Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
The look on Evie’s face tells me she’s not at all intimidated by me.
Which I both love and hate. It’s fucking frustrating as hell that she won’t just do what I want her to do.
That money in her bank account is hers, though.
I don’t care what she does with it. Let her try to send it back to me. She won’t be happy with the outcome.
“You know what? I think I want to have a bath by myself,” she says.
I look her up and down. Her nipples are hard. Her thighs are pressed together. “You sure about that?”
“Yep.” Moving to the side, Evie holds the door open for me. “Thanks for running the water.”
“Anytime, mi alma.” I don’t argue with her. If she wants to bathe alone, she’s welcome to do so. “Don’t touch yourself. I will know,” I warn as I step out.
Evie grumbles something that I don’t catch as she slams the door behind me. I hear the lock click into place and chuckle. She should know by now that no lock is going to keep me out if I want to get in.
I walk into the closet and get dressed. Evie loves her baths. Which means she’ll be in there for a while. I head downstairs and message Paz to meet me in my office. Ten minutes later, he arrives.
“Jefe?” He walks in and sits across from me on the sofa.
“Anything yet?” He knows what I’m asking.
“I’ve just picked up three girls. The judges aren’t talking, so I thought I’d change tack,” he says.
My brows raise. “For the love of God, tell me you’re not torturing fucking pageant girls.” He also knows I’m trying to switch things up in the organization, and not targeting innocent fucking women is the start of that.
“No. I’m trying out other methods of persuasion.” Paz smirks. I suppose using his charm is better than torture.
“Heard anything from Alejandro?”
“Not yet,” he says.
I stand and start pacing the room. “There has to be something. I know something happened and I want to fucking know what it is,” I growl, my fingers combing through my hair. “Someone has to know something.”
“She still won’t say?” Paz quirks a brow.
“No,” I tell him. “I’m not pushing her to open up about something that causes her so much fucking pain.”
I’ve thought about it, but whatever happened to her was bad enough to be giving her nightmares years later. And I’m guessing it’s why she doesn’t sleep as well.
“She wants to go home,” I grumble. Evie is determined to go home now that our week is coming to an end. “Have the jet ready tomorrow night.”
“Will do. You going with her?”
“I’ll fly with her, but then we both have to return to the estate. I need someone else on her,” I say, hating that I need to take Paz back with me. But he’s the most trusted man in my organization and there’s a lot of shit to sort through back home.
“I’ll send Enrique. He’s the closest to her town,” Paz says.
“Make sure he knows what will happen to him if a single hair on her head is touched.” I hate having to leave Evie, but I can’t force her to stay with me. I need to give her the opportunity to want to stay first.
My phone pings with a message from the front gate.
Front Gate: Mrs. Lopez is here. She wants to see you.
“Fucking hell,” I groan. My parents never officially married but that didn’t keep my mother from taking my father’s name or him from considering her his property.
“What?”
“My mother is here.” This is the last thing I want to deal with right now. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate my mother. I’m just not ready for her to know about Evie.
“Want me to do anything?” Paz asks.
“No, I’ll deal with her. Hopefully, I can get her to leave before she finds out I have a… guest.” I choose my words carefully so Paz understands my meaning, then send a message to the gate, instructing the guards to escort my mother to the front door.
Paz follows me out to the foyer. The door flies open right as we approach. “Emmanuel, why on earth am I being stopped from entering my own son’s house?” My mother kisses my cheek at the same time she’s chastising me.
“Because we’ve increased security,” I tell her.
“Mrs. Lopez, it’s good to see you,” Paz greets, and my mother gives him one of her disapproving looks.
“I hope you’re keeping my son out of trouble in this god-awful city. Why have you two been hanging around so much lately?” she asks.
“I have a call I have to make. It was good to see you, Mrs. Lopez.” Paz walks away, likely trying to avoid the interrogation.
“Ma, come into my office.” I hold my arm out towards the hall, leading the way.
“I’m not here on business, Emmanuel. I’m your mother,” she replies, crossing her arms over her chest while digging her heels into the ground.
“Fine, come to the sala then.” I turn, knowing she’ll follow me. “Want a drink?” I walk over to the small bar trolley in the corner and pour myself a tequila.
“I’m good. What are you really doing here, Emmanuel?”
“I’m not discussing business with you, Ma.” I pivot to face her again. “You know that’s not how this works.”
“Okay then, why are you avoiding me?” she presses.
I shrug. “I’m not. I’ve just been busy.”
