9. Crumbling Walls
Crumbling Walls
Evelyn
I stare out the window as Columbus blurs past, the familiar streets feeling strangely foreign from the passenger seat of Eli’s black SUV.
One week . The words echo in my head, mocking me with their finality.
Seven days until I’m bound to a man who thinks he can control every aspect of my life under the guise of protection.
My fingers drum restlessly against my thigh as we cruise past the coffee shop where I usually grab my morning fix. The sight of people going about their normal routines makes my chest ache. Twenty-four hours ago, that was me—just another face in the crowd, living my life on my own terms.
Eli maintains his stoic silence behind the wheel, but he checks the mirrors constantly, scanning for threats. His presence reminds me that this is my new reality. A life where even my morning commute requires an armed escort.
My gut twists as I think about Leo, about how quickly our lives have spiraled out of control. He too has an armed escort to school and guards watching the school all day long.
Will he understand why I agreed to this marriage? Will he see it as protection or another adult making choices that affect his life without his input?
We stop at a red light, and a young couple crosses the street, laughing together, completely in their own world.
My throat tightens. Is this what Zeke and I could have been in another life?
If he hadn’t disappeared on me right as I thought we were getting closer.
If he wasn’t tied to the darkness of Columbus’s underground.
If I wasn’t a cop sworn to uphold the very laws he seems to view as mere suggestions?
The light changes, and Eli accelerates smoothly, turning onto the street that leads to the precinct. With each block we cover, my anxiety rises.
How am I going to explain Eli’s presence to my colleagues if he’s spotted or someone sees me getting out of his car? To my captain? The thought of trying to maintain this facade while doing my job makes my head spin.
“Nice day for a drive.” Eli’s deep voice breaks through my brooding thoughts. His dark eyes flick to me briefly before returning to scan the road ahead. “Sun’s actually out for once.”
I grunt noncommittally, not in the mood for small talk. The morning’s confrontation with Zeke still burns in my mind. His commanding tone when he’d announced our wedding date makes my blood boil all over again.
“You know,” Eli continues, undeterred by my lack of enthusiasm, “scowling at the dashboard isn’t going to change anything.” There’s a hint of amusement in his voice that grates on my already frayed nerves.
“Thanks for the insight,” I snap, then immediately regret my tone. It’s not Eli’s fault I’m in this mess. He’s just doing his job, even if that job involves being my unwanted shadow.
He chuckles, a low rumble that somehow makes him seem less intimidating despite his imposing size. “For what it’s worth, I’ve seen worse arrangements.”
“Worse than being forced to marry a man who thinks he can dictate my entire life?” The words come out bitter and sharp.
“Could be raining.” He deadpans, and despite myself, the corner of my mouth twitches.
The light ahead turns yellow, and Eli eases the SUV to a stop. I watch a group of pigeons waddle across the crosswalk, taking their sweet time while my mind circles back to Zeke’s words. We marry in one week. No discussion, no compromise, just another command from the all-powerful Ezekiel King.
“You’re doing it again.” Eli observes, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.
“Doing what?”
“That thing where you’re plotting someone’s murder in your head. Your jaw gets all tight.”
I force my clenched teeth to relax, not realizing how tense I’d become. “I don’t plot murders. I solve them, remember?”
I shift in my seat, studying Eli’s profile. His jaw is set in that perpetual serious expression, but there’s something approachable about him despite his intimidating size. Maybe it’s the way his eyes crinkle slightly at the corners when he speaks, or how he seems to radiate calmness.
“So,” I begin, aiming for casual but the tension comes out in my own voice, “you’ve known Zeke a long time?”
Eli’s expression doesn’t change, but I catch a slight tightening around his eyes. “Long enough.”
“And in all that time, has he always been this,” I wave my hand, searching for the right word, “controlling?”
“Protective.” Eli smoothly changing lanes. “There’s a difference.”
I snort, crossing my arms. “Is there? Because from where I’m sitting, it feels pretty damn similar.”
Eli remains quiet for a moment, and I wonder if I’ve pushed too far. But then he speaks, his voice thoughtful. “You want to know what he’s been up to since he disappeared on you?”
Heat creeps up my neck at being so transparent. “I’m just trying to understand how someone goes from ghosting me to deciding we’re getting married in a week.”
