actually cares about people. Even men like him pretend to support children’s charities.” A Way Forward provided mentors for children who’d lost one or both of their parents.
“That son of a bitch is not going to spend one more day in Congress.”
“No, he’s not, but we need to handle this carefully. I don’t want to use your shop since it’s likely under surveillance. Niall and Giorgio are on their way to my house.”
“I’ll call in. I’m not leaving Ezra, and I’m going to need at least half an hour.”
“Because of Ezra?”
I fought the urge to snap at him. “Just give me a little while.”
“You better not be putting this off to take advantage of that boy.”
“That is not what this—”
X whistled. “Wow. I was teasing, but I think I know what’s going on now.”
I really needed the call to end. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Take care of him.”
“I am.”
I ended the call, and Ezra looked up at me. “Do you need to leave?”
“I need to call X back later. There’s time for me to hold you, clean you up, and get you something to eat and drink.”
He frowned. “I thought the whole point of this was to punish me.”
“It was to make you remember to obey me, but your punishment is over now. You deserve to be given all the care you need.” He shivered, and I pulled him against me. “Cold?”
“A little and… sticky.”
I smiled. “I bet you are. Do you want me to clean you up now?”
“I can just take a shower if you—”
“No. I’m staying with you. I can clean you off in the shower or here, but X and the others can wait until you’ve recovered.”
He shook his head. “How can you be so wrong about yourself?”
“What do you mean?”
“You are amazingly good for me. The best.”
“I want to be.” I pulled him against me and held him tight. “You’re everything to me, but I don’t want you in danger all the time.”
“I want to stay here. I want…” His words trailed off, and I squeezed him tighter.
“Just let me hold you for a little while.” Later, when I wasn’t headed to a meeting to discuss walking into more danger and Ezra wasn’t recovering from submitting to me, we would talk about the future.
21
Ezra
Leo held me for several long, wonderful moments, then he needed to shower and have a phone meeting with X and the others. For a while after he left the room, I lay there, staring at the ceiling and thinking about how much I wanted to stay with Leo forever, wishing there was a way to convince him he was exactly what I needed. Finally, I dragged myself to the shower, cleaned up, and dressed.
My phone rang as I was pacing Leo’s bedroom, anxious to know what he and the others were planning.
It was Cathy. “Hey, what’s up?”
“I saw the tattoo shop closed early and there seemed to be some commotion over there. I wanted to make sure you were all right.”
“Oh. Um… I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound like yourself. What happened today?”
I sighed. I was going to have to tell her something. “You know how I was sure Leo was involved in something shady?”
“Yes… Ezra, are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m sure.” I stopped pacing and looked out the window at the foggy city. “I wasn’t exactly right about what was going on, but I accidentally got myself in the middle of it. I’m at Leo’s apartment now, and I’m not supposed to leave here without him.”
“That doesn’t sound good at all. He’s keeping you prisoner?”
“No, it’s not like that.” I ran a hand through my damp hair. “He’s protecting me. I… There was an incident today. It could have gone a lot worse. It’s not safe for me to be out on my own.”
“I want details, or I’m going to find you and bring you home with me.”
“No, you can’t. If you come after me, you’ll be in danger too.”
Cathy huffed. “Ezra, I don’t like this. I thought you working for Leo would be great, and I warned him not to—”
A knot formed in my stomach. “Cathy, what did you warn him about?”
“Um… nothing… Never mind.”
She was not getting away with that. “Tell me now.”
“I told him there’d be hell to pay if he hurt you.”
I thought about the ropes gripping my wrists and crisscrossing my body, about his huge cock thrusting deep inside. All of that had been pain I’d welcomed, and the ropes truly hadn’t hurt, except when I’d pulled