24. Harrison
24
HARRISON
O f all the people I expect to visit me on a given day, Eva is the least likely.
Her blond hair is limp around her face. Makeup cakes her cheeks and forehead. Her aqua-blue jumpsuit is pressed, but her posture is cowed.
Her gaze darts past my shoulder. “Harrison. I need help.”
I don’t believe her for a second. “You made your allegiances perfectly clear.”
“Let her in,” Sebastian says.
I shut the door in her face before starting to tell my brother how stupid this idea is when Raegan cuts me off.
“I agree with Ash.”
“You want Mischa’s fiancée in my house?” Disbelief drips from every word.
Rae blinks at me. “I want to give a woman in obvious distress a chance to explain herself.”
Fuck.
I jerk the door open. “If it were up to me, you’d be gone.”
“Harrison King taking orders. That’s a new one.”
I pull the door shut behind me so it’s the two of us on the step. “If you so much as look at Raegan, I’ll have you delivered back to him with a full account of where you’ve been.”
Fear flashes across her face, blinding and real, before she follows me inside.
Sebastian’s sitting at the dining table, and Raegan’s in the kitchen making tea. Still wearing my shirt.
Eva’s gaze lingers on Raegan an extra beat before she remembers what I said and looks away.
Rae comes over with a teapot and cups, then pours into each cup.
Eva accepts the tea from Rae and takes a sip. Her engagement ring blinks in the light. “He’s not the man I thought.”
I cough. “Who did you think you were marrying? A saint?”
“No. But he was constant in one thing—wanting me. At least until recently.” She sneaks another look at Rae.
I turn to my brother and Raegan. “Could you give us a moment?”
Rae finishes pouring tea and drops into a seat at the other end of the table. “No.”
I swallow a groan. Please , I implore her silently.
A stubborn jerk of her chin. Fuck no .
Damn it. I called her a queen, and she is one now.
In full.
“He doesn’t want me anymore. I called him out on it, and he got physical.” Eva angles her head, and in the light, it’s impossible not to see the shadow beneath her cheekbone. She turns her cup in her hands, lips pressing together. “At first, it was exciting. It felt as if he needed me in a way you never did.”
When her gaze lands on me, I see accusation and sadness mixed together.
“You want protection,” I guess.
“Why not go to the police?” Sebastian asks.
Eva’s gaze narrows on Sebastian. “With the amount I’ve spent on skincare, I’d like to continue looking twenty-five for another few decades. Which is hard to do when you’re dead.”
“What are you offering?” I ask.
“Harrison…” Rae says. “This shouldn’t be a negotiation.”
I’m struck by the contrast between the two women.
Eva is willing to do anything to save her own skin.
Rae is pragmatic enough to know how the world works but idealistic enough to try to make it better, even for people who don’t deserve it.
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know.” Eva’s voice trembles at the edges.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out.
Christian: Don’t say I never gave you anything.
“Excuse me.” I brush Rae’s cheek with my knuckle on my way past her to the steps upstairs—a simple gesture to let her know I’m still here with her.
I hit the contact, and he answers on the second ring.
“This was you?” I demand as I reach for a shirt, shrugging into it.
“She didn’t know where to go. I steered her your way.”
I step out of my room, peering over the railing at the three of them seated at the table below.
“I don’t want her,” I say under my breath as I fasten the buttons on my shirt.
“A woman who knows Mischa’s habits and secrets? You can’t use that?”
A day ago, I would’ve cut off my own arm for this type of information. But I promised Raegan I’d let it go.
I hang up and walk down the stairs. At the bottom, Rae rises from her chair and reads my expression. She jerks her head toward the kitchen and I follow.
When we’re out of earshot, I explain about Christian’s text. “Eva has enough information to take him down a dozen times over. But,” I go on as she stiffens, “I promised you I wouldn’t. That I’d lay it down. We can send her packing. Pretend this never happened.”
Rae sighs. I wish I could hear the thoughts running through her head, could find out if they’re the same as mine.
She’s probably thinking it’s not worth risking.
“One chance to hear her out,” she says. “Whatever we learn goes to the police.”
I nod, pressing my lips to her forehead. I would stay there forever if I could.
