He nods with a chuckle. “Let me know if you need me again.”
FOURTEEN
EVERETT
My legs are still fucking shaking, and my thong is soaked.
Fuck.
I got off with nothing more than his fingers and tongue. Most men can’t even do that with their dicks.
I wobble in my heels up the stone steps and into the house. The large open space is quiet. My heels clap on the floor as I make my way down the hallway to the study.
Opening the double doors, I enter to see my dad and his new protégé already present. I hold in a sigh when a set of green eyes meet mine.
“Eve.” My dad stands and greets me with a kiss on each cheek.
He’s the kind of father every child deserves. I might not have his DNA, but this man saved me.
Twenty years old
I must be dead. It’s the only reason I feel warm and wrapped in something soft. Maybe it’s a hallucination. Either way, it’s heaven compared to the hell I’ve lived in.
“Everett?” a man’s voice calls out to me. “Everett? Can you hear me?”
My right eye is forced open, and a bright light shines into it—back and forth. I look ahead while it blinds what little sight I have.
“Everett?” The man to my right touches my shoulder, and I cower in the large bed. He sighs heavily, sitting in a chair close by my side. “Everett, my name is William, but you can call me Bill. Bill Marks. I’m here to help you, Eve. May I call you Eve?”
I blink rapidly, wondering why I can only see with my right eye and look to the man who wears a white doctor’s coat on my left.
“This is Doctor Gavin. He’s going to take care of you. Get you feeling better,” the man, Bill, informs me.
I say nothing. I’m not even sure I could talk if I wanted to. My body is heavy, and my mind is foggy. Where am I? Why is it so bright? And my chest…it hurts. Like a tugging pain with each breath I take.
“Is she blind in her left eye?” Bill asks the doctor at my silence.
“She had a hyphema. I drained it and am keeping it covered with an eye patch between administering drops.”
“What causes that?” Bill wonders.
“Blunt force trauma to the head or direct hit to the eye. I’m optimistic that she’ll regain her sight shortly.”
Something itches my face, and I go to lift my right hand to scratch it, but I can’t move. The lack of movement causes me to panic, and I yank on my arms.
“Whoa. It’s okay, Eve. You’re okay,” the man by the name of Bill rushes out, getting to his feet next to my bed.
My chest tightens as the panic rises, and I can’t breathe. A rapid beeping sound starts ringing in my ears.
“Do something,” Bill barks at the doctor.
Suddenly my body is freezing, and I shiver before it relaxes back into the bed. I hate drugs. “Nooo,” I manage to croak out through my cracked lips.
“Here you go. It’s fresh and warm.” Bill places a new blanket over me, and my heavy eye blinks. “I promise, Eve. It’s okay. We’re here to help you. The restraints are for your safety.”
Help me? Restrained for my safety? That’s what my father told me after I tried to commit suicide the first time. Did I try again? I can’t remember how I got here. Or wherehereis. Where is my father? Did he send these two guys to punish me?
My head lolls to the side before blackness takes me under, but I don’t get to enjoy it for long before the voices pull me back to the surface.
