The King and the Courtesan (42 page)

I shoved my hands between my thighs because they were suddenly cold. “And then what?”

“He quit the military, vanished for a whole year, and then emerged as the Ezekiel we all know. He started under the drug regime of Najih. Remember Najih?”

“Vaguely. He was around when I started high school.”

“He was a real dictator; that was one of Metro’s most violent eras. One night, Najih was found floating down the Wendel Tributary. They never found the murderer, though they probably didn’t try that hard. Everyone was just glad that Najih was dead.”

“And then Ezekiel ascended to power to take his place on the throne of the drug trade,” Stefany finished. “Though that’s the unofficial statement. So far, no one’s been able to pin him with anything.”

“To be honest,” Floyd murmured, “I haven’t been trying that hard. I know it sounds cruel, but drug lords are inevitable. There will never be any getting rid of them. Ezekiel is an evil necessity, I fear, and while I’m not comfortable with his presence, I must admit he’s made things better for Metro since Najih. Instead of funneling my money into his capture, I’ve decided to put my funds to better use—Metro schools.”

“Take care of the cause, not the effect,” Rika said with a small smile. “Educate the kids and hope they find something more to life than drugs.”

I frowned. “Education doesn’t erase shitty home lives.”

“No, but it still offers another option. With these funds, they can have after-school programs that target at-risk children. Try to keep as many as we can from ‘going under,’ as I like to say.”

“So Ezekiel’s just gonna run around free?”

“Well, if he does anything stupid, we’ll be right there with the handcuffs.” Floyd sighed. “As it is, he covers his tracks. He does actually do legitimate importing and exporting. The drugs only bring in a percentage of his income. Those are what got him so rich in the first place. He’s keeping his nose clean. It’s not that we’re not looking, it’s just that we’re waiting for him to screw up.”

Right. Like someone so obsessed with details as Ezekiel was going to slip up before the cops did.

“If I put all my funds into kicking Ezekiel out, we know someone else would take his place. Someone probably more like Najih.” Floyd could tell I was upset by this news and tried covering himself. “The police are doing what they can about Ezekiel, though.”

I shrugged. How could I possibly complain about Ezekiel anyway? The things he did were horrible, I’m sure, but he paid for my drugs and he treated me somewhat decently—better than most, less-generous clients did. As much as I wanted to care for the well-being of my neighborhood, I had to care about myself first. That’s how it was in Metro.

The new phone in my purse began to buzz. I scrambled to unlock the keypad and answer.

“We should probably be going now, Melissa.”

I recognized Victor’s voice. “All right.” I hung up and faced my newfound acquaintances. “I’m sorry, but I have to be going. It’s been nice meeting you all.” I extended a hand to Floyd, who shook it, then I offered the same to Stefany. Stefany instead rounded the table and hugged me. Mina nodded while Rika saluted lazily.

“See you around, Melissa,” she said with a grin. “Next time you’re in Alpin, you should stop by and see me. Or Stefany. Stefany makes great cupcakes.”

“Oh, yes!” Stefany said, clasping her hands together. “And I always make
far
too many. My door is always open. Much to my husband’s displeasure.”

I finally managed to excuse myself. I saw Victor already standing at the edge of the street. When we began to cross, he finally turned to me.

“Are you ready to go back to the penthouse?”

I nodded. “Yes, sounds like a good idea.”

* * *

Ezekiel was home that night and actually ate dinner at the table with me. He almost never did this, preferring instead to eat in his office with his work. Garrett and Bruce ate with us. Between bites, they discussed business with each other and Ezekiel. They barely spoke loud enough for me to hear them across the table—not that I wanted to. I would rather have eaten in ignorance than have trouble stomaching the chef’s excellent filet mignon. Occasionally, I looked over until Ezekiel’s eyes met mine. Then I’d look away and smooth my hands over what little skirt I wore.

After desert, I went up to the room while Ezekiel went to his office. A girl couldn’t spend her whole day shopping or drinking lattes at posh cafés. I was really trying to cut down on the amount of dust I injected, so I grabbed a book I’d convinced Victor to get for me at the library instead. Oh, the glamorous life of a gold-digging prostitute.