“You are never too busy for your mother,” she says, lowering herself down on one of the sofas.
I don’t bother arguing with her. She will just keep talking in circles. “How’ve you been?”
I haven’t seen her much. Not since my father’s death and the release of the confinement that he kept her in. She’s been making the most of her newfound freedom. Traveling and doing fuck knows what else.
When I get a notification on my phone from my bank, it takes everything in me not to react. She didn’t… Yes, she did.
Evie fucking transferred the entire twenty-five million dollars back to me. How the hell did she manage to get that done so fast?
“Give me a sec,” I tell my mother, putting my phone to my ear and walking out of the living room as I wait for the call to connect to my banker.
“Mr. Lopez, what can I do for you?” Grant asks.
“I need fifty million transferred into Evie Carter’s account immediately. If she returns it again, I want you to double the sum and resend it back,” I instruct. “As many times as it takes.”
“Ah. Sure. Okay, I can do that,” Grant says. “You want me to call you or just make the transactions?”
“Just make the transactions,” I tell him before cutting the call. When I walk back into the living room, I find my mother exactly where I left her. “Can we do this another time? I really do have other things I need to do.”
“You know, I heard a rumor that you had a girl hanging around,” she says, rising to her feet. “I would hope that you’re not pushing me out of your house for a woman, Emmanuel.”
“Where’d you hear that?”
“Around.” She shrugs. “Is it true?”
Before I can answer, I hear Evie’s shriek coming down the stairs. “Seriously, E, this is insane even for you!”
My mother’s eyes widen and she’s immediately heading towards the foyer, where all the commotion is coming from.
“Where are you?” Evie yells out.
“Right here,” I tell her.
Evie spins towards me. Her mouth opens and then closes when she notices I’m not alone. “Oh, I thought… I didn’t know you had visitors. Sorry.” She glances between me and my mother.
“This is my mother,” I explain, taking a few short steps towards Evie.
“Oh, hi. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Her features all fall into place as she gives that well-practiced, polite smile she has down pat.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” my mother says, her face pale.
My head snaps towards her. “What did you say?” I ask her in Spanish.
“She was supposed to die,” my mother replies in English.
“What?” Evie looks to me.
I keep my expression neutral as I turn to face her. I do not need her to know just how unhinged I feel right now. “Evie, can you go wait for me upstairs? I’m going to see my mother out.”
The sound of a gun cocking has me peering over a shoulder to find my mother aiming a barrel at my girlfriend. Without a second thought, I have my own pistol trained on my mother.
“Drop it,” I grind out between clenched teeth.
“She isn’t good for you, Emmanuel. She was supposed to be dead. Your father said he took care of her.”
“How the fuck do you know about Laura?” I ask, my barrel still fixed on my mother as I step in front of Evie.
“Who do you think told your father about her? I was looking out for you. She was a distraction you didn’t need.”
“Drop the gun, or I will fucking blow your brains out,” I warn.
“I did it for you, Emmanuel. That girl is going to get you killed,” my mother insists. “Move out of my way.”
“That’s not going to happen. This isn’t Laura. Laura’s dead. But it wasn’t Papa who did it. It was me,” I admit. “And if you don’t drop that gun, I will end you too.”
“I’m your mother,” she says.
“You, I can live with losing. Her, I can’t.”
“Emmanuel, don’t do this,” Evie whispers from behind me.
I don’t give my mother another warning. She’s not dropping the gun and I’m not giving her a chance to take a shot at Evie. My finger presses down on the trigger. A hole forms between my mother’s eyes and then her body drops to the floor.
Paz, along with five other men, all come running into the foyer. He looks from me to my mother.
“Clean this up,” I say. Then I turn around and take hold of Evie’s hand, leading her upstairs and quickly closing us inside my bedroom.
Before I say anything, I pull her body tight against mine. She’s shivering. I never wanted her to see who I really am. A man capable of killing his own parents without remorse.
“I’m sorry you had to see that.” I press my lips against the top of her head.
“You…” Evie takes a step backwards, shaking her head. “Who is Laura?”
That was not the question I was expecting.
I inhale a deep breath. “She was my girlfriend, when I was sixteen. It was a long time ago, Evie.”
“Why would your mother think I was her?”
“Because you look like her.” I shrug.
“What happened to Laura?”
“I killed her,” I say, waiting for her to run, to scream, for any sort of reaction. What I’m not expecting is for Evie to step towards me and wrap her arms around my waist.