“Don’t move.” I walk into the bedroom and close the door. Then I turn around and look to Evie.
“What happened? Did the cops really do that to him? Oh my god, E, what if they pick me up for questioning?” She’s panicking.
“That’s not going to happen,” I assure her.
“You can’t control that.”
“I’m going to take you home,” I tell her. “Louie and Sammie are here. They’ll stay with Paz.”
“I don’t need you to take me anywhere.” Evie shakes her head. “Help your friend. I can find my own way home.”
“Like fuck, you can. You are not walking out of this room alone.”
“You’re not my father, Emmanuel. You cannot boss me around.” She folds her arms over her chest defiantly.
“No, I’m your fiancé. And right now, I am telling you what to do because it’s for your own goddamn good, Evie. You can hate me all you want. I don’t care. I’m not letting you put yourself at risk.” My hand runs through my hair. I’m fucking frustrated. “Seriously, why do you feel the need to fight me on everything?”
“Why do you feel the need to control every aspect of my life?” she fires back.
“Because I’m trying to fucking keep you alive!” I yell.
“You do know you’re not God, right? I’m going to die one day, and there’s not going to be a thing you can do to stop it.”
“Watch me,” I seethe. “You are not fucking dying.”
“You need to sort your shit out, E. I don’t know how many times I need to say it.I’m not her.I’m not going to hurt myself. I’m not going to be the cause of my own death. You need to figure that out. You can’t use me to undo the past if that’s what this is,” she says. “I’m going home. Don’t you dare follow me!”
Before Evie reaches the door, I grab hold of her arm and pull her back towards me. My hand cupsher jaw, tilting her head upwards. I slam my lips onto hers. Pushing my tongue through her closed lips until she willingly opens for me. My tongue delves into her mouth, swirling around. Hard, fast.
When we pull apart, I don’t let go of her. “You’re right. You’re not her. I’m not worried about you being her, Evie. Because I never loved her the way I love you. I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you. With you, it’s different. It’s more. It’s fucking everything,” I admit. “So forgive me for wanting to fucking hold on to that for as long as I possibly can.”
There’s a knock at the door. “E, we gotta get back up to Carlo’s. Antonia’s sick,” Louie says.
“I’ll meet you up there,” I call back without letting go of Evie.
“Go. I’ll wait here,” she says.
I laugh. “Yeah, that’s not fucking happening.” I step back and then take hold of her hand and drag her out of the bedroom behind me. Paz is on the sofa. There’s an older doctor looking him over. “You good?” I ask.
Paz gives me a thumbs-up. “Never been better, jefe.”
“I’ll be back. Stay here,” I tell him. When I walk out into the hall, the two guys I had stationed outside the door are actually fucking there. “Where the fuck were you two?” I grunt in Spanish.
“We went for coffee,” one of them says.
“You went for fucking coffee. You had orders. Do not let anyone in that fucking room, got me?” I growl.
“Yes, jefe.” They nod at the same time.
If I didn’t have Evie with me, they’d both already have holes in their heads. But I’m trying to shield her from the reality of who she’s stuck with for life. Although I’m almost certain that she’s not going to try to run. She would have done that already, or she would have talked to that fucking fed.
Evie doesn’t say a word as we make our way back up to Carlo’s. When we get there, I find Charlotte in the living room. I pull Evie back out to the foyer and hold her against me. I don’t care who the fuck sees her with me anymore. She needs to get used to us being public.
“Don’t leave without me,” I tell her.
“Sure thing, Daddy.” Evie rolls her eyes at me, and then looks down when she feels my cock twitch at her words. “Don’t get any ideas. I’m not role-playing that with you.”
I smirk. “We’ll see.” I kiss her on the forehead before I leave to go in search of Carlo. He’s in his bedroom freaking out. I mean, I get it. His wife was poisoned when she ate that fucking soup.
