Chapter 30
T wo days later, I’m waiting to escort Ever to dinner when she emerges from her bedroom wearing another long gown, this one black with a slight shimmer to the material. Only held up by two thin straps, it hugs her body, showing off every curve.
She’s stunning, but ridiculously overdressed for a meal in, and unfortunately, she’s already wearing her shoes.
“What are you so dressed up for?” I ask in case I missed something.
There’s nothing on her schedule for tonight, but we haven’t talked much the last couple days, not since the conversation about the teddy bear. She lit up finding him waiting for her, just not enough to actually say anything about it. Not even a thank-you. If only she knew how badly I wanted to incinerate that stuffed motherfucker.
“A funeral,” she says with zero emotion.
Jesus, someone should have told me that. Anyone. I had no idea.
“I’m really sorry,” I rush out. I don’t know who died or how close they were to her. “I need to get changed.”
Ever looks past me to my room and nods. “Okay. I’ll wait.”
I can’t keep the surprise out of my voice as I ask, “You will?”
This better not be another setup.
“You’re accompanying me, aren’t you?” Her tone lacks its usual bitterness when talking about our arrangement. Maybe she’s finally coming around to her new reality.
My nod is slower. “Everywhere.”
I return to my room and change into my black suit as quickly as possible. Out in the hall again, Ever’s got her back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling.
Her gaze lowers to me, giving me her full attention for the first time in two days. She looks tired. Considering she’s been sneaking into my room every night—without triggering her door alarm or waking me—and vandalizing my shoes, I can understand why.
“Do you have my tiger’s eye bracelet?”
“I think so.” I know so. The microchips came in yesterday, so while Ever was tending to her butterflies, I worked on attaching the trackers to the two bracelets I have of hers.
“Can you wear it for me?”
“You don’t need—”
“Please…just get it.”
She sounds tired, too. Has she been sneaking out of the house?
I doubt it. She would’ve bragged about it.
Something else is going on with her.
“Is that the brown one?”
“Brown and tan, yeah.”
After I’ve got her bracelet on my wrist, we walk down the hall side by side.
“Are you sick?” I ask.
“Terminally.”
My feet, and heart, stop.
“Miss?”
She continues on, no longer concerned with waiting for me.
“Ever.”
Finally, she stops.
I catch up to her, giving her a thorough once-over. “What is it?”
“I’m screwing with you, Major,” she says in a tone that’s not even remotely humorous.
I don’t stop my scan of her, searching for anything that’d explain this behavior. She’s practically lethargic.
“So you’re not sick?”
Humor emerges, dancing across all her features, lighting each one up as it passes. Then without answering, she turns for the stairs to the foyer…where Arthur’s standing.
The first thing he does when he sees us is bitch.
“Black? I told you to wear red.”
“I thought this was more appropriate,” Ever says in complete monotone, making me almost snort in agreement. Who the fuck wears red to a funeral?
“The Larsons are already coming up the driveway.”
The Larsons? We’re going to a funeral with them?
I can’t be in the same vehicle with Mallory, especially not with Ever.
“Edwin, can you have someone bring Miss Munreaux’s car around?” I ask the valet, only getting silence in return as he continues waiting patiently by the front door.
All right…
I look to Ever for some help since she has more pull around here than I do, but the floor seems to be much more interesting to her right now. Arthur’s the only one who acknowledges the fact that I even spoke and it’s to screw up his face.
Fuck it. I’ll go get the Sapphire myself. Anything not to be cooped up with Mallory and Ever. And Arthur. I don’t know Penn but it’s safe to assume I probably wouldn’t like him either.
“I’ll be right back,” I murmur to Ever.
Arthur steps in front of me, waggling a finger. “It’s too late for you to leave now. You’ll just have to stay in your room for the night.” That finger points, and I look from it to the stairs, then back.
What?
“I’ll have Edwin bring you up a plate later. You need to disappear before our dinner guests arrive.”
Dinner guests? Ever said…
I glance at Ever, who’s quietly studying me and Arthur now. So it was a setup?
“But Miss Munreaux wanted—”
Arthur chuffs out a laugh. “That’s irrelevant.”
How does he know? I didn’t even finish what I was gonna say.
“Up you go. Out of sight until tomorrow.”
Is this actually happening? I’m being dismissed for the night ? The motherfucking night? While Mallory Larson is here? For fucking dinner? With Ever?
