Chapter 20 Evie
I had spent my entire night trying to find more pieces to the new mystery that was my parents’ lives.
The list the informant had given me was helpful, but I still wasn’t sure how it was helpful. There were twenty names and I would have to dig into each and every one of their lives.
The one thing I still couldn’t figure out—what had prompted them to be connected to Cameron in the first place? To this group? And why had they spent so much of my childhood vanishing for weeks at a time?
I had always assumed it was work. But something about it didn’t feel right.
The clock blinked at me from the corner of my laptop screen. 6:47 a.m.
Which meant I had spent the past eight hours on a conspiracy theory deep dive instead of sleeping, and Maverick Moto would be opening soon.
I groaned, slamming my laptop shut and dragging myself out of bed. I needed to get ready. I needed caffeine—or maybe a drop of water.
More than anything, I needed to stop spiraling. I needed to get focused, get efficient so I wasn’t aimlessly running around finding more clues that led to more questions.
I stepped into the hall, hoping it would reset my morning, but somehow leaving the safe confines of my room only made it worse.
The bathroom door swung open, a thick cloud of steam curling into the hallway.
And in its wake—Aiden.
His towel slung low on his hips, his skin still damp with water dripping in slow, taunting trails down his stomach. Tattoos sprawled over his chest like some kind of forbidden map I’d never been allowed to trace.
Not with my hands.
Not with my mouth.
Damn.
For one humiliating, horrible second, I stood there staring—glitching like a faulty computer.
And then—because Aiden might be the worst person on the planet—his eyes met mine, and he smirked.
It was slow and deliberate. Like he could actually see the way my pulse had short-circuited.
I needed to say something. Anything to deflect from the fact that I was basically eye-fucking him in the hallway at 6 a.m. like an absolute disaster of a human being.
His voice dipped low enough to make my knees weak. “Keep staring, Psycho. You might see something you like.”
“Might,” I said, the word squeaking out. As much as I liked to stay in control of the situation, staring at a broad, uncovered, tattooed chest was leaving my brain useless.
Especially one who had run to my rescue last night.
“Evie?” he asked, the cocky grin on his face catching my attention.
“What?” I said, finally meeting his eyes.
“Are you going to stare all day or move out of the way?”
I looked at his chest again, the water only accentuating the tattoos and hard abs. Part of me almost agreed to staring all day. The other part of me was mad. I wanted him so badly and he was making fun of it.
I gave one more long look before I spun, turning back to my room and storming off without a word. I’d already blown it, but at least I could get away without making a complete fool of myself.
My heart pounded in my chest as I slammed my door, realizing a second too late that I never got my water.
And suddenly I was angry I hadn’t licked that water right off his chest.
Work went by in a blur until, somehow, I was sitting on the floor of my room as I slammed the Bedazzler down repeatedly onto the small, red tank top I had found in the back of my closet.
A special gift for Aiden that he didn’t even ask for.
The red, sparkling top was perfect, and I knew it would wreck him.
I grinned, checking my phone before hitting the Bedazzler again.
Also—I still couldn’t find my hoodie that I’d left at work.
If he moved it, he’s getting more than a Bedazzled top tonight.
Would he really be so petty to be angry if I left a hoodie on his bike?
Wrecking Aiden really had a new meaning now.
He still wouldn’t admit to being the one in the woods that night. He wouldn’t admit to even being attracted to me, let alone having any feelings, but I knew there was something there.
There had to be.
I groaned, slamming the Bedazzler down again.
If that was how he wanted to play it, I’d make damn sure he regretted it.
I wasn’t interested in drinking and wasn’t interested in Syndicate in general. I wasn’t interested in anything other than getting under Aiden’s skin tonight—doing anything I could to bring out the side of him I saw at Hero’s party.
I had one or two things I thought might work and I was pulling out all the stunts tonight. I had done little things here and there for years and they always got under his skin—now it was time to bring it all.
