Roman face stretches in a smile that promises debauchery in all its finest forms. “Good. He’s too pretty to kill.”
Chapter 25
Eve
Somehow, after only two days, we’ve all settled into a routine.
Wylder and Abel wake up right at the crack of dawn to make breakfast together, drawing me downstairs as soon as the smell of fresh waffles and bacon drifts up the stairway. Atlas, Roman, and Kortez join us about midway through our meal, their aversion to the early morning sun clear by their squinted eyes and yawns that keep us company while we all talk around the table.
It’s nice. Domestic.
It’s still a lie.
The façade is broken anytime Atlas tries to make conversation with Abel and our son looks in the opposite direction. It’s even more obvious when my phone buzzes on the table and I have to angle my screen away from the others, an action that gets more and more curious looks every time I do it.
I need to tell them the truth but I just…can’t. It’s gone beyond my worry that they’ll be angry. When I mentioned killing that man at the warehouse, they didn’t even blink. In fact, their eyes shone with something close to pride.
Well, Roman’s had more obsession in them than anything but that’s not the point.
What makes my mouth snap shut whenever I try to tell them about my deal with the devil is the guilt.Myanger. My…needs.
For years I made their life a living hell, thinking it was only Atlas who was suffering when in reality Kortez was right beside him. Hell, even Roman who I once believed to only be some pretty muscle for my ex-boyfriend turned out to be a better man than I expected.
I was never told that Atlas now had a partner that looked so much like my dead best friend. I was never told that Aldo cast them away like rejects when they should have been ruling the kingdom in his place.
Which brings me to the third reason I’ve been keeping this last secret to myself…Aldo. The real reason I spent the last ten years without two of the men I love by my side. The reason for the dark look in Kor’s eyes and the endless scars that now cover his body. The reason for Atlas’s supposed betrayal.
I need to kill him.
His blood doesn’t belong to anyone else but me and even though he’s never seen my face, it will be the last thing he remembers before his soul dives down to the underworld.
Atlas and the others wouldn’t want me to get too close. They think I still need protection. If they knew my plans, I wouldn’t be able to slit the king’s throat because my knights would do it for me.
So, I sit at breakfast and pretend I don’t havebloody, murderous thoughts running through my mind as my past, present, and future collide right in front of me.
My past, my best friend, following my son out of the dining room talking about the latest hot wheels. My present, dropping a kiss on my forehead as he begins to clean up from breakfast while he still wears his apron that saysSemper Fry.My future, the text messages blowing up my phone wondering why I’ve gone AWOL the last few days.
Atlas looks up at me from across the table, his eyes curious as my phone once again begins to ring. “You need to get that,Reginetta?”
I begin to shake my head before my eyes catch on the name lighting up the screen. “Shit, yes I do.” I stand, my eyes going to Roman standing in the kitchen with Wylder as I swipe over on the screen. “Hey, Sawyer.”
“Jesus, Eve, I’ve been trying to reach you all morning. Your motion to dismiss is scheduled for Monday at nine.” The sound of Sawyer’s daughter screaming in the background makes me chuckle, as does the exasperated sigh he releases in response. “Fuck me sideways – Clarissa! Quit jumping from the couches. Please.”
“Sounds like you have your hands full.”
I can practically see him nodding in my head as the screaming dies down on the other end of the phone. “She’s officially hit the terrorist threes, Eve. How did you get through it?”
“Uhh…” I look around the corner to where Abel and Kortez are now carrying boxes of cars down the stairs. “Lots of time outside for him and lots of wine for mom after bedtime.”
He laughs softly and I hear something break. “No,Clare!” He sighs, “That was your mom’s favorite lamp.”
I shake my head as Abel dumps out a box of cars directly in the middle of the living room, motioning to Kor to do the same. I shrug and smile and he follows my son’s lead, dumping his box out to join the others. “I’ll let you go, Sawyer. I have a mess breaking out in my living room, too. Thanks for letting me know about the motion.”
“No problem, Eve. Keep me updated.”
The line goes silent, and a hand snatches my phone from my grasp right as another slides around my waist. “Motion hearing?”
Roman’s fresh pine scent mixed with something manly and pure Ro fills my nose as he tucks me into his side. “Yeah, I’m trying to get the case dismissed. It’s set for Monday morning.”
