Death Wish

Chapter 28: In Your Dreams, Loser

When we get to my apartment that night, after preparing for bed, I grab some linen from the closet and start to spread it out on the couch.

"What are you doing?" Lorenzo asks.

"Uh, duh, setting up my bed."

"Where am I going to sleep?"

"Duh, the bed."

"Uh, duh, no," Lorenzo says, mocking me.

"Hey! This is my apartment and I will tell you where to sleep."

"No, I'm sleeping on the couch. You are sleeping on your own bed."

"My parents raised me better than that. I offer my bed to guests. You are a guest. Therefore, you sleep on the bed I offer to you."

"Fine, I'll just get a hotel room. I'm not having you sleep on the couch for me."

Lorenzo turns to leave the apartment, but I stop him.

"Wait! You can't leave! I don't want you paying for the hotel room, it's too expensive, especially last minute like this."

"Well, then what are we going to do?"

"I don't know."

We just stand there in silence, refusing to be the first to back down.

"Fine, we can both sleep on the floor?" I say, it coming out like a question.

"Why?"

"Well it's the lowest part and that way we're equal. No one is sleeping in a better place."

"Fine."

We take out the linen and lay it on the floor, trying to make the padding as thick as possible. I sleep as far away from him as possible, trying to avoid as much confrontation as possible. I'm laying there, staring at the ceiling in the dark, getting no sleep, when I hear Lorenzo's voice pipe up.

"Linnea?"

"Yeah?"

"Why'd Thibault come after you?"

I pause then I answer.

"Apparently, my dad was super rich as an architect but he put away that money. I guess so we wouldn't grow up like spoiled brats. Not that you're one, of course!"

He chuckles and I take that as a sign to continue.

"So when he died, I would get everything he left behind, excluding what he left Thibault. Thibault said I would inherit a lot of money even with the tax out. I think he said like seven hundred million or something. He kidnapped me so I could access it and give it to him. If I didn't, he would threaten to kill me, but I knew it was just a threat. He can't kill me. He needs me alive to get to the inheritance. So he threatened you. Said he knew how I felt about you and would hurt you to get to me. I showed him I didn't care and it worked, he's not after you. But he won't stop until I hand over the inheritance."

Something during my explanation, Lorenzo had moved over and grabbed my hand in his large one.

"I won't let anyone hurt you ever again. Whether it's me or someone else, no one will ever hurt you again. I promise."

I smile and scoot closer to him. Resting my head on his chest covered by a thin shirt, I listen to the thumping of his heartbeat and his steady breathing, which lulls me to sleep.

...

I wake up to the sound of waves crashing against the beach. My apartment building is practically on the beach and it's perfect. My head is still on Lorenzo's chest, but he wrapped his arm around me and our legs got tangled sometime during the night. I rest my head on his chest again and feel the rise and fall of his chest in rhythm of his heartbeat. I look up at him sleeping peacefully and laugh at how angelic he looks and know it's just a facade. He is woken by my laughing and he looks down at me and smiles.