Chapter 18
EVE
If the conversation hadn’t literally just been about whether to kill me or not, I’d have probably pissed myself laughing at the look on Connor’s face when Lacey said I was pregnant with his baby.
As it was, though, Lacey was visibly nervous and sweating, so I bit my cheek and kept that silly little smile on my lips as I stroked my empty belly.
“You’re…pregnant?” Vinnie asked in confusion. “Connor, didn’t you and Lacey only just break up?”
“He’s been cheating on my sister!” Fennic exclaimed in outrage.
“What? No!” Lacey interjected, turning pale. “No, we have been broken up for ages and we just never got around to telling you. Besides, I was the one who ended things with Connor, not the other way around, so just…stop it. No one is killing anyone, okay? Can we all go home now?”
More arguments broke out between Fennic and Vinnie, but once again it all faded into obscurity when Connor locked eyes with me.
The sheer intensity of his gaze was enough to take my breath away, and all I could think about was that self-defense class, when his hard length had pressed against my ass and he’d whispered filthy things about making me submissive in my ear.
He’d been trying to make Lacey jealous, but there had to be some level of attraction there for him to get that hard in front of so many people…right? So was he thinking about the same thing as I was right now? Was he also wondering what it’d be like to actually get me pregnant?
Not that I wanted that end result. But gosh I was eager to do the making part with him…even if he was an insufferable asshole. Good thing I had taken steps with contraception that fake pregnancy was the closest we’d be getting to babies anytime soon.
Lacey’s hug snapped me out of the trance Connor’s gaze had trapped me in, and I quickly realized things were done between her brother and Connor’s dad.
“Girl, I’m so sorry, but you really need to sell this. If Vinnie finds out you lied to him…” she whispered frantically in my ear even as she shuddered. “Just make sure he has no reason to doubt you two. You’re madly in love and starting a family. Got it?”
“Easy,” I lied, with more confidence than I felt. “I’ll just pretend he’s Ethan.”
Before Lacey could offer any more creativity with her ideas, her brother grabbed her elbow and dragged her away with their little gaggle of muscled men following along. No one spoke as the Romanos exited, then all of a sudden it was like every eye in the room was on me.
I officially had a new appreciation for how bugs felt under a microscope.
“So. Evelyn, isn’t it?” Vinnie broke the silence, making me flinch dramatically. Wait, how did he know my name? Connor had called me Eve before. “You and my son are—”
“Dating,” I quickly said, nodding even as I stepped toward Connor. Holding my breath, I reached out and took his hand in mine, then released a quick sigh when he didn’t jerk away. “Yes, sir. We are very much in love and very excited for our baby to arrive.”
To sell the act, I rubbed my belly again and pasted a silly smile on my lips. Connor glanced down at me like I’d grown a second head, and maybe sprouted wings, but when I squeezed his hand he quickly got on board and smiled back.
“Yes…that,” he agreed, sounding a little like he was swallowing cement. “It’s still so early, we didn’t want to tell anyone.”
Vinnie just narrowed his gaze, watching his son with suspicion. “Interesting.”
Well…that wasn’t good. He clearly wasn’t convinced, and as much as I wanted to laugh the whole thing off as one elaborate bluff, I genuinely didn’t think they’d been bluffing. If Lacey hadn’t intervened, would I be dead right now? Would Connor have stood by and let them kill me? Surely not.
“Obviously, we would have told you soon,” Connor continued, pulling me in closer and wrapping his arm around my waist. “But Lacey and I thought we should wait until she was back from Malawi to break the news of our separation first.”
Vinnie rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then offered us a shark-like smile. “Of course, of course. Well, I’m not displeased by your choice of replacement, son. I have a good feeling about Evelyn’s future with our family.”
A cold chill ran down my spine and I swallowed hard.
Technically, I was still a little drunk, but the whole nearly getting killed thing had sobered me up dramatically.
I leaned into Connor, silently praying we would be allowed to leave now.
I’d zoned out of the conversation between Vinnie and Fennic regarding Connor’s fuck-up at the other club, but they must have sorted something out for Fennic to leave with Lacey. So…could we leave too?
Not that I was crazy eager to get my Connor lecture about being kind of sort of kidnapped again, but I’d prefer that to this. The tension in Vinnie’s club was thicker than set custard, and all the hairs on my neck were standing on end.
