“That’s not what I meant.” Evie sighs. “You can’t watch me sleep. When I do eventually pass out again, you can’t be in the room while I’m sleeping. And you can’t have anyone else in there either, unless it’s Charlotte.”
That really is a thing for her, huh? I’d be willing to put money on it having something to do with whatever the fuck happened to her.
“Why are you worried about me watching you sleep?” I ask, because like fuck am I agreeing to not watching her.
“It’s creepy and I don’t know what you’re doing to me,” she says.
“You can watch the tapes whenever you want,” I tell her. “I didn’t do anything to you, and I wouldn’t do anything you didn’t want me to do.”
“I don’t want you to keep me here,” she mutters under her breath.
“Okay, where do you want to go?”
“Home,” she says.
“Fine, we’ll go to your place. Give me a couple of hours to get the jet ready.” I pull my phone from my pocket.
“That’s not… I don’t want you to come with me, Emmanuel.”
“If you’re going, then I’m coming,” I say. Shedoesn’thave a choice on that.
“Argh, you’re so… Argh.” Evie stands and shoves at my chest. “Why are you doing this to me?”
Taking hold of her hands, so she can’t continue to shove me, I hold them firmly against my chest. “Because, mi alma, I can’t get you out of my head.”
“Try harder,” she hisses.
“I don’t want to. I like you occupying my mind. You are much better to think about than what’s usually there. You are a reprieve from the hell I have to deal with every day,” I admit.
Evie inhales a lungful of air and slowly releases it. She’s about to say something when the ringing ofmy phone interrupts her. I look down at the screen and see Lailani’s number.
“I have to take this.” I let go of Evie’s hands and walk out of the dining room.
“Yeah?”
“Charlotte was just shot. She’s being taken to the hospital,” Lailani says.
“Where?”
“The casino floor. She jumped in front of Louie. The gun was aimed at him.”
“Why the fuck would she do that?” I yell into the phone, making my way to my office. “Find Paz, now,” I tell the two men standing guard in front of the door. I sit behind my desk and return my attention to Lailani. “Where’s the shooter now?”
“Dead, security got him,” she says. “You want me to do anything?”
“Not yet,” I tell her and cut the call.
I turn on my computer and pull up the Royal’s security feed. It takes ten minutes of scrolling through all the cameras to find Louie and Charlotte, and then I watch as she pushes Louie out of the way. She saw the gun and jumped in front of it. Fucking hell.
I need to find out what’s happening with Charlotte before I tell Evie anything. I need to know what we’re dealing with.
“Jefe?” Paz walks in, closing the door behind him.
“Someone took a shot at Louie, got his wife,” I explain. “I need you to hack into the hospital records and find out what’s happening with Charlotte.”
“On it.” Paz sits on the sofa and grabs his laptop from where he left it resting on the coffee table.
“Did the mess in the basement get cleaned up?” I ask him.
