13. Nick
NICK
“Evan?” I poked my head into the kitchen. It was empty. “Ugh.” I stomped across the hall and threw open a random door. Rows of neatly stacked linens stared back at me. “Seriously?” I shut the closet door and glared at it.
Evan’s penthouse was huge and spanned the thirtieth floor of the fanciest building I’d ever been in. It also had security coming out of the wazoo, and the number of armed guards and checkpoints just to get inside one of the elevators was intimidating as fuck.
Vlado had brought me in through the private entrance and elevator in the parking lot. It was guarded by his men and not the building’s security team, which made Vlado less twitchy.
It also opened my eyes to the kind of life Evan lived. I knew he was rich, but I hadn’t fully comprehended that he was rich , and with that wealth came the kind of attention that required armed guards and living in Fort Knox.
Unfortunately, my new revelations only added to my anger. Evan had made the choice to keep me in the dark about his reality, and that was unacceptable.
Whirling away from the closet, I made my way through the living room and toward the other side of the massive space. Vlado had assured me Evan was home.
I wasn’t convinced.
The penthouse was gorgeous with cathedral ceilings, huge, airy rooms, massive floor-to-ceiling windows that showed off the breathtaking view, and cozy yet classy furnishings.
Unlike the rental house, this one was lived in.
Photos and artwork decorated the walls, and various knickknacks dotted the available surfaces.
A threadbare quilt was carefully draped over the huge sectional sofa in the living room, and a stack of books was piled on the coffee table.
“Evan?” I shouted. My voice echoed back at me as it bounced off the gleaming hardwood floors and pristine walls. “Ugh!”
The slap of my shoes on the too-shiny floors was oddly satisfying as I marched toward the only part of the house I hadn’t checked and yanked on the first door.
It didn’t budge.
“Today is not the day,” I grumbled and stomped over to the next door and tugged on the knob. Locked. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Vlado?” I shouted. He hadn’t come inside the apartment with me, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t snuck in while I was busy conducting my search. “If you’re in here, stop hiding and tell me where Evan is or you’re going back on the naughty list.”
No answer.
Still seething, I stalked over to the last door and pulled.
It flew open. Shocked, I overcompensated trying to stop it from slamming into the wall and nearly fell ass over tea kettle when it swung back and hit me square in the hip.
“Son of a biscuit.” I rubbed my hip and peered into the room.
It wasn’t a room, but a creepily dark and tiny hallway. “Evan?”
Silence.
A sliver of light caught my attention at the other end of the short hall.
“Evan?” I pressed my ear to the door in question. A rhythmic thumping sound, almost a hollow slap, filtered through the heavy wood.
I tested the knob. It turned in my hand. Pushing the door open, I peered inside.
“Ev— holy mother of dragons.”
Beyond the door was a home gym. Exercise equipment, weight racks, and a multitude of machines that looked like they doubled as torture devices lined the walls. Floor-to-ceiling mirrors gleamed, and in one corner was what looked like a mini yoga studio.
Evan was in front of a hanging punching bag in nothing but a pair of low-slung athletic shorts and boxing gloves. His skin gleamed with sweat, highlighting the individual dips and curves of his impressive muscles as he wailed on the bag like he was trying to punch it into next week.
I stood there, frozen. Unable to do more than stare at the gloriousness of not only his physique, but the show of aggression. Why was that so hot?
“Evan?” I called, my voice far more hesitant than it had been when I’d been searching for him.
He didn’t even pause as he beat that bag like it had insulted his grandmother.
“Ev?” I tried again, louder this time.
Halting his assault, he turned to face me.
Sweat beaded on his forehead. Damp hair hung down over his eyes. His shoulders rose and fell as he breathed hard from the exertion, but it was the look on his face, intense and feral, that sent a prickle of fear through me.
Evan might look like the perfect, put-together businessman when he was around others, but in that moment, I understood just how dangerous and capable he was.
Slowly, he rested one arm over the top of the punching bag and brought the other hand to his mouth. He tugged the Velcro strap free with his teeth and shook the glove off.
“Nick?” He pulled a white earbud out of his ear. “What are you doing here?”
“Um…” I fixed my gaze on one of the many weight machines and not on the bulge under his shorts. “I’m mad at you.”
“You are.” The amusement in his tone was almost enough to make me look at him again.
Almost.
“Yes.”
“Care to explain why?”
“Because you’re a liar who lies.”