“Yes, well, we should really get home so Eve can rest,” Connor said, reading my mind like a damn wizard. “Are we free to leave?”
Vinnie pondered that question for a moment, then shrugged. “You’re always free to leave, son. I’m not a monster.” It was said carefully, with a predatory glint to his eye.
Still, he said we could leave, so I took a step away before Connor pulled me back to him. “Perhaps we can stay for a little while,” he replied to his father in an oddly tense voice as his fingers stroked my side with some kind of silent message. “It’s been so long since I socialized.”
Vinnie’s lips curved into a wide, toothy grin. “Excellent choice, Connor. Enjoy the party.”
“Shit,” Connor breathed, as Vinnie turned away from us, and I tipped my head back to look up at his face.
“I’m confused,” I admitted. “Why aren’t we leaving?”
“Because Vinnie doesn’t believe us, and if we leave now while he thinks I’m lying…it’s just not a good idea. We need to stay and convince him we aren’t full of shit, otherwise…” He trailed off with a grimace.
I frowned. “Otherwise?”
“How good are you at acting, brat? Because I really don’t want to investigate what otherwise could mean for either of us.” He turned his body to face me fully, his hand finding the back of my neck and his fingers tangling a little in my hair. “Just pretend I’m Ethan and you’ll be fine.”
I’d literally just said the same thing to Lacey a few minutes ago, but somehow hearing Connor say it, right before he leaned down to kiss me, twisted like barbed wire around my chest.
Pretend he was Ethan? I couldn’t even if I tried.
The way Connor kissed me was so dramatically different to his brother, there could be no mistaking which Sullivan I was with at that moment.
His grip on my neck was strong enough to probably bruise, and his teeth grazed my lower lip as he devoured my mouth like a starving man.
There was the slightest hint of blood between us from his busted lip, but he showed no sign it was paining him.
Until all of a sudden he pushed me away and sucked a sharp breath between his teeth, shaking his head.
“Um, what the fuck?” I murmured in shock. Not at the fact he’d kissed me, that part was pretty fucking obvious, but the abrupt way he’d pushed me away? What was up with that?
He wet his lips with his tongue, drawing my gaze like a damn moth to a flame, then raked his fingers through his inky black hair. “I need a drink,” he grunted. “This is going to be harder than I realized.”
My jaw dropped a little bit at the insult of that statement, but he was already dragging me across to the bar so I just quickly followed in my stilettos like a stunned baby deer.
Connor further slapped me in the metaphorical face when he ordered a double bourbon neat, then downed the whole thing like a shot before ordering another on the rocks.
“Calm down, drama queen,” I muttered quietly as he handed me a glass of fizzy clear liquid with a straw. “It’s not that repulsive to kiss me.”
He grunted but that was all the response I got as he gestured for me to follow him over to one of the vacant lounges and sat heavily.
“What is this?” I asked, eyeing my drink with extreme suspicion as I perched awkwardly on the edge of the seat, ignoring the eyes on us as best I could.
Connor took a more measured sip of his drink and smirked with actual amusement. “Club soda. Can’t go harming our baby with liquor, now can we?”
Wow. Rude. But also super valid point, and I really had to hope no one realized how tipsy I already was when we’d arrived.
“Asshole,” I murmured, taking a sip of my club soda.
Connor huffed a short laugh, then looped an arm around my waist and hauled me closer. “At least try to pretend I don’t make your skin crawl, brat. The sooner we convince the old man that you’re legit, the sooner we can leave.”
“Okay, so how the fuck do we do that?” I asked, setting my drink down and giving him my full attention. People all around us were still watching us like we were the featured exhibit in a freak show, but I did my best to focus on Connor instead.
He lifted a brow, then took another sip of bourbon. “You could start by acting even a little bit enthusiastic when I kiss you.”
Insulted, I drew back a little gap. “Excuse you? I was!”
Connor rolled his eyes. “I’ve seen you eat fettuccini alfredo with more passion than I just got from you. I get it, you feel like you’re cheating on…literally everyone else in Bluebell House at this stage…”
That last part was said with some sourness that made my eyes widen.
“I’m not cheating on anyone. I’m trying to survive. Aren’t you?” I narrowed my eyes, still affronted at his statement about my lack of passion. “And you took me by surprise, so what do you even fucking expect? I’ll have you know, I kiss like a pro.”
“One, that rhymed,” he shot back, “and two, you’d want to with all the practice you’ve been getting lately.”