Obviously, Ever knew about this. She’s dressed for it for fuck’s sake. But why the fuck didn’t I? I’m her personal protection agent. I’m supposed to do everything with her.
Why does it have to be for the whole night? Why can’t I just eat somewhere else while these rich fucks rub elbows over their saffron-sprinkled, chili-oil-drizzled cuisine, then get back to my job once they’re finished?
It is just dinner…right?
My boss turns away from me, heading for the door but not before he grabs hold of Ever’s elbow to drag her along.
She’s being taken away from me.
My hand aches with the urge to reach for Ever’s.
Why is she being taken away from me?
Instead, I quickly pass the bracelet off to her behind Arthur’s back.
She takes it, then singsongs, “Enjoy your alone time, Mr. Brantley,” showing the first bit of animation in days. Of course it’s at my expense. She’s probably been counting down to this very moment.
This is why I can never put any sort of trust in her. She will always only care about herself.
Face hardened to granite, I force myself up the stairs. Once I reach the top, I can’t help sending one last withering glare back.
Arthur’s hand, no longer on Ever’s elbow, is a fist at her side and something about it causes her to arch away from him.
Ever whips her head away from her father, giving me her side profile. Her face is strained and…glistening. She wipes at one cheek, causing a drop of something to fall to the floor below her.
Holy shit, she’s crying. Ever’s crying and I’m not with her to comfort her.
I grip the banister so hard my fingers burn. What did Arthur do to make her cry?
Her hip. The bruises there.
Motherfucker. The call’s coming from inside the goddamn manor.
Unable to focus on the hair in my hands, I pick up my phone and refresh the app. Again. The damn dot on the map remains right where it is. Again.
It’s been in the same spot for over an hour. What the fuck are they doing in there? I know Mallory’s with Ever.
After a torturous ninety-seven minutes of watching that dot sit stationary, Ever must’ve finally left the dining room to go outside. From there, I switched to a live view by spying out my window, where I saw her and Mallory walk out together before disappearing into the hedge maze. At first, I was relieved. Anything to get her away from Arthur. But now, an hour fucking later of her dot sitting idle, I’m anything but relieved.
Back and forth, back and forth, from one side of my room to the other. I’m probably wearing out the hardwood floor, but I don’t give a fuck. If Arthur didn’t want this room trashed, he shouldn’t have banished me to it. For the night. Without my protectee.
Should I go after her?
I could.
Assuming Arthur’s entertaining Penn Larson and his wife somewhere in the manor, most likely overindulging on limited-edition liquor and imported cigars, my employer might not even notice if I were to take an evening stroll out front. I’ve been through that maze once already. I can find Ever in it again.
I will. I’ll find her.
I’m going.
I’ve got one shoe on when Ever’s door notification appears at the top of my phone screen.
If she’s down in the maze, who the fuck’s at her door?
I’m ripping my own open the next second, only to see someone just opening hers. I squint through the darkness. Ever? Her body’s turned the opposite way and she’s got the bottom of her dress bunched in a fist, but it’s her.
It’s her. Thank fuck, it’s her. She’s here.
And she’s alone.
I draw my first full breath in…hours? Was I holding it the entire time? I couldn’t say. I have no fucking idea what I did after I left Ever in that foyer with Arthur. From that moment to now, it’s all a blur of trying to keep my mind busy and failing miserably.
I ask the first thing that pops into my head. “Why are the lights off?”
“They must be malfunctioning, too,” Ever says with a shrug.
Leaning against my doorjamb, I cross my arms over my erratic heart. Between that and the single shoe, the pose isn’t giving me the confidence boost I was hoping for.
“Have fun tonight?”
“Loads,” she says, indifference weighing down her tone. “You?”
“Loads,” I echo in the same manner. “Where’s your bracelet?”
“My—” She pauses to examine her wrist. “Oh, it must’ve fallen off.”
Her back to me, she hasn’t looked at me, her head down as she lingers in her doorway. Her hair’s messed up and she lost her bracelet. I wonder how those things happened?
Goddamn it. I should’ve gone after her sooner.
“Did you fuck him?”
“If I did, it would’ve been with my father’s blessing.”
“I gathered that,” I drawl. It’s painfully obvious Arthur Munreaux and Penn Larson are trying to set up their trust-fund babies for a possible love match. “So, did you?”
I hear her inhale, then exhale before saying, “No.”
Even though I probably shouldn’t, I believe her. Ever loves when she bests me, specifically when she gets to rub my face in it afterward.
