She moved down the shelf, and then stopped.Speaking of fathers.
She hadn’t seen a picture of a young Robert Kane in a long time. In her brain, he was forever memorialized as the man who had died in a car wreck on the icy road leading to the Chandler family cabin, her mother in the passenger seat.
Rumors had swirled after the accident that Robert and Maria had been carrying on a longtime affair. There had been no good reason for the two of them to be on that road together that night—Robert should have been in Pennsylvania, Maria in Manhattan on foundation business.
For a while, Eve had wondered if those rumors were true and dreamt about Robert Kane being her biological father. But that dream had vanished when she was fifteen and stuck in the hospital, getting blood drawn left and right. Brendan was definitely her biological father, unfortunately.
Eve eyed the picture wistfully. Robert had always positively beamed at his three children, and he looked similarly delighted in this photo. She peered closer at the photo, trying to suss out when this had been taken. Was it Paul or Livvy or Jackson he was holding?
The floorboards above her creaked and she startled, turning the flashlight off on her phone, plunging herself into darkness. Heavy footsteps sounded and she flattened herself against the shelf, holding her breath.
Oh no. Oh no.
The plumbing clanged and she jumped, but then a flushing noise came. She counted the heavy footsteps, and released her breath when all was quiet again. Time to go.
She engaged the lock on his front door before she closed it. In the interests of caution, she usually went to the storage unit and switched cars, but she was too exhausted for that tonight. She drove home on autopilot.
Go out with me.
Her body tingled, both from his touch and the words. It was so weird to have gotten what she’d thought she wanted and to also feel like someone else had gotten that something. Was it possible to be jealous of herself?
Her lips twisted, and she repeated the words designed to keep her excitement at bay. He hadn’t meant it.
She pulled into her garage and glanced down at her hands, opening and closing them to still the slight tremor in her fingers.
That was when she noticed her bare wrist.
Oh no.
She checked her car, including the duffel. Her bracelet was nowhere to be found. It had been her mother’s, before she’d become Maria Chandler and had simply been a pretty young girl named Maria Kritikos. A plain gold bangle, it looked cheap and out of place with all Eve’s other jewelry, but it meant more to her than the rubies and diamonds and platinum. It was like her touchstone when she became overwhelmed or frightened, something that could calm and ground her instantly to the present.
Shit.
She thought of how she’d yanked her arm out from under Gabe and slapped her forehead. Oh no. Her hand was bigger than her slender mother’s had ever been, but she’d probably exerted enough force to pull it right off. She could have easily left that bracelet in his bed.
She breathed in and out slowly, trying to still the panic rising inside her. There was no need to fear recognition. He’d really only known Eve as an adult for the past month, right? He definitely hadn’t noticed she wore this bracelet quite a bit. Her mother’s initials were inscribed on the inside, but it would be even more unlikely he’d connectM.K.with her.
Sorrow moved through her, loss hitting her as the panic subsided a bit. It was such a tiny piece, but it was a piece of her mother.
Go ask him for it.
She shoved her hand through her hair, the impossibility of that course of action hitting home.Have you ever wanted something you couldn’t have?
Always, it seemed.
Chapter 4
Eve craved a hot bath and a cold drink, but the instant she saw the light on in the living room of her condo, she knew she wasn’t going to get to escape.
“Eve?” Madison called out. “Is that you?”
It wasn’t that she didn’t love her roommate. She just didn’t want to talk to her right now. She felt too raw and vulnerable to talk to anyone, and Madison saw too much.
No choice, though. If she jetted off to her room, her friend would definitely realize something was up. Eve unzipped her hoodie and gave up on being quiet, walking to the entrance of the living room, trying to seem casual, even if she was scraped up inside. “Hey.”
Madison glanced up from the cross-stitch she was working on. AGolden Girlsrerun blared on the television screen. She had a scarf tied around her hair, and wore one of her boyfriend’s oversized graphic comic T-shirts. Her friend’s gaze dipped over her. “Interesting look for the gala.”
Eve’s lips twisted. “Haha.”
