That was true, but she also didn’t understand the full risks. We hadn’t told her everything with her dad and Andrew being coerced slashed blackmailed into keeping her safe.
She had no fucking idea what waited out there for her.
As we raced down the stairs, we almost crashed right into Andrew and Ethan, who were heading through the hallway into the kitchen. Probably to start dinner. A dinner that was never going to be made tonight.
“Eve’s in town,” I barked. “She must have snuck out and joined Lacey for some fucking reason.”
Ethan was the first to react, and I had to give it to my half brother, he also seemed to care for Eve in a way I’d never seen with any other woman who’d passed through his life. “What? Are you sure? There’s no way Eve would take off without telling any of us. Why would she?”
The color drained from Andrew’s face at those words, and I knew my best friend well enough to recognize the expression he now wore. I’d have fucking killed and died for this guy in a heartbeat, but as red tinted my vision, I slammed him into the wall, my hand around his throat as our gazes clashed. “What the fuck did you do?” I demanded, pulling him off the wall only to slam him against it again.
Ethan and Haze got to me in a second, tearing me off our friend, but they didn’t let Andrew skulk off into the shadows like he was prone to do. “Drew?” Ethan said with soft menace. He was almost as dangerous as me, just with stronger morals.
Andrew let out a frustrated sigh and shoved me away. “We had another fight. She got into it today with Laura, and then she was all banged up. I’m sick of finding her fucking hurt under our watch. We’re supposed to be keeping her safe.”
The rumble from my chest surprised even me; I’d never lost it like this with Drew before. “You drove her out into danger,asshole,” I said calmly, even as the rage burned. “You better start fucking praying she’s okay.”
A horn from outside broke through our tension, and after checking my gun was secured in my jeans, I headed out the door and threw myself into the passenger side. The other three were right behind me, with Haze’s phone our only means of finding Eve.
“We’ll get her home safe,” Brodie said, his voice wavering as he stared blankly through the front windshield. “She’ll be fine. I mean, no one even knows she’s out there.”
Andrew remained silent as he slid into the back seat, and I threw a dark stare back at him. She’d better be fine, or we’d all have a huge fucking problem.
41
EVELYN
Fuck Andrew. Fuck him and all his arrogant, entitled bullshit. Especially, more than anything, fuck his bitchy, nasty girlfriend for being such a goddamn pain in my ass. The way he’d come at me while I was lying on my bed reading had been totally uncalled for. Not only had henot knocked—rude-ass motherfucker—but then he’d repeatedly refused to leave when I told him I was done with our conversation.
Lesson learned: always lock my damn door.
“You’re thinking about murdering Drew again, aren’t you?” Lacey asked, nudging me with her elbow. We’d been in town for a few hours, trying on dresses that I could never afford. Lacey needed an outfit for some fancy party her family expected her to attend now that she was back in America and insisted it was just more fun if I tried on dresses too.
She was right; it was fun. Except when I started dwelling on the fight with Andrew.
I was extra pissed off because he’d been so careful not toyellat me the whole time, therefore not drawingthe attention of anyone else. In hindsight, I should have just raised my voice back at him and I’d have had Brodie and Ethan there in a flash, but no, silly me, too stunned at his audacity to do anything more than hold back my tears and ask him to leave.
That, in itself, had me more annoyed than the argument itself. I’d been so drained from my fall and shocked at his aggression that I hadn’t stood up for myself. Andrew had a way of getting under my skin that stirred the parts of me that had felt abandoned for most of my life.
He poked at old wounds. It was too much to take.
Sneaking out my window hadn’t been a particularly mature response, but I knew the guys wouldn’t let me go out alone. Not without one of them tailing me—for some unknown reason, because Elijah was no longer a threat—and I badly just needed time away from all the testosterone.
I sighed, then licked up the melting frozen yogurt around my cone. “Yep, sure was. Grizzly death, of course, nothing discrete like poison.”
Lacey snickered. “Aw, that’s a shame. Haze could have helped you with the perfect poisons.”
Wait, what? “Excuse me? Haze could do what?”
“Poisons,” Lacey repeated with a shrug. “He was super into them a few years back and his dad is a big-shot scientist working for the KGB.”
My jaw hit the floor. “What?” I was starting to sound like a broken record, but shock would do that to a girl. I blinked stupidly at her. “I had no clue. That’s…”Kinda hot.
Lacey smirked like she could read my mind. “I know, right?” Her phone beeped in her pocket, and she pulled it out with a groan. “Looks like we’ve been found out.” She showed me the screen, displaying Connor’s photo and contact as the incoming call. It was a hot picture of him, too. Smiling.
I groaned and reached out to hit the “reject call” button forher. “Maybe he’s just calling to talk to you. You guysaredating so…maybe he wants a booty call or something?”
Lacey shook her head and pulled down the notifications tab, showing six missed calls all within the last couple of minutes. “Yeah, no. Connie is never this desperate for my company.”
