Chapter 59. Roses and Tension

Layla’s POV

As I walked out into the night, crisp and clear, I was still feeling the intense rush of emotions from all the happenings just behind me at the auction house. Ezra had been so very brazen it had thrown me out of my comfort, but his unwavering support still lay inside me, like an unuttered promise. What had been his motive? Was it merely strategy? Or was there something more that lay under that devil-may-care facade?

I walked toward his car past him hurriedly, wordlessly. Ezra opened the door to let me into the passenger seat, where I inhaled the light whiffs of leather and his cologne. It was quiet for a time, the engine humming low in the background. I looked through the window at the city lights and reflected on everything jumbled together in my lap.

“I hope you don’t mind me taking you back,” Ezra said after a while, speaking softly in that smooth way only he could manage. “After all, I invited you out tonight.”

I glanced over at him, th