Parker
My head wasn’t any clearer on the drive back to the estate. This day had been exhausting, from the non-stop meetings to the call with Chief Bradden.
When I returned to the pool house, it was late in the evening. The house was quiet and mostly dark. I traveled to the end of the hall to check on Evelyn. Her door was slightly open. She looked like she had just dozed off in the middle of a project. Her Marquis tablet was propped up on a pillow while she lay on a pile of papers and folders.
I walked quietly into the room, trying my best not to wake her. When I reached her, I started collecting the papers and folders, putting them on the night table. I grabbed her Marquis tablet and plugged it into the charger. As I was reaching for her phone, her eyes fluttered open.
“Parker?” she said through a yawn.
“Hi, beautiful,” I greeted her, taking a seat on the corner of the bed.
She didn’t move to get up. She looked comfortable in her striped pajama shorts and fuzzy socks.
“What’s wrong?” she asked with her eyes roaming over me.
It was crazy that she knew that something was up with me. She was so good at reading me and my moods. It felt good to be seen. I hadn’t felt that way with Denise, and I definitely didn’t get the idea that my father saw the real me or accepted me for me.
When I didn’t answer right away, she moved over, patting the bed for me to sit beside her.
I stepped out of my shoes, then started on my clothing until I was in just my boxer shorts before sliding into the bed with her.
Facing me on her side, she caressed my cheek and asked again. “Parker, what’s the matter? Is it your dad?”
Closing my eyes, I relaxed under her touch. “The NYFD is investigating me for misconduct.” Her hand stopped its motion.
“Is it because of me?”
I debated how to tell her on the way here, but there was no reason I could give her that wouldn’t end up with her arriving here.
“I’m going to explain the situation to them, don’t worry.”
Evelyn sat up abruptly, “That isn’t what I asked.”
Dragging my hands down my face, I let out a sigh. “Someone made a complaint that I had an inappropriate relationship with you. If the investigation doesn’t go my way, then I could be terminated.”
She plopped back down beside me, her head landing with a thud on the pillow. “I’m so sorry, Parker. What can we do?
I reached for her and buried my head in her chest with a groan. The stroke of her fingers on the back of my neck was soothing. I stayed there quietly contemplating what I wanted to say.
“I’ve never gotten written up in my whole career. They won’t find anything questionable. I’m sure they’ll see that.”
Any other outcome was unacceptable. I worked too hard just to lose it all.
“Who would make a complaint like that? We barely—” her face drained of color. “Charles.”
My mind hadn’t even considered that Charles was behind this mess. I was so focused on the fact that I may lose my job that I didn’t stop to think of how the department would find out.
“He wants me to know that I’m on his radar.”
Danny said that Charles would start making moves. The plan included hiding Evelyn’s identity, not mine. It was only a matter of time before Charles knew everything about me. My family was well-known. There were pictures of our family in newspaper articles and magazines. My chest tightened as I worried about my mother and sisters. It was for the best they didn’t know, so they could carry on in peace, but I planned to increase their security just to be safe.
“Sometimes I think about hurting him for what he’s done to me – what he’sdoing– to us. Then I feel terrible because I’m letting him turn me into some monster.”
Her confession shocked me. Not because I thought she was wrong for her thoughts, but because she opened up, she was letting me in.
“That doesn’t make you a monster, baby.” I smoothed a hand down her back, the motion sending chills down her spine as she wriggled closer to me. “He took someone you loved away from you in a terrible way, and you’ve been in pain ever since. It’s only fair that you want him to encounter some type of justice.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to you.” Her voice came out barely above a whisper.