I slammed the Bedazzler again.
I felt him before I saw him. I barely glanced over, seeing his large frame fill the door.
I always knew when Aiden was around, when he was watching me.
It was in the weight of his stare, the crackling energy that always seemed to cling to the space between us.
It was a magnet, my body humming in desperation to reach out and touch him.
“Evie,” his voice came low, clipped.
I didn’t answer but slammed the Bedazzler down a little louder.
He leaned against the door, the setting sun catching the sharp angles of his jaw. That stupid leather jacket, that stupid look of effortless authority—it all pissed me off more.
I wasn’t even mad at him—I didn’t think I was ever mad at him—but my frustration was boiling over.
“Evie,” he snapped again.
I turned, giving him a sickly sweet smile, one that I knew would make him worry. “What?”
“Are you almost ready?” he asked.
“Five more minutes.”
“Five actual minutes or five Evie minutes?” He hadn’t moved from the doorway, and I shifted my body so he could see a small section of what I was working on.
“Do you even have to ask?”
“I really shouldn’t. What are you doing?”
“Being a pain in your ass again. But really, what else is new?”
“Not much. What’s wrong with you?”
“Wrong with me? Nothing. Just sitting here getting ready. Are you forced to take me with you tonight?”
He glanced down the hallway before stepping inside and closing the door. “What does that mean? You always go with me.”
“I know, but I’m wondering if I should stop. Maybe start riding more with Hero or Mason. Maybe ride my own bike more often—I need the practice.”
He cracked his knuckles, staring out my window and not even caring to glance down at me. “If you want to ride your own then do it, but if you want to ride with someone, it will be with me.”
“Is that really your decision?” I asked, my tone lighter now.
“No.” His eyes dropped down to me. “It’s Rook’s. He already said you’re with me tonight.”
My nostrils flared as I stood, keeping my new shirt hidden from view. “Assigned seats? How cute. Do we have a buddy system, too? Do we hold hands so we don’t get lost?”
Aiden cracked his neck, his fists curling as I taunted him more. “Evie.”
“What? Am I wrong? I’m trying to understand the rules you guys have laid out for me for the night. Would hate to break one of them,” I said, clearly ready to make him suffer.
He glared at me, his eyes narrowing. “What are you planning?”
“You’re only my bodyguard. Why would I tell you?”
He stepped close, pulling me against his warm, solid chest. “You’re damn right I’m your fucking bodyguard and if you think I’m taking a night off from that after you were attacked, you’ve lost your mind.”
“I don’t know how you never get sick of following rules.”
His nostrils flared slightly, but his face remained carefully blank.
“Because rules are what give me the life I want. The rules mean I get to wake up every day to my friends—the people who have become my family—and work to have a stable life. Not all of us have true family who would do anything for us, Evie. Some of us live by rules to keep the things we love close.”
My breath hitched, the words settling heavy in my gut.
“Maybe we change the rules,” I said, but he was already shaking his head.
“Rules are rules for a reason. For most of us, the rules don’t bend to our whim.”
“And they do for me?”
He grinned, his hand coming up, fingers dragging along my arm until it rested on my hip. “I think you make your own rules and the rest of the world has no choice but to follow them.”
“Then maybe it’s time I change them again.”
His jaw clenched so tight I thought his teeth might crack. I could feel it—the war inside him, the push and pull.
The blackmail deal still wasn’t satisfied and I knew I could use that, but I wasn’t sure if that would really make him snap now. He was so controlled, strong enough to push away what he might want for what he should do.
I thought he might have broken already. Thought he might finally cave in again, but this time as himself. Instead, his hands flexed against my waist once before he let me go, stepping back.
“You really want to start all this tonight?”
“Oh, I really do,” I said.
“Get ready.” His voice was tight and rough. “We’re leaving in ten.”
And without another word, the wall he put up between us was back, firmly in place.
But he didn’t know how ready I was to tear it down.