“Is that all?”
She’s withdrawn again, just like earlier. What’s going on? Is she sick?
“Is everything okay?”
I drop my arms and the front. Just talk to me already, Ever. Fuck.
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
For starters, you live with an abusive piece of shit. Second, you were subjected to a dinner with not only him but his crony and his crony’s old-ass offspring.
Mallory’s old. I said it.
“You’re just—”
“Trying to go to bed but can’t because my bodyguard would rather interrogate me? Yeah, tell me about it.”
For all I know, this girl is nocturnal. I’m not sure when she actually sleeps. But right now, she’s acting like sleep’s all she cares about.
Meanwhile, she’s all I care about.
She’s not all I care about. I just…
It’s been a rough week. I need her to be okay.
I need her to be okay where I can see her and talk to her and touch her.
Then maybe I’ll be okay because right now I feel as far from okay as possible.
“Why are you in such a hurry all of a sudden? You spent all that time down in the maze—”
“How’d you know where I was?”
Shhhit.
“I saw movement out my window and thought the Larsons were leaving. But it was just you—and him —going in the maze.” I keep the rest of my thoughts to myself. What did you two do in there? What did he do to you? What did you want him to do to you?
Just because they didn’t fuck doesn’t mean they didn’t do something else.
“It’s none of your business and I’m tired.”
“You’re my business. And you’re never tired.” She only pretends to be when she’s up to something. It’s not like I can depend on the shitty sensor I put on her door to notify me even if she was.
Or the bracelet tracker she already lost.
It should not be this hard keeping tabs on a five-foot-two cheerleader.
Without responding, Ever takes another step into her room, and I lurch forward, both arms out. They want her in them so bad.
I want her in them so bad.
“Wait.”
For some reason, maybe because she can hear the desperation in my voice, she does.
“I don’t… I want, uh, you…”
“I know it’s shocking, Major, but I’m actually not in the mood.”
“No, not for that. I, um… I wanted you to, uh…” Shit, shit, shit . What do I say? “I want you to draw something…” I’m out of sneakers. She already drew on all three new pairs. “On me.”
“On you ?”
“Yeah. I’ve been wanting to get a new tattoo.” It’s technically true. After the first tattoo, you always want more. It’s an itch that’ll never get fully scratched.
“I can sketch you some ideas tomorrow.”
She takes another step, but so do I. “Ever?”
This time when she stops, she lifts her head slightly, enough to show some of her neck. Without the hallway lights on, I can’t tell if she has any hickeys though.
Something’s going on in this wing of the manor. Too many damn glitches.
“I haven’t had my eyes on you in hours.”
“Don’t tell me you missed me. I spend more time away from you at school.”
Despite her not looking at me, I shake my head and promise, “I won’t.” But I could. Easily. Because in school, or her conservatory, or even her bedroom, I know she’s safe. Tonight, I didn’t and it…fucked me up in ways I didn’t even realize until I saw her at her door just now and the fist around my heart loosened. I was forbidden from protecting my protectee, my one fucking purpose these days. It didn’t matter that the order came from my boss because every part of me still wanted to protect his daughter. A dot on a screen can’t compare to making sure she’s not only safe, but okay, in person. Ever’s whereabouts mean nothing unless I’m right next to her.
“Can you just come to my room? Please? So I can sleep knowing you’re safe?”
“What makes your room so safe? You hate me.”
Except…I’m not so sure I do still hate Ever.
“Because I’d hate myself a lot more if anything happened to you.” Something’s already happening to her. Arthur is hurting her. He could’ve been doing it right in front of my face and I missed it.
I did that before and it cost a life. I’m not willing to risk Ever’s.
When Ever speaks, her voice is tiny. “I need to change.”
I shrink my own to say, “I have clothes.” They’re not designer and she’ll swim in them, but they’ll keep her warm. If they don’t, I will.
I will anyway. If she lets me.
God, I hope she lets me.
“I need to wash my face.”
“I have a sink.”
“I need a minute.”
“I have…” Nothing to counter that with. Damn. “You’ll come over after?”
“Okay.”
After watching her door close, I rip my one shoe off, then dash across my room to collect the other, tripping to hurry and drop them back in the closet without looking. For the first time in my life, a girl is staying the night with me. Not just any girl. Ever Munreaux.
She’s gonna stay the whole night…right?
Hands on my hips, I take a look around. How do I ensure that beautiful creep stays the whole night?