Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
“You’re a businessman, right?” Evie asks.
I nod my head, but don’t say anything.
“Then you understand that I do have to get home? I have a business to run.”
“I understand. And I’ve told you, as soon as you tell me what I want to know, I’ll have the jet take you home,” I say.
Evie glares at me from across the table. I wonder if she’s even the slightest bit afraid of me. Men wouldn’t dare to look at me the way she’s looking at me right now, let alone speak to me how she does. I don’t want her to be afraid of me. I don’t think. I want her to talk to me.
The fact that there are people out there who have hurt her is driving me fucking insane.
I just spent hours in the basement with some fucking pageant judge Paz picked up.
The guy claimed he didn’t know Evie. He was full of shit because his face paled the moment I showed him her photo.
The asshole took whatever secrets he had to hell with him, though.
Because he didn’t talk and I didn’t stop.
I’d been waiting to get a call that Evie was leaving. She didn’t fucking move. She sat her ass on the fucking floor in the middle of my room.
“Why didn’t you leave?” I ask her what I’ve been wondering myself.
“What?”
“When I left you in the room, why didn’t you walk out the front door?” I don’t get her. She says she doesn’t want to be here, doesn’t want me, but she’s really not putting up much of a fight.
“I didn’t want to get shot down trying to walk out of the gates.” She shrugs.
“No one here is going to fucking shoot you, Evie,” I tell her.
“You have an army of men out there with rifles. How am I supposed to know what they will and won’t do?”
“They’re not going to touch you,” I repeat.
She lifts a curious brow at me. “What were you doing?”
“Torturing a pageant judge,” I say honestly.
Her face pales. “You what?”
“He’s dead,” I tell her. “If you won’t tell me what I want to know, I will get those answers elsewhere.”
“You can’t do that, Emmanuel. Some of those people are innocent!” Evie gasps.
“You see that? You just admitted that someone isn’t innocent. Who is it, Evie?” I press her.
She shakes her head. Her eyes water. “You can’t kill people because of me.”
“Actually, I can. And I will.” I study her face for a moment, then change the subject. “We should watch a movie.”
“You’re insane,” Evie whispers.
“Mi alma, you have no idea the lengths I’m willing to go to.” I stand. My chair slides backwards, and I walk over to her side of the table and extend a hand. “Come on, let’s go watch a movie.”
“I want to go home, Emmanuel. I have work to do,” Evie says.
“You were planning on staying in Vegas for the entire week before you ran,” I remind her. “Give me that week.”
I have no intention of letting her go, but maybe if she thinks she’ll eventually escape me, she’ll relax, and I’ll get the information out of her.
“The week? For what?”
“So we can get to know each other.” I’m still waiting for her to stand.
“A week isn’t long enough to get to know another person,” Evie argues.
“Want to make it longer? I don’t mind.” I smirk. “Besides, a week is just the beginning, not the end.”
“I’m not sleeping with you,” she says.
“You barely sleep at all, so I’d assume that.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Evie sighs. “You can’t watch me sleep. When I do eventually pass out again, you can’t be in the room while I’m sleeping. And you can’t have anyone else in there either, unless it’s Charlotte.”
That really is a thing for her, huh? I’d be willing to put money on it having something to do with whatever the fuck happened to her.
“Why are you worried about me watching you sleep?” I ask, because like fuck am I agreeing to not watching her.
“It’s creepy and I don’t know what you’re doing to me,” she says.
“You can watch the tapes whenever you want,” I tell her. “I didn’t do anything to you, and I wouldn’t do anything you didn’t want me to do.”
“I don’t want you to keep me here,” she mutters under her breath.
“Okay, where do you want to go?”
“Home,” she says.
“Fine, we’ll go to your place. Give me a couple of hours to get the jet ready.” I pull my phone from my pocket.
“That’s not… I don’t want you to come with me, Emmanuel.”
“If you’re going, then I’m coming,” I say. She doesn’t have a choice on that.
“Argh, you’re so… Argh.” Evie stands and shoves at my chest. “Why are you doing this to me?”
Taking hold of her hands, so she can’t continue to shove me, I hold them firmly against my chest. “Because, mi alma, I can’t get you out of my head.”
“Try harder,” she hisses.
“I don’t want to. I like you occupying my mind. You are much better to think about than what’s usually there. You are a reprieve from the hell I have to deal with every day,” I admit.
Evie inhales a lungful of air and slowly releases it. She’s about to say something when the ringing of my phone interrupts her. I look down at the screen and see Lailani’s number.
“I have to take this.” I let go of Evie’s hands and walk out of the dining room.
“Yeah?”
“Charlotte was just shot. She’s being taken to the hospital,” Lailani says.
“Where?”
“The casino floor. She jumped in front of Louie. The gun was aimed at him.”
