Chapter 133

“Am I your gift or your meal?” I ask in breathless anticipation.

“Both. I warned you that you’d be dinner tonight. You still came, so I’m going to assume you’re all right with being eaten?”

Dear Lord, I’m going to go up in flames.

I clear my throat. “Where are you taking me, by the way ?”

“Being that my dining room table is in my home, that’s where I’m taking you.”

Nathan lives on the upper floor of a ten-story building in Jersey City. It’s one of those places that has served as everything from an office building to a factory and has now been converted into a swanky loft that maintains that industrial character.

I’m informed that while there is a reception area where most of the residents come through, Nathan ’s place has its own entrance. An elevator accessible through his private portion of the garage leads directly to his loft.

The elevator bell chimes and we step inside the open space.

“Wow,” I say, taking it all in—the brick walls, thick exposed beams, large windows that give you