BRYN MAWR, PENNSYLVANIA
Itossed my keys into the ceramic dish by the door, my weapon beside it as I toed off my boots. Any other night I would have stashed them inside the entry table by the front door, but not tonight. I was feeling too fucking high on life to care. Despite how shitty my morning had started, my mood had drastically shifted. News of James’s alleged crimes and illegitimate son had been a gut punch, but now, things felt different.
I’d never been one to get caught up on looks, but the man’s sex appeal was undeniable. Having been almost a year since my last relationship, I’d never felt such a fast and deep attraction to a man. I wanted to blame Alexa for placing those thoughts in my head before I’d even had a chance to form an unbiased opinion, but I knew it was utter bullshit.
He would have made the same impact. His touch would have sent the same jolts between my thighs. And those damn eyes—I would have found myself lost in them all the same.
I gripped the edge of the kitchen counter and shook my head, a stupid smile plastered on my face. I was in trouble, and I knew it. Derek was definitely flirting, and still, I suggested we be friends, knowing damn well platonic would be a short-lived status between us. I could feel it. Feel what his touch did to my insides and my underwear.
Despite my past—or maybe in spite of it, sexual situations didn’t trigger fears or trauma as long as I was in control and sex was on my terms.
My bag vibrated against the marble. I didn’t need to look to know it was Lex. She’d called nonstop for the last hour. I felt terrible ignoring her calls, but I needed time to think—about Derek, the allegations against James, and what my father’s involvement in all this entailed.
My screen lit up again, highlighting the twenty-five missed calls.
All from Alexa.
Finally accepting number twenty-six, I set the device on my counter, far from my ear, because I knew what awaited.
“Evangelina Cruz! I could kill you. How dare you worry me like this? Even if you’d been lying dead in a ditch somewhere, I would have strung you up again!”
“Lex, relax. I’m fine,” I assured her, pulling a bottle of water from my fridge. “I was never in any danger. Calm down.”
There was no way I was telling her about that asshole Kiernan because I’d never hear the end of it, and I knew it would somehow mar her image of Derek. For some reason, I needed and wanted her approval.
“So you just forgot to text? Bitch. I wasthisclose to calling your dad… then Quantico.”
That earned a laugh. “Lex, did you forget what I do for a living? Certainly not my first time in an unknown, possibly dangerous situation. And what about Derek automatically makes him a serial killer? You’re being crazy.”
She blew out a puff of air. “Oh, he’s Derek now? And you can’t blame me. After the shit you told me James was involved in—”
“Allegedly.”
“Allegedly. That’s all I could think about. Who’s to say this Derek guy isn’t part of that shady world too? I just have this feeling. You know how I am.”
I did. Alexa claimed to be in touch with her spiritual side and was big into astrology, auras, and the whole nine. She was constantly rearranging my chakras, or whatever the hell it was.
“I know. And I’m sorry for making you worry. But you don’t have to. Derek was… he wasgreat.”
There was an uncomfortable silence before Alexa’s whistled exhale pierced through the speaker.
“Excuse me? What the fuck was that?”
Chugging the last of my water, I crossed into the living room, her question hanging in the air. When I reached the couch, I plopped onto its soft surface while Lex huffed an exaggerated sigh, impatiently waiting for my response.
Setting the phone on my chest, I feigned innocence. “What was what?”
“That whole breathyDerek-was-greatthing?”
I couldn’t help laughing at her ridiculous imitation of my voice.
“Your imagination.”
“Eva, you lying ass hoe! He’s hot, isn’t he?”
I groaned loudly into a decorative pillow. “Yes!”
The video call icon suddenly lit up my screen. I sat up, unable to suppress the smile etched painfully onto my face.
