Silently, we filed into Alek’s apartment. Eva opened the fridge like she owned the place but was stopped by his hand on her shoulder. “Go sit,” he said quietly. When she opened her mouth to object, he said, “Remember the rules?”
Her eyebrows flew up.
“Color?” he immediately asked, and god, her face transformed into sweet affection.
“Green,” she said. “I’ll go—” She waved her hand. “Sit and be waited on or something.”
“Brat,” he teased, and she giggled. Giggled! I was so fucking jealous.
“I’ll take a look at Cole,” she murmured.
Tristan guided me to the couch while Alek worked in the kitchen.
“Shirt off,” Eva said, all business. “Let me see the ribs.”
I obeyed, wincing as the fabric pulled away from bruised skin. Eva’s hands were gentle but thorough, probing for breaks and leaving a trail of soul-scorching fire everywhere she touched. Fuck, it’d be humiliating to get a hard-on right now.
“You’re lucky,” she said finally. “I don’t think anything’s broken. Just badly bruised.” She handed me an ice pack. “Hold this to your ribs.”
“Your nose isn’t broken either,” she continued, tilting my face toward the light. “But you’re going to have a hell of ablack eye.” She cleaned the split on my lip with antiseptic that stung.
“Thanks,” I rasped.
When she’d finished cleaning me up, Eva moved to the other couch and snuggled up under Tristan’s arm, her expression still so fucking unreadable, it was breaking my heart.
Alek handed me a cold bottle of Gatorade. When I shook my head, he raised an eyebrow and waited.
“You’re not my dad,” I muttered.
To my surprise, he laughed, loud and carefree. “Brat,” he said to me, echoing his earlier comment to Eva. He shook the bottle once, emphasizing the command to drink it.
“Yes, sir,” I said, swallowing hard. When Alek’s cat yowled and leapt into my lap, I allowed myself a moment of smugness. At least someone preferred my company.
Eva frowned, looking at Alek. “You have a cat?”
He cocked his head. “Yes.”
“Does it have a name?”
“Koushka.”
“What does that mean?”
“Cat.”
That fucking giggle made another appearance, and when she met my eyes as if inviting me to participate in her levity, I just couldn’t bear another moment of this bullshit.
I set the cat down and dropped to my knees in front of her, wincing at the pain of the movement. “Eva, I’m so fucking sorry.”
She sat up, sliding her legs out from where they were tucked under her to either side of me, her toes dangling on the floor.
“I—” I swallowed my pride like fucking glass in my throat. “I shouldn’t have blackmailed you. I shouldn’t havedragged Tristan into blackmailing you. I definitely shouldn’t have walked away when I found out what my father had threatened yours with, and I should have explained about Delaney.”
She didn’t say anything.
“My father said he’d hurt you if I didn’t marry her. You and Tristan. That if I didn’t play along with the engagement, he’d—” My voice cracked. “He’d make sure you lost everything. Your scholarship, your job, your father. And Tristan would never make it to the NHL. I’m so fucking stupid. I thought it’d be better to push you away than keep hurting you. I was so fucking wrong.”
More silence.