“Why the fuck would she do that?” I yell into the phone, making my way to my office. “Find Paz, now,” I tell the two men standing guard in front of the door. I sit behind my desk and return my attention to Lailani. “Where’s the shooter now?”
“Dead, security got him,” she says. “You want me to do anything?”
“Not yet,” I tell her and cut the call.
I turn on my computer and pull up the Royal’s security feed. It takes ten minutes of scrolling through all the cameras to find Louie and Charlotte, and then I watch as she pushes Louie out of the way. She saw the gun and jumped in front of it. Fucking hell.
I need to find out what’s happening with Charlotte before I tell Evie anything. I need to know what we’re dealing with.
“Jefe?” Paz walks in, closing the door behind him.
“Someone took a shot at Louie, got his wife,” I explain. “I need you to hack into the hospital records and find out what’s happening with Charlotte.”
“On it.” Paz sits on the sofa and grabs his laptop from where he left it resting on the coffee table.
“Did the mess in the basement get cleaned up?” I ask him.
“Spotless,” Paz replies.
“Who the fuck would take a shot at Louie?” I grunt as I run a hand through my hair.
“No one who will live to tell the story,” Paz says as he taps away at his keyboard. “They got her in surgery.”
“Let me know as soon as she’s out, not a word in front of Evie,” I warn him.
Paz looks up at me. “She’s going to be pissed if you keep this from her, jefe. They seem close.”
“I’m not keeping it from her. I’m waiting until we know the outcome,” I counter. “And get some guys out on the street. I want to know who the fuck is going after our connections.”
Paz nods, and then he’s back on his phone. I leave him to work and go in search of Evie.
“She went upstairs, Emmanuel,” Maria tells me as I pass. So I turn and head up the stairs.
I find Evie sitting on the edge of the bed. Well, that’s an improvement from the floor.
“What happened?” she asks me.
“Why did you come up here?” I say instead of answering.
“You left me in the dining room. I didn’t know what to do.” She lifts a shoulder.
“Evie, you don’t have to stay in this room. You don’t need me to walk around the house. You can go wherever you want,” I tell her.
“There’re a lot of people in this house,” she says. “I can just stay in here.”
“I’ll kick them all out. If they make you uncomfortable, I’ll have them all stay outside, except Maria. We need to eat.” I grin.
“You don’t have to do that. It’s fine. I’m not going to be here long.”
“A week,” I tell her.
“If I agree to this week, what happens? What do we do for a whole week?” Evie eyes me suspiciously.
“Talk. We can do whatever you want to do, Evie,” I say, sitting next to her on the bed.
“Talk,” she parrots. “About what? I doubt we have anything in common.”
“How would you know that? Unless we talk?”
“You’re a cartel boss from Mexico. I’m a small-town girl with a dress shop. We are not even remotely close to being compatible for anything but a one-night stand. And since you’re a creep who watches people sleep, that ship has long sailed.” She laughs.
“Good, because I don’t plan on being your one-night stand, mi alma.” I push to my feet and hold out a hand. “Come on, let’s go downstairs.”
Surprisingly, she actually takes it, and I lead her downstairs to one of the living rooms. It’s the one with the most comfortable sofa.
I turn on the television and pass her the remote. “You choose.”
Evie flicks through the channels until she finds some Hallmark movie. I don’t complain. I don’t care what she’s watching. I just need to keep her occupied long enough for Charlotte to come out of surgery. Then I’ll take her to the hospital.
“You’re going to be bored out of your mind and probably fall asleep. But don’t worry, I won’t watch you because I’m not a creep,” Evie tells me.
I settle back onto the sofa. My arm wraps around her shoulder and I pull her body against mine, so her back is resting on my chest. “I don’t care if you creep on me, Evie. Watch me sleep all you want.”
“You’re not a talker, are you? Because that’s going to be a problem. Movies are meant to be enjoyed—quietly,” she says.
“Lips are zipped.” I chuckle.
It’s best I don’t talk anyway. Less of a chance of her putting that wall up between us again. Because right now, her body relaxes against mine and I feel at peace. My lips press to the top of her head, and I inhale the fruity scent of her shampoo.
An hour later, Paz walks into the living room, and Evie stiffens. I shift her weight and slide out from under her.
“I’ll be right back,” I say and walk out of earshot with Paz following me.
“She’s out of surgery. Still asleep but going to be fine,” he says.
I sigh. I didn’t know how much I was fucking hoping to hear that. Two people I happen to care about would be fucking devastated otherwise. “Thanks. Get the car ready. I need you to come with me.”
Paz nods and walks out towards the front of the house. I go back into the living room. Evie looks up at me.
“What happened?” she asks.
“We have to go to the hospital,” I tell her. “Charlotte was shot. She’s okay. She’s out of surgery and going to make a full recovery.”