood outside of it, leaning against the wall. I smiled to myself, thinking about what I had just done.
"Now's your chance," Asher suddenly said from behind me.
I turned around, giving him an unamused look. I told him, "Tonight's not going to work."
"And why not?" he spoke over the music.
"Because," I said a little harshly. "It just won't."
He looked like he didn't understand. His face was curious as he looked me up and down.
"You're not beginning to have feelings for Ezra, right?" he said, making my body freeze and head snap upward a little.
My reply was instant, "No, don't be stupid."
He looked at me like he didn't believe me.
"He has too many guards outside," I quickly followed up to defend my reasoning. "I won't even get four steps out the door before I'm handcuffed to my bed so that I can never leave. He can't expect anything. Plus, if I escape while you're supposed to be security, you think he won't kill you?"
I hated how fast I was talking. I took a deep breath, while Asher thought about what I had just said.
"Fine," he nodded slightly. "As long as that's the only reason why."
"It is," I snapped.
He stared at me in silence for a moment while the lights flashed and the music played.
"Now, I'm leaving. I'll go see what's taking Ezra so long," I mumbled before turning around.
My hand turned the knob, and I winced immediately. The music was now playing ten times louder.
I looked up to try and find Ezra, but the second I did, my hand slapped over my mouth.
Every single man was dead. Some sat in the chairs with blood on their faces and shirts, looking up at the ceiling, or were slouched. Others laid on the ground, covered in their own blood.
The lights still flashed. And with every flash, the bodies were visible.
I saw a figure move out of my peripheral vision, and snapped my head toward Ezra.
"What the fuck?" I yelled over the music as I stormed over to him.
His sleeves were rolled up, and each flash of light revealed his blood-stained hands. But it also revealed his face - which didn't seem to care about the dozens of dead bodies.
"After looking at you the way that they did, these men needed to die," he stated matter-of-factly. "You don't fucking get it, Lilac."
"No, I don't."
He took a step toward me, the tip of his shoe now touching mine. He stared down at me, "You are mine, and only mine. If a man ever lays a hand on you, looks at you the way I do, or hurts you, I'll fucking kill them and I'll do it with a smile."
I hated how murder and death didn't affect me as much as they did 5 years ago. It didn't make me sick to my stomach anymore. Shamefully, his words made me feel safe with him.
"You can't kill anybody that talks to me," my words made him roll his eyes.
"Talk to you, no. Look at you like you're a toy they wanna play with, and I'll gladly let them choke on their own blood," his voice was strong. "Because I'll never let another man fucking touch you, Lilac."
His eyes never left mine and his voice never weakened once.
Slap him, Lilac.
Fucking slap him.
His large hand grabbed mine gently, "Now, lets go home. I think tonight should be over."
Slap. Him. You. Fucking. Idiot.
"Okay," I agreed.
I hate that I didn't just slap him.
I hate that I'm following him out of the club to leave with him.
But what I hate most,
Is the fact that I don't hate him as much as I thought I did.
Word count: 3303