“Good. Don’t ever forget it.”
As the car pulls into the estate, the gates open and Evie’s attention fixates on the view outside her window. “Oh my gosh, it’s gorgeous!” she exclaims.
“Beyond words,” I agree. When she turns around to look back at me, I’m holding out a small black box. “This is for you.” I open it to reveal the four-carat, oval-shaped solitaire diamond.
Evie’s eyes widen. “E… really? That’s… huge.”
“I’ve heard that before.” I smirk. I take the ring out of the box and slide it onto her finger. “I never want to see this hand without this ring on it.”
“Are you kidding? I’m going to be buried with this rock. It’s so beautiful. Thank you.” She throws her arms around me.
“Let’s not talk about you being buried, Evie. I don’t like the thought,” I grunt.
“I really do love it. Thank you,” she says, pressing her lips to mine.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Iwasn’t exactly expecting Emmanuel to live in a straw shack. But this house, mansion, palace… I’m not sure what this place is even classed as. Whatever it is, it’s not what I was expecting. It’s nice, excessively so. Then again, with all the men he has around the place, I’m not surprised it’s so huge.
“Do they all live here?” I ask Emmanuel as he guides me through theinterior.
“No,” he says. “The only one who lives on the compound is Paz, in a separate house. Everyone else is here on shifts.”
I look around, taking in as much as I can while keeping up with Emmanuel’s pace. “You know, I remember how it feels. To see this place for the first time. I was fourteen when my father made me move here.”
“Did you like it?” I ask.
“No,” Emmanuel says.
“Was there anything about your father you liked?”
“His money wasn’t the worst.” Emmanuel chuckles. “When you spend the first part of your life with a single mother struggling to make ends meet, it can be blinding. But nothing in life comes without a price, Evie.”
“What price did you have to pay?”
“Freedom,” E says.
I can’t begin to imagine the pressure he’s under. I don’t want to add to it. “Sooo, have you ever brought a girl here?” I smile.
“No,” he says.
“Good. That means we have a lot of rooms to christen.” I waggle my eyebrows at him. “If this is going to be my home too, then I want memories in every single room. The naked kind of memories, E. Imean, that’s if you’re up to it.”
“If I’m up to it? Are you trying to poke the bear, mi alma?”
“Maybe?” I laugh.
The next thing I know, my feet are leaving the ground and I’m dangling upside down over Emmanuel’s shoulder. His palm comes down across my ass, while also holding my dress so no one sees my butt. Ever the gentleman, right?
“You know, if you didn’t have to show off and have such a massive house, you’d have me on a bed already,” I taunt.
I hear a door open, and then I’m flying through the air before I land on something soft. A mattress.
“Wait,” I tell Emmanuel when he goes to climb on top of me. I want something, and I want it now.
“What’s wrong?” he asks. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.” I crawl off the bed. “Just… stay still. I want to do something.”
