“Window?” I suggested.
“This isn’t an ‘80s movie,” Tristan huffed, but he was already crawling out of bed and getting dressed.
“Shit shit shit,” Eva swore softly, shoving him toward the desk.
Tristan wrestled with the window, muttering curses under his breath until it finally gave way with a screech that probably woke half the neighborhood. We all froze, listening for angry footsteps that thankfully didn’t come.
“Go go go,” Eva whispered, and Tristan poked his head out to check the drop before sliding through feetfirst.
I started toward the window then stopped, turning back to Eva. She looked so fucking beautiful, standing with her hands on her hips and her eyes blazing, her hair wild andbeautiful. The urge to take her into my arms and hold her was overwhelming.
Forcing my touch on her wasn’t being a better man, though, so I forced myself to move to the window. The drop wasn’t bad, and Tristan was waiting below, grinning up at me like an idiot.
The moment my feet hit the ground, he caught me in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles against my scalp.
“Missed you too, asshole,” I laughed, letting him roughhouse because it felt normal and good and like maybe, we could actually fix this mess.
When he finally let me go, his expression turned serious. “We gotta talk to Alek.”
“About protecting Eva?”
“Yeah,” he agreed, running a hand over his braids. “And about taking your father down.”
My eyes shot to Tristan’s.
“Be the man Eva deserves,” he said quietly.
“The man you both deserve,” I corrected, my voice barely a whisper.
“Yeah,” he agreed, but his eyes said what we both knew—I had a long fucking way to go.
23
EVA
After morning practice,I locked myself in a bathroom stall and pulled out both phones.
My burner phone had two messages from the devil himself.
The Devil
Get me the information on Cole’s rehab.
Stay away from my son.
My hands shook as I checked my email on my own phone and found three, no subject lines, no message bodies, just attachments and an image of a sparrow.
Carter_Real_Estate_Holdings.pdf
Shell_Company_Network_Diagram.png
Recorded_Conversation_Oct_15.mp3
My chest tightened, and I couldn’t tell if it was because I loved that Cole was sending me information or if I hated it.
Someone rapped on the stall door.
“Eva? You in there?”
