Chapter 50
Chapter Fifty
The men fill my kitchen as Vik escorts a bound guy to the guest room.
“Are you going to…” I cringe. “Torture him?”
Evan’s gray eyes are stormy when he turns to face me. “Not unless he won’t talk.”
I feel my eyelids peel back as my eyes protrude. “I’m not okay with that.”
He’s still. Very still. And not just that, he’s been scary quiet all the way back to the house.
Scout walks up with his gaze locked on Evan’s. “You coming?”
“Yeah. Give us a second.”
I’m seriously worried about what is happening. The whole house feels like it’s filled with explosives and one wrong move is going to bring my world crashing down.
Evan pulls me into the living room, away from the commotion.
“What’s going on? I’m concerned you’re so quiet.” I flick my thumbnail nervously. “And what about Cornelia?”
“Vik’s got her.”
“Got her?” I look toward the kitchen where Vik is, with my throat dry and my knees feeling weak.
“He’s going to try to get to the bottom of some things.”
Gulp. “He’s going to interrogate her, you mean?”
“Yes.”
So matter of fact. “Where?”
“They’re in your other guest room.”
I shake my head. A shudder makes me wrap my arms around myself. “Great. My house is turning into some creepy black ops site.”
Evan and I both startle when the front door flies open and crashes into the wall.
I’m stunned silent for a few seconds. Then I shout, “Hector!”
“Hands up!” There’s murder in my ranch manager stare as a herd of men fan out on either side of him.
Evan drops his hold on my arm and slowly raises his hands. “Easy.”
I leap in front of him before anyone does anything crazy. “Everybody take a breath now!”
“Vhut the commotion in here?” Vik steps into the room and freezes in the doorway when he sees the mob. “Well, fuck. More trouble?”
Hector’s teeth are bared, and I’ve never seen the docile farm worker look even remotely scary, but right now he looks unhinged. He’s not the only one, his guys look like a pack of attack dogs. Wearing all kinds of weird camouflage gear, they look like they’re ready to hunt for blood.
If this wasn’t my life, I’d laugh at the absurdity of everything that has happened tonight.
“Hector. Please, these men are here to help me. Everything is okay.”
I’m suddenly pushed behind Evan. Vik grabs me and puts himself in front of me too. I try to get out of his hold but it’s impossible.
I reach full panic mode as Evan straightens his spine and walks into the middle of the room.
Blood whooshes down to my toes. “Wait!”
Evan, steady as an apex predator, holds both palms out. “It’s me, Hector. I met you the other night when I worked on the tractor.”
I’m not the only one that’s confused, everyone freezes. Hector tilts his head. “It’s you?”
“That’s right. Remember me?”
One of Hector’s boys punches Hector in the shoulder. “You know this guy?”
Hector grins as he squints at Evan. “Yes! Yes! I just don’t have my glasses on. But I would recognize the accent.”
Oh my god. Someone almost died because of poor eyesight.
I push past Vik, unobstructed now. Now that the crisis is over, I’m fixated on one thing. “You worked on my tractor?”
My tractor. How is that possible?
Evan reaches for my hand, still keeping his movements slow. “Yeah. While you weren’t speaking to me.”
It would be embarrassing to cry, but I’m not sure I can hold it back. My heart is getting so big it’s suffocating me. “You worked on my truck too.”
Evan’s eyes soften as he looks down at me. “I did.”
“And you said you loved me.”
He glances up and everyone in the room sprints out. We’re left alone in the middle of my living room.
Tenderly, he touches my cheek. “I did.”
The rasp in his voice is too much. I turn away, wiping at my eyes. “I wasn’t sure what to say in the woods.”
He pulls me into his chest. “You don’t have to say anything. I don’t want you to love me back. I know I’m not good enough?—”
Air wheezes out of me. I punch him in the stomach. “Stop.”
“It’s okay. I know I’m nothing. You’re… amazing. You’re everything.”
I nearly bite through my lip. “Evan Walker, you’re more than enough.”
This time his eyes are filled with agony when I look up at him. “I’m not.”
I suddenly feel eyes on my back and Evan stiffens, his stomach muscles banding tight under my hand.
Scout speaks behind me. “I’m starting. You don’t have to come.”
Evan’s hard tone is back when he speaks. “I’m coming.”
Scout’s boots scuff on the floor as he leaves.
I’m glued in place with a tornado of emotions breaking me into bits.
Evan leans down and brushes a kiss on my temple. “I need you to know what I am and what I’m not. Right now I’m going to go back there and do things that you’re not going to like. I’m not hiding that from you because I need you to understand who I am. I won’t feel bad for hurting that man. He came into your home in the night. I’m not letting him get away with that.”
He pulls back and holds my gaze for a few seconds. My heart sinks. It’s buried under the pain I see in his soul.
When he walks away, I crumble to the floor. I don’t care who sees me crying.
Evan loves me.
It’s written in stone in the slate of his irises.
Only, he’s going to try to keep me from loving him back.