Reading had never been a large hobby of mine. In general, I avoided it when I could. But when I had plenty of time to waste, I’d learned it was a good way of escaping. I wasn’t a fast reader, and I wasn’t about to conquer any of those “deep” literature novels smart people read, but the light fluffy stuff could keep my attention for a while. It at least distracted me from the slight shake in my hands.

I was wrapped up in some fantastical world of dragons and elves when the door opened. I threw the book down onto the nightstand. Ezekiel slipped off his jacket in one smooth move, as if shrugging off a blanket. Now that I knew how extensive his combat training was, the ease of his movements made me uneasy.

I stood, as was protocol when Ezekiel entered the room. When he looked at me, I approached him, having learned his body language.

“You know how to properly knot a tie by now, I hope?” Ezekiel asked as I loosened his.

“I’ve been practicing on Victor,” I murmured. Ezekiel had been rather insistent that I learn how to knot a tie, probably so I could do his when he needed his hands free for other things. Or perhaps he thought it was something a classy, well-bred woman should know how to do for her man. Before Ezekiel, I’d never spent time with anyone who wore a tie on a regular basis.

“Would you like to try it on me a few times?” Ezekiel asked once the knot was undone.

“Um…” I bit my lip, then nodded. “All right. Your neck isn’t as thick as his.”

Ezekiel chuckled, lifting his chin as I shifted his collar. “I suppose that’s because I don’t drink all the protein shakes he does.”

For a moment, I was stunned. Ezekiel told a joke?

I couldn’t think of what to say, so I smiled and proceeded to knot his tie. I was afraid to yank too much because I wanted to impress him. I could never relax, could never mess up. Every step I took was a step without a wobble. By this point, I could have probably run a marathon in six-inch heels, since they were almost all I wore.

I slid the knot up to the base of his throat and nodded. Ezekiel turned and looked in the mirror behind him, lightly running a few fingers down the tie. The skinny part of it stuck out from behind the fat part. I waited for a harsh reprimand.

Ezekiel began to undo the tie, his face blank.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m no expert yet. I suppose I should practice on Victor more.”

“Your hands are shaking,” he said, meeting my gaze.

I folded them behind my back, blushing slightly. “I guess I’m nervous.”

Ezekiel strode across the room, looking down at the nightstand. I didn’t know what he was looking for. A needle?

“Nervous and other things, perhaps.” He picked up the book. “And this is?”

I blushed redder. “J-just a book I’ve been reading.” The colorful, juvenile cover embarrassed me. I wished I’d been reading poetry or something classier.

Ezekiel flipped through it casually. “I didn’t know you read.”

“Not much. I’ve been trying to get into it.”

“Hmm.” Ezekiel continued to stare at the cover. “How did you do in school?”

“School? Um. Well, I-I didn’t care for it much. It was all right. I guess.” So much for being articulate.

“Did you have many friends?” Ezekiel’s eyes lifted to meet mine.

“A few. What about you—” I nearly clamped a hand over my mouth, but stopped myself in time. I looked away. “I’m sorry. It’s not my place to ask.”

When I looked up, Ezekiel was standing an arm’s length away from me, watching me intently. “Is there a reason you want to know?”

“It was a reflex reply,” I whispered, head bowed. “I’m sorry.”

His finger pushed my chin up, forcing me to look at him. “Curiosity is excusable, Melissa.”

“It’s just… I know you don’t ever talk about…well,
before
you were
this
.” I motioned to the lavishly decorated bedroom. “I didn’t want to intrude.”

“Do you expect me to tell you about it?” Ezekiel asked.

“No.”

“Do you want me to?”

I shook my head a moment, then stopped and bit my lip. I wasn’t sure what kind of answer he wanted.

Ezekiel’s gaze intensified. “But don’t you already
know
?”

I blanched. He couldn’t possibly know?

His hand slipped up through my hair, gently at first, and then his fingers clasped around the roots and pulled my head back. It wasn’t a hurtful grip, but it was a firm one, and it forced me to look straight at him.

“Don’t think I can’t keep track of what you say and do, Melissa,” he murmured, his voice completely calm and smooth, the sort of voice used to quiet a scared child. “Do you think I’d let you run amok? Knowing what you know about me and my operation?”

