Episode 152
EPISODE 152
EVANGELINE'S RAMPAGE
Brett
After I finish my phone call with Sienna, I leave the study where the landline is only to nearly run into Evangeline. Her skin is still as pale as it was last night when she fainted, but her goth black hair is brushed to a silky shine. She’s racing down the hallway, and I grab her before we collide.
“Whoa! Easy. Slow down. You need to take care of yourself.”
“This whole event.” She shakes her head. “It’s turned into something out of my worst nightmare!”
“Things haven’t gone exactly as planned,” I agree, “but it’ll all be okay. The guys and I are here for you. We won’t let anyone harm you.”
She blinks, and then she stares at me. “What did Misty tell you?” she grits out.
“That her father is also the father of the child you’re carrying. Is that not true?”
“Damn her.” Evangeline leans against the wall and she shakes her head again. “She shouldn’t have told you that. ”
“We kind of forced it out of her, Evangeline.”
She lets out a huff. “Trust me. Misty doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do. If she told you, she had a reason—a calculated reason.”
Misty is manipulative, for sure, but I can’t deny I have a soft spot for her because of her link to Jake. But she and I aren’t right together. Even she agrees after last night. She’ll probably resume her pursuit of River, but he’s not at all interested in her.
“She says her birth mother is?—”
Evangeline waves a hand to stop me. “I know all about that. I haven’t checked it out, but I have no reason to believe it’s not true.”
I don’t reply at first. I don’t reply, because I personally believe Misty’s story. She looks enough like Jake that I know she’s telling the truth.
“So that’s why she wanted to be here,” I finally say.
“Yeah. And she told me she’d tell her father about my pregnancy if I didn’t let her come to this event. She especially wanted to meet River. I’m not sure why.”
“She told us it’s because he still lives in the town where we grew up.”
“Maybe that’s the truth. Maybe it’s not. You never know with Misty.”
“You need to rest,” I say. “Let me take you to your suite.”
She wrangles her arm away from me. “Have you gone nuts? We’re not even a week into this event. You have a date tonight. With Misty, I believe. Shouldn’t you be planning something with the chefs?” She scoffs. “Never mind. I’ll plan it for you. I know Misty, and I know what she likes.”
I’m pretty sure that’s what she was hired to do, but I keep that to myself. Instead, “Thank you. That’s helpful. ”
“I’ll put together something she’ll love. I suppose I should do the same for Emily and Alex.” She sighs. “We’re terribly off schedule because of everything that’s gone wrong. I had to move today’s activities, so now what are we going to do?”
“Easy, Evie,” I say. “I think we can all use a day off.”
She rubs at her temples. “That’s fine, because I’ll be busy today. I’m planning to kick Heather and June out of here.”
“What? Why?”
“I caught them screwing around together this morning. What’s with these women? First Ginger and Rachel, and now two more? You’d think being able to snag a billionaire would keep them focused. I vetted all these women, Brett. None of them said they were bisexual. I specifically asked. God, this event is going down the drain, and I’m carrying the child of a sociopathic monster!”
“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”
“Easy for you to say.”
She’s right. I don’t know Misty’s dad—only that he’s a hotel magnate. I’ve never met the man.
As for Heather and June...
The thought of them together is a major turn-on, but Evangeline is right that they’re here to meet us. On the other hand...
“They don’t need to go. We don’t care if they have a little fun on their own. Besides, Seb has really clicked with Heather. And I’d like to get to know them both a little better. “
But do I? Two days ago, my words were true. Now, though, I’m hoping Sienna will return. Ever since we fucked ferociously in the limo before her flight, I haven’t been able to get her off my mind. She’s the first person to occupy my thoughts like that since Jake .
Evangeline is still leaning against the wall, trembling.
“Evangeline,” I continue, “you need to calm down.”
She lets out a breath. “Fine. Heather and June can stay. I’m just so pissed off, I can’t see straight!”
“Easy. This is no big deal?”
No response. To her it is a big deal. Plus, she’s worried about the pregnancy.
“Are you sure Holmes is the father of your child?”
She nods. “It would be impossible for anyone else to be. He’s the only one I’ve been with since my last cycle. Damned ripped condom.”
A condom. That’s good. That means it probably wasn’t forced. I sigh in relief.
Then I tilt my head. Misty’s father is clearly fertile. It must be Misty’s mother who had the problem that led to their need to adopt. Of course, they could have just decided to adopt anyway.
I don’t know much about either of Misty’s parents, but they couldn’t have been good at child-rearing, given how Misty turned out.
Evangeline taps her foot. Tension is pouring off her in waves. No wonder she was running around.
“I never should have slept with him,” she says. “He can’t know about the baby. He’ll try to take it from me, and he has the money to get the best attorneys and make me look like a two-bit whore.”
“I’m sorry, Evangeline, but the father has a right to?—”
“God, not you, too!” She whips her hands to her hips.
“Not me anything. I’m sorry. Let’s just?—”
“I can’t talk about this anymore. Please. Just let me try to fix this event for you. ”
“All right. I was glad to get you, but I didn’t know you came with Misty as baggage.”
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I really thought I could pull this off. Even with the pregnancy. But then Misty...” She draws in a breath. “What if we do speed dating this afternoon? It’s easy to set up, and it’ll give you men a chance to talk to all the women one-on-one. I’ll make sure you get paired up with both Heather and June, since you haven’t spent any time with them.”
“We can take the afternoon off,” I say again.
“No, no, no.” She moves away from the wall, this time steady on her feet. “I’ll announce it at lunch. Speed dating, and then you and Alex have dates this evening with Misty and Emily respectively. Sebastian will perform tomorrow night. Hmm...we still have to do the lunches for Emily and Ariel, who won the blind man’s bluff game on the catamaran. God, the catamaran... That’s when things started to go astray.”
She’s not wrong. Rachel’s near drowning seemed to begin the fall of the dominoes. But at least she’s okay.
Except for the anonymous threats Ginger told me about when I went to talk to them yesterday in Jamaica.
Who the hell is threatening them?
“Evangeline,” I begin, “forget the speed dating. We’re taking the afternoon off. Go ahead and plan the dates tonight for Alex and me.”
“Fine.”
“But I’m concerned. Is there anything you’re not telling me?”
“Now that you know who my baby’s father is and how Misty got here, no, there’s nothing I haven’t told you.”
“Do you know who could have sent the anonymous threats to Ginger and Rachel telling them not to return to the island? Misty swears it wasn’t her.”
She sighs. “I have an idea, but I can’t prove it.”
“Tell me. Maybe I can prove it.”
She shakes her head. “I can’t. I can’t go around making accusations without being able to back them up. There are powerful people involved.”
“Listen to me,” I say. “You don’t need to worry about anyone else’s power. Tell me, Evangeline. Who do you think is responsible for Rachel and Ginger being gone?”