FORTY-SEVEN
EVELYN
I woke up in a room that did not belong to me. The smell of cedar and sandalwood mixed with laundry detergent permeated off of the sheets. Kade’s scent. I jerked upright to see I was in a king-sized bed with gray sheets and a white duvet. Floor-to-ceiling-length windows on my left overlooked the city scape. When I looked down, I was in one of Kade’s t-shirts and shorts.
I quickly got out of bed and was about to open the door when Kade beat me to it. He was in gray sweatpants and a white tee that stretched over his broad chest.
I took a step back and put my hands on my hips. “Care to explain why I am here and not at my place?”
Kade leaned on the doorframe and shrugged. “We have a lot to talk about and not a lot of time. Easier to get into my place than yours.”
“I need to get home to Alfredo.” It was a lame excuse, but it was still valid.
Kade gave me a smirk before taking a step toward me. “Lennie is watching Alfredo.”
Before I could protest, Kade lifted a hand tosignal me to let him finish. “We have a lot to talk about, Evelyn. I am not going to do the back and forth with you.” He took another predatory step toward me. “Now, are you going to listen to me or am I going to have to tie you to the bed, gag you and force you to?”
I gulped. The second sounded fun, but I still was so angry with him. I sat down on the ottoman at the end of the bed as Kade sat in the recliner in the corner of the room.
He let out a chuckle. “I was kind of hoping you would protest so I could do the latter.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Let’s just get this over with. What do I need to know?”
Kade leaned his forearms on his knees. “Auction is tomorrow at 8 pm. But before we go into all of that. I want you to know everything. Contrary to what you may believe, and no matter how fucking pissed I am at you for lying, I… you need to know the full truth so you can hopefully come to realize that I am not the enemy you think I am.”
FORTY-EIGHT
KADE
I started by explaining how I had met with Chief at Dominos two weeks prior with Machine. “I met with Chief a couple of weeks ago where I learned how Ricci killed his family in a fire and where he got his burns from.”
Evelyn gulped and glanced down. Of course, she already knew Chief’s story. When he was a young FBI agent, he was assigned to a high-profile case that was linked to over a hundred missing person cases. They were able to link almost half directly to Ricci. Just when they were about to take Ricci down, the mission was compromised by a mole leaking the information to Ricci. The next day while he was debriefing his superior, he got an alert that first responders were responding to a 9-1-1 call they received for a house fire where his wife and daughter were killed.
I continued on, “I know how the Elite Squad was formed and that you all have been deeply affected by Anthony Ricci. Especially you, Evelyn.”
When I looked at Evelyn, her fists were clenched and she seemed to be having an internal battle with herself.It was hard to read her expression. Anger mixed with understanding.
“From there,” I continued, “Chief and I worked out a plan that would make Ricci believe even more that I was on his side.” I cleared my throat. “However, what I wasn’t expecting, was for Ricci to have some of his lackeys go to the gym ahead of schedule. Machine and I thought we had gotten everyone out in time and far enough away, but the blast was so intense…” I looked down at the floor. “No one was supposed to get hurt. Aaron was supposed to be at the gym with the rest of the team, but when he heard Ricci had you… he took matters into his own hands.”
Tears streamed down Evelyn’s face. “But why make me believe–” A choked sob left her before she continued. “Why the drugs?”
“I had given Ricci a diluted dose, but I found out later on that he used his own concoction instead.” I stood up and squatted in front of Evelyn. “Everything I said and did was to make Ricci believe my loyalties were with him. But I could ask you the same question, Evelyn. Why did you hide that you were someone else?”
She wiped under her eyes and let out a humorless laugh. “Touché.”
I brushed a tear away with my thumb. “I know that we still have a lot to sort through. But if there’s one thing I can hopefully make crystal clear, it’s this: I want to destroy Ricci. Will you help me do that?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Good. Now here’s the plan…”
FORTY-NINE
EVELYN
I was brought through the backdoor of Olympus and into a small dressing room with a makeup vanity and a couch. Machine stood outside the dressing room, making sure no one entered or left.