“You heard—how could you—but—”

“So far, you’ve simply been curious, and I can’t punish innocent curiosity, even if you were foolish.” He lifted his other hand and ran his knuckles gently along my cheek. “But I have a certain priority of investments. You are quite a substantial investment of mine, and I’ve given you much freedom because I trust you. But the very nature of your freedom poses some danger to my superior investments, and I must take this into account.” He leaned down, his voice barely above a whisper. “I do ask that you take some care in what you do, Melissa. Because I’ll be there with you when you do it.”

He let go of me and strode away, heading for the bed. I took a step back, my hands shaking twice as hard and my throat dry. I gasped out, “Have you always tapped me?”

“Just lately,” he responded coolly, facing opposite me as he unbuttoned his shirt. “Since I lost track of you after that car crash. I realized I couldn’t afford not to know where you were and who you were with.”

“I would never—I—you can trust me. I would never do anything to—”

Ezekiel turned around, eyes sharp. “Don’t stutter, Melissa. Especially to me.”

For a moment, terror and uncertainty overwhelmed me, but as always, I managed to cork it and shove it beneath three layers of calm. I could do this. I’d faced worse. If I could survive a customer pointing a gun in my face, I could survive anything.

“I’m sorry.” I bowed my head slightly. “I never meant to disappoint you. I just… I only wanted to know…”

“I understand.” Ezekiel’s shirt slid off his shoulders. I shivered watching the way his muscles twitched along his back. “Innocent curiosity. Now you know my story. Is there anything you want to ask me?”

I took a deep breath. “Yola.”

Ezekiel turned, eyebrows raised. “That’s all?”

Not all, but Yola intrigued me the most. “The other woman. Floyd said there were two. Who was she?”

“Tanya. Both were my consorts, like you. Both were very smart women, obedient. They catered to my tastes at the time. And as much as I tried to curb my own primitive desires—such desires are nothing but weakness, sickness—I could not help myself.”

“Did Yola kill herself? Or did you—”

“Kill her? Of course not. Yola was one of the few women I could tolerate. In fact, I enjoyed her company. She said little, and what she did say was intuitive. She did as I said and didn’t complain. She knew her place, and she did nothing without my permission. She knew who I was, what power I held. No, she killed herself, and I had no part in it. Such a shame. She was a lovely creature.”

I sucked in a deep breath of air before asking the next question. “And Tanya?”

Ezekiel’s hands paused as they moved to unbuckle his belt. “Tanya was different. She was even more beautiful than Yola and twice as smart. She was an asset when trained properly. However, she had a knack for quiet rebellion and liked to test her boundaries. She knew the dangers she faced, and yet she provoked them anyway.”

I tried to keep my hands from shaking as I finally smoothed back the hair Ezekiel’s fingers had mussed. “What happened to her?”

Ezekiel was silent a long time before saying, “She committed suicide.”

“Like Yola?”

“Well, she did it in a different manner. Yola pulled the trigger on herself, through no doing of my own. Tanya did something she knew was wrong in a deliberate attempt to control me. She knew I wouldn’t approve, and yet she did it anyway.”

“But what…?”

“It’s of no consequence.”

I could only stare.

“She knew the repercussions of her actions,” Ezekiel continued, as if discussing the weather. “And so, in a way…” The muscles in his neck tensed for a second. “She killed herself.”

I was rooted to the floor, speechless and suddenly very cold. Ezekiel slipped his belt through the loops of his slacks and waved me forward.

“Come here, Melissa. I have you for a reason, don’t I?”

Ezekiel was eerily quiet during sex. Or maybe I was used to loud customers who screamed obscenities at me. I was pretty quiet, too, but that’s because I usually didn’t enjoy the sex. I closed my eyes and thought of something else. But Ezekiel knew me by now, and I think he got some enjoyment out of bringing me pleasure. It wasn’t the usual kindness you’d associate with the act of bringing a woman to orgasm. I wasn’t positive, of course, but I didn’t think it was about
my
pleasure. I think it was about
his ability
to make me feel pleasure.

Ezekiel had an amazing physique, one he spent at least an hour a day toning and training. He made me feel self-conscious even though I was usually not a terribly self-conscious woman. He made me feel so tiny and fragile. One swipe of his hand could make me feel good, but anther might bring my life to an end. I always stood on the edge, waiting for something violent. When his muscles tensed, I felt a stroke of fear, wondering if he was just finishing or if he was preparing to hurt me.