We make our way back out to the dining area, my hand laced with Raegan’s. “I want everything.”
Eva fidgets in her seat.
“Won’t he know she’s been here?” Sebastian asks.
“No. Because she’s going back to him.”
“Harrison…” Rae says.
Eva’s expression fills with dread. “I can’t.”
“You will, or there’s no deal.” I can have her surveilled to ensure she’s protected, though I’m not about to tell her now. “You won’t tell him about our agreement because if he finds out you’ve been here, he’ll end you.”
* * *
RAE
Harrison’s jaw hasn’t unclenched for the last hour while Eva’s discussed what she knows about Mischa’s activities. Some of it we’d figured already—that he’s running drugs through the clubs. That the money from that is bigger than the legitimate business.
“What about the bad drugs?” Harrison demands.
Eva picks at an invisible piece of lint on her jumpsuit. “I don’t know anything about that. But I do know the cost of staying one step ahead of you is eating into his profit.”
“You’ve seen the books?” Ash asks.
“I’ve seen his face. The one thing that pisses him off as much as losing is losing money.” The room is quiet for a moment before Eva adds, “Something big is going down soon. I overheard him talking about next week on Sunday, but I could convince him we have plans that day and see if he’d move it to Saturday.”
“Why Saturday?” Ash asks.
Eva’s gaze settles on me.
“Absolutely fucking not.” Harrison’s voice is commanding. “You are not encouraging him to do a deal while Raegan is in that venue.”
“He’d be distracted,” Eva says smoothly. “He likes you.”
The way she says it leaves no question as to what he likes about me.
She wouldn’t care if I was sacrificed in all this. Hell, she’d probably love it.
My hand finds Harrison’s arm, the muscles corded and angry under my touch. “There’s nowhere safer than the middle of the stage. He won’t risk his business to catch you.”
Harrison exhales slowly. “I want to know the layout of the club.”
I push a tray of tea cookies Natalia must’ve left on the counter earlier toward Eva, and she balks. “I haven’t eaten a carbohydrate in ten years.”
I take two cookies and lay them on the table at opposite ends. “This is the stage. And this is the front door. The dance floor is here.” I wave my hand over the space in the middle. “Where’s Mischa’s office?”
If Harrison’s going to tell the police, it would help to have as much detail as possible.
Eva shifts forward and takes a wafer. “Here.” She sets it down between the two cookies and off to the side. “There’s a hallway here with offices and a couple meeting rooms, plus inventory to stock the bar.” She takes another three cookies, turning toward the other side of the table. “This half is VIPs. They’re serviced by their own bar.”
“Is that where he does business?” I ask.
“No. He might entertain in a VIP, but everything is decided in his office.”
“Are there any entrances near there? There must be one for inventory,” Harrison says.
Eva considers. “Loading dock services the stock room.”
Another cookie goes down, this one close to Mischa’s office.
My heart thuds. “So, if the police can get in while he’s doing that deal…”
“They can bring him down,” Harrison says.
Eva takes another cookie, and we wait for her to place it.
“Well?” Harrison prods, clearly impatient.
Eva nibbles the corner. “Well, what?”
Harrison rises. “You need to go back to him before he suspects anything. We’ll let you know when we need you.”
“You still have my number?” she asks as she follows him.
“Someone will be in touch.”
She flinches at the dismissal. It’s deluded, but I feel for her, so I walk with them to the door.
“We didn’t offer you ice,” I realize when she turns outside on the landing.
“Oh. This is a day old.” Her full lips press together, blue eyes shifting over mine. “It wasn’t an easy decision to come here.”
I think of my decision to hide my assault, how some of the women my cousin helps with her charity are victims of assault by their partners. Eva isn’t someone I’d empathize with, but seeing her like this, it’s impossible not to.
She’s halfway to her car when I chase after her, lowering my voice so only she can hear. “I know Harrison said we’d call you, but if you need help?—“
“He loves you.” Her voice is wistful. Then her eyes narrow, the faintest smirk marring her pretty features. “Good luck with that.”
She might not betray Harrison, either out of loyalty or pragmatism.
But she’ll fuck me over if she gets the chance.