“A lot can happen in a year,” Eli says carefully.
“Like what?” I press, turning in my seat to face him better. “Because the Zeke I knew…” I pause because it sounds ridiculous. Did I ever really know him at all? “The Zeke I thought I knew wasn’t like this.”
“Maybe you should ask him yourself.”
“Right, because he’s so forthcoming with information,” I mutter. “Every time I try to talk to him, he just issues more commands.”
“He was different after you,” Eli says quietly, almost to himself. “Harder. More focused.”
My heart stutters. “Different how?”
But Eli just shakes his head, his expression closing off. “Like I said, you should talk to him.”
Always riddles and vague responses with these people. I’m starting to think I’ll never get answers.
I’m staring out the window again when Eli’s deep voice cuts through my thoughts.
“You know what I see when I look at Zeke?” His knuckles whiten on the steering wheel. “I see a man who’s carried the weight of responsibility since he was just a kid. Lost his parents, had to protect his little brother, and navigate a system that didn’t give a damn about either of them.”
My chest tightens.
“He did what he had to do to survive.” Eli’s voice grows more passionate. “Made choices that haunt him, sure. But everything— everything —he does is about protecting the people he cares about.”
“By controlling them?” I challenge, my voice lacking the bite it had earlier.
Eli shakes his head sharply. “By keeping them safe, even when it costs him. You think he wanted to walk away from you last year? Christ, Eve, he was different after you. Darker. But he believed staying away was protecting you from his world.”
The intensity in his voice catches my attention. Gone is the stoic observer—this is a man defending someone he respects deeply.
“You don’t know what it did to him.” Eli’s voice drops lower, rougher. “Watching you from afar, making sure you were safe, but never letting himself get close. And now? Now his world has crashed into yours anyway, and he’s terrified he won’t be able to protect you this time.”
My throat is tight. “He could have told me all this himself.”
“Zeke’s not good at vulnerability,” Eli says, a hint of frustrated affection in his tone.
“Never has been. But I’ve watched him build something out of nothing, create a family from broken pieces, and always put everyone else first. The man’s got demons, sure, but his heart?
” Eli taps his chest. “That’s solid gold.
Even if he shows it in ways that make you want to strangle him sometimes. ”
“That’s quite a story,” I say, studying Eli’s earnest expression. “The tragic orphan who built an empire to protect others.” My fingers tap restlessly against my thigh. “But it doesn’t explain why he operates outside the law. Why he chose that path when there are legal ways to help people.”
Eli’s jaw tightens. “Sometimes the law fails those who need it most.”
“And that justifies whatever illegal activities he’s involved in?” I think of the way violence seems to follow in Zeke’s wake. “The mysterious meetings, the shady dealings at the club?”
“You’re a cop,” Eli says, his voice taking on an edge. “You’ve seen how the system works—or doesn’t work. How many times have you watched someone slip through the cracks? How many victims have you failed to protect because your hands were tied by red tape?”
His words hit too close to home, reminding me of countless cases where I couldn’t help, couldn’t save someone in time. I push the memories away. “That doesn’t give us the right to take the law into our own hands.”
“Doesn’t it?” Eli’s dark eyes flash. “When the system fails, someone has to step up.”
“And Zeke appointed himself judge, jury, and executioner?” The bitterness in my voice surprises even me. “Is that why he ghosted me? Because I represent everything he stands against?”
“He ghosted you because he couldn’t bear to watch you get dragged into his darkness.” Eli counters. “He saw how bright you burned despite your own troubled past, how much good you do within the system, and he couldn’t be the one to taint that.”
I let out a harsh laugh. “Well, that worked out great, didn’t it? Now I’m being forced to marry him anyway.”
“Forced?” Eli’s voice softens. “Is that really how you see it? Because from where I’m sitting, he’s trying to protect you the only way he knows how.”
The gentleness in his tone makes my chest ache. “Protection shouldn’t feel like a prison,” I whisper, but even as I say the words, doubt creeps in.
Am I being fair? Or am I letting my hurt from the past color everything he does now?
The familiar sounds of the SVU bullpen wash over me—phones ringing, detectives talking, keyboards clicking. Everything is normal. Routine.
Except nothing is normal anymore.