Last one in the pack. Guess I should stop now that I have something to live for.
“Far from it. Did you know they have a pretty serious racing scene here? I’m going tonight.”
I almost fainted when Eve mentioned she goes to the street races here in Denver. Apparently, she knows how to find them from when she was a teenager, and she goes to every one she can – winning most of them if Wylder is to be believed. I never would have guessed defense attorneys would be the ones breaking the law, but what the hell do I know.
I hear a few scuffles on the other end of the phone, and it goes silent for a few moments before Kortez’s voice comes through the line. “Just give us a few days to clean this up and we’ll be there.”
He doesn’t give me a chance to respond before the call ends and I’m left finishing my cigarette beneath the stars alone. When I’m done, I toss the empty pack into the outside trash can and walk back inside, the music now turned down low and changed to classic rock as Eve sets the table.
For Americans trying to cook Italian food, it actually smells pretty damned delicious.
Eve sits down at the head of the table, leaving one spot open on each side of her. I see Wylder eyeing the left side, but I slide into it before he has the chance, claiming it as my own. The fire in his eyes is almost better than the small look of interest Eve shoots my way – almost.
Dinner is made up of small talk. I ask if there are any updates on the case, there isn’t, and Wylder asks how Abel is liking camp. Eve goes on to show us pictures of how Abel built his own fire and won the obstacle course the instructor made in the middle of the forest. I ooh and ah at all the right moments, but the only thing I can think of as she swipes through the photos sent to her by the camp leader is –holy shit,this kid is Atlas’s twin.
It leads me to ask my next question out of pure curiosity, just to see what she’d say. “Where’s his father?”
Eve’s fork clatters down to her plate and her phone clicks as she turns it off, “He’s gone.”
She gets up, her eyes immediately finding Wylder. “I’m going to get changed and then get the car ready for the races.”
Wylder stands, placing a soft kiss on her cheek before grabbing her plate and beginning to clean up. I grab my own and follow him into the kitchen, placing it into the sink.
“I didn’t mean – “
“Don’t ever bring him up again.”
I turn to find Wylder staring daggers at me, his amber eyes alive with fire as he shoves me against the counter and pins me there with one hand around my throat. “I don’t like you being here, Bavone, but I’m allowing it to appease Evangeline. If you ever, and I mean ever, bring up Abel’s father again, though, I will kill you with my bare hands. Understand?”
This is one of those moments in life where I have to decide if I’m going to push my luck, or if I’m going to play it safe.
I’ve never been good at playing it safe.
“Why?”
Wylder lets out a rough breath, his fingers tightening around my neck. “Evie loves her son, Roman, but raising a son alone when you have nothing can break a woman – and it almost did. All this you see now? She didn’t have that before. Abel’s father left. Her best friend died. Evie had no one but herself. She doesn’t want to think about him because he represents everything she could have had and everything she lostfor reasons she doesn’t, and probably won’t ever, understand. You make her fall back into that hole I pulled her out of, and I swear to God you’ll be going into one twice as deep.”
His words cause my heart to stutter in my chest.She thinks Kortez is dead?
He lets go of my throat but keeps his face close to mine, whispering, “I see the way you look at her. Just know that if and when Evie is ready, it’s going to be me at her side. Not another Italian wannabe mafioso.”
I laugh, rubbing my neck and bumping my chest into his. “You’re a fool to think Eve needed any saving at all, golden boy. I won’t take her from you, but I’m throwing my hat in the ring.”
I hear the roar of an engine coming from the garage and shoot him a smile, “The love of a misfit is wicked and eternal. Are you going to keep pretending Eve is a princess needing to be saved or are you going to join us in the dark?”
Chapter 10
Eve
The roar of the engine fills the silence following Roman’s second annoying question of the night. It’s not that they’ve been invasive, per se, but they’ve got the hair on the back of my neck standing on end.
Does he know more than he should?
Why does he already feel so comfortable asking me these things?
Did I read him wrong?
I pride myself on being able to read people, it’s a skill all lawyers must have, especially when dealing with society’s most lethal criminals. You have to know when someone is lying to you because their lies could be the ones that get you killed.