“I need a little more context than that.”
I shifted my gaze to him. “Can you put on a shirt or something? It’s hard to be mad when you’re all shiny and looking like a snack.”
He smirked and pulled off his other glove.
“You lied to me.”
“I got that much. What did I lie about?”
“The letters!”
The smirk fell off his face.
“Why didn’t you tell me you got more of them? And why the hell did I only find out today that Vlado has been following me? You’ve been lying to me for weeks.”
“I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you the whole truth.”
“A half-truth is still a lie.” I stood akimbo and glared at him. “Why didn’t you just tell me what’s going on? You told me about the first letter. Why hide this from me?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Adrenaline surged through me as my anger hovered right below flashpoint.
“By hiding things from me? By treating me like an empty-headed toy who can’t think for myself?
You said you didn’t see me like that. You told me you were different.
” My lip trembled as my eyes burned. “But you’re not.
You’re exactly the same as everyone else. ”
“Nick.” He stepped closer.
“Don’t! Do you have any idea how violating it is to know someone has been following my every move? That you’ve had people watching my apartment and my jobs? How stupid I feel knowing you lied to me for weeks and I had no clue any of this was going on?”
“The situation is complicated—”
“I don’t care! I don’t give a flying fuck how complicated the situation is. If it involves me, then I have a goddamn right to know about it!”
His jaw worked as he clenched his teeth.
“You’re so afraid of something happening to me that you put your best friend and the head of your security on me, but didn’t think to tell me what’s going on so I could protect myself? I’m not the weak, flighty airhead everyone thinks I am.
“I might love pretty clothes and dancing and say weird shit that doesn’t always make sense to others, but I’m an adult.
I’ve been on my own since I was sixteen.
I’m not some na?ve kid who doesn’t understand how the real world works.
I’ve spent my entire life dealing with assholes who’ve taken exception to who I am because I refuse to change myself for the comfort of others. ”
“Nick—”
“No, it’s my turn to talk and your turn to listen,” I steamrolled on.
“You have no idea what life has been like for me. How many times I’ve been ridiculed and mocked and attacked just for being myself.
How many bro-dudes have taken exception to my very existence because I don’t fit into what they feel a ‘man’ should be.
Did that ever occur to you while you were deciding to keep me in the dark about my own damn safety? ”
“Nick—”
“Fuck you.” The burning in my eyes faded, but the tightness in my throat was making it hard to breathe. “Fuck you for making me think you were different.”
Evan crossed the room, his strides long and purposeful.
I wanted to run, but my feet wouldn’t move.
“I’m so sorry.” He hauled me against his hard chest in a crushing hug. “You’re right. You’re right about everything.”
“A hug isn’t going to fix this.” I kept my arms at my sides, still too upset to give in to the comfort he was offering.
“I know. And I’m not trying to fix it. I’m just… I’m so sorry.”
Feeling awkward, I rested my hands on his bare hips. “It’s so not fair that you’re all gorgeous and sweaty while I’m trying to be mad.”
His low chuckle soothed some of the anger that still flowed through me.
“I’m serious. Why couldn’t you be in the middle of trying on parkas or maybe getting ready to tend to some bees?”
“Tend to bees?”
“Yeah, like in a beekeeper suit.”
“I don’t have any bees to tend to.”
“Doesn’t mean you can’t have a beekeeper suit. It’s not like they check your beekeeper card when you go to buy one.”
He pulled back and held me at arm’s length. “I’m sorry, Nick. I know an apology isn’t enough. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I do want to explain things to you.”
“Fine. Explain.”
“Not here.” He pressed a sweaty kiss against my forehead. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
Taking my hand, he led me out of the gym. “My room.”
Still pouting, I followed Evan down the hall to one of the closed doors I’d nearly dislocated my arm trying to open.
“Why do you lock your room if you live alone?” I asked as he pressed his thumb to a sensor.
“Because my bedroom has a door to my office in it.” He motioned to the other closed door.
“You have a door connecting your office and your bedroom? My dude, have you ever heard of a work/life balance? No wonder you’re a worka— holy shitballs.
” I stumbled to a stop and gaped at Evan’s bedroom as I stepped through the doorway.
“What in the enchanted forest is going on in here? This is right out of one of those ‘which would you choose’ fantasy bedroom videos on my For You Page!”
Evan chuckled and closed the door behind me. “I have no idea what most of that means.”