And then she remembered the meal she’d labored so intensively over. She hoped it had burned and left a charred mess.
After lifting the silver trays and dumping the appetizers over the couch and chair and the floor, to accompany the shattered bottles of alcohol, she went into the kitchen and dumped every single skillet and baking dish onto the floor.
“To hell with you, Drake Donovan. I gave you everything and this is what I got in return. I hope you rot in hell where you belong. At least Eddie was honest.”
Tears streaming down her face, she rode the elevator down only to be met by a worried Edward who rushed over to take her elbow.
“Miss Hawthorn,” he said, in his haste forgoing all familiarity as if he too were just as rid of her as Drake.
She burst into a fresh torrent of tears and tried to maneuver around him.
“Please, Evangeline. Tell me what’s wrong. Mr. Donovan returned shortly after he came up and he looked furious. Are you all right?”
“I’ll never be all right,” she said flatly, even as tears ran freely down her face.
“Let me help you, please. Tell me what I can do.”
Realizing the older man was genuinely concerned and evidently ignorant of all that had happened, or at least he hadn’t been instructed to have nothing to do with her, she paused.
“I need to get away from here,” she said desperately.
“Of course. Shall I call for one of Mr. Donovan’s men to come for you?”
“No!” she shrieked. “I need a cab and I need you to never tell anyone, especially Drake or his men, that you saw me, that you helped me, or I’m afraid your job will be out the door just like I am.”
Compassion softened his eyes even as he guided her toward the door.
“Where shall I instruct the cab to take you?” he asked gently.
Her shoulders sagged and she ran a hand through the rumpled mess of her hair, knowing the fright she must look with her makeup running, her hairdo destroyed.
“I have no place to go,” she whispered, knowing she couldn’t show up at her girlfriends’ place. She couldn’t bear the “I told you so’s,” and neither could she take their pity. She couldn’t stomach that just hours ago she’d applauded her decision to choose Drake over her friendships with her best friends. How could she ever face them again? And even if she did feel welcome, it was the first place Drake would think to look for her. Even if he fully intended to throw her out—and she was sure that was precisely what he intended—he would likely still hunt her down if for nothing more than to exact his punishment and then tell her to her face he was finished with her. Why pass up another opportunity to humiliate her even more? Far better to do it in front of her girlfriends. Fuck that. Her mother would forgive the obscenities, given the circumstances.
But then what more could he possibly do to her than what he’d done tonight? She was without pride, shamed beyond measure and more humiliated than she’d ever been with Eddie. She would never be the same woman again. Drake had utterly destroyed her, and there was nothing left but the shattered remains of her dignity. To hell with it all. She would never trust another man as long as she lived.
Edward’s mouth tightened into an angry line and then he escorted her out of the building to the street side, where he motioned for a waiting cab.
“My sister manages a hotel in Brooklyn. It’s nothing fancy, mind you, but I’ll call her and let her know to expect you. She’ll have a place for you to stay for as long as you need until you decide where you want to go.”
She looked up at Edward, his features blurring behind the sheen of tears. “I can’t let you or her do that, Edward. I have no money for a hotel. At least not for more than one night. Until I find a job.”
He took her hands in one of his as he opened the back of the cab and gently set her inside.
“Don’t you worry about that,” he reassured. “My sister will take care of your arrangements.”
Then he pulled several bills from his pocket and thrust them toward the driver, giving him the address to the hotel in Brooklyn.
“Good-bye, Evangeline,” Edward said in a soft voice, his eyes brimming with sympathy. “It was indeed a pleasure knowing you, and I wish you well.”
As the cab pulled away, Evangeline buried her face in her hands and burst into a torrent of tears.
Dinner was hell for Drake. The facade he’d so arrogantly reflected on when riding up the elevator with the men meeting him for “business” at his apartment was utterly shattered, and it was only the fact that he was clinging to the tattered remnants of his iron will with his bare fingernails that kept him from bailing and telling them all to go fuck themselves.
As it was, when one of the men had chuckled, clapped Drake on the back as they’d been seated in a private room at one of the restaurants Drake frequented and said, “Good show, Drake. Can’t ever forget to remind a woman of their place in the world,” Drake had nearly reached over and beaten the ever-loving hell out of him.
Evangeline’s place in the world? Somehow, without his even realizing it, she hadbecomehis world. And he couldn’t imagine his world without her sweet, generous smile, her endearing determination to take care of him and for him to know he was cared about. Which was all tonight had been about, goddamn it!
He couldn’t stop the sight of the devastation in her eyes from replaying over and over like a never-ending highlight reel in his head. Her tears and fear. Ofhim, goddamn it. He, who had vowed he would never give her any reason to fear him, that she would always be safe with himand he’d protect her above all else. And the idea that he’d done far worse to her than her piece of shit ex was more than he could bear.
