20. Harper #2
I force a smile, knowing I could make my boss smile even bigger if I told him who my source really is.
I could secure my career for the rest of my life if I just open my mouth and tell him about Ev Melnikov, but my lips stay closed, and I don’t think anything on this planet could get me to open them and speak the damning words aloud.
The thought sickens me, makes me feel like I’d be cutting my own heart out and laying it on my boss’s desk instead of reporting the biggest story our little publication has ever seen.
I’m such a fucking idiot.
I had to leave to get Sasha’s story out, but I should’ve yelled in Ev’s stubborn face that I wasn’t going to write about him and that I’d be back later and I expect a delicious meal and a lot of sex to make up for the way he’d acted.
Instead, I’d run out because the deadline was looming over me, and I’d been thrown straight into the tornado without a single warning that it was about to happen.
“You should be very proud of yourself,” Arthur says, and I nearly choke on the smile I give him, because proud is the last word I’d use to describe how I feel right now.
He knows me well enough to sense that something is off, and his mood immediately switches from ecstatic to concerned.
Leaning over his desk, he asks, “What’s wrong?
I thought you’d be thrilled. This is the kind of breakthrough you’ve been working towards for years.
Is something going on I should know about? ”
“No,” I say, trying to make it sound truthful. Now that I know with certainty that I’m incapable of writing the real story, the truth that would skyrocket my career and decimate my heart, I do my best to put an end to Arthur’s concern and suspicions.
“I’m just exhausted,” I tell him. Giving a soft laugh, I add, “I’ve been going on very little sleep and way too many donuts. I think I’m just kind of stunned that I actually got the article done in time.”
He gives a knowing nod of his head when he says, “You’re coming down from the high, kid. You’ve been on one hell of an adrenaline rush, and now that it’s done, your body is crashing.”
Opening his desk drawer, he pulls out an apple and hands it out to me. The sight of Arthur with an apple in his hand pulls a genuine laugh from me.
“Very funny, smartass,” he says. “I do on occasion eat fruits and vegetables. Take this. You need to eat something good, and you need to go home and get some sleep. You’ve earned a break.”
I thank him and take the apple as I stand up.
A part of me feels like I’m betraying my boss, and, more importantly, my friend, by withholding the real story from him, but for some insane reason, my month with Ev has switched my loyalty from my boss and the truth I swore I’d report to the man who insists morally grey isn’t all that bad.
It’s a shocking realization, and my head is still buzzing from it as I leave the office.
Instead of going back to my apartment, I drive to Ev’s.
I’d left the remote on his counter, so I have no way to open the carriage doors and get inside.
I park in front of his place and walk to his door.
I look around for the security camera that I know must be aimed at me as I lift my hand to knock on his door.
It’s green, the same dark shade as his carriage doors, and despite the age of the actual house, like everything else, this has been completely updated with locks that I have no doubt would stump even the best of thieves.
Ev doesn’t answer the door, so I knock again and yell his name, hoping he’ll answer even if it is just to tell me to shut up. Silence is my answer and a sinking feeling starts to grow in the pit of my stomach.
He’s gone.
I don’t know if he left for a little bit or left for good. What if he’s already left the country and I never see him again?
Devastation hits me hard and I nearly sink to my knees.
Forcing my shaky legs back to my car, I get in and grab my phone only to realize he never gave me his number.
Mine has been hacked into and watched, but I’ve never once texted him.
I toss the phone aside, not bothering to waste my time by calling his office. I know better than that.
Driving back to my apartment, I get in and curl up next to my dog, because that’s the only thing that makes me feel even slightly better. Watson is his usual stoic self while I cry against his butt and we watch the gang solve another mystery.
I’m not sure how much time has passed. Enough for several episodes and for my tears to finally dry out.
When I look at the clock and realize it’s time to feed Watson his supper, I force myself up.
I’m halfway through mixing the concoction of wet and dry food he likes when I hear a knock at my door.
My heart leaps in my chest as I run to the door, hoping like hell it’s Ev, but when I look through the peephole, it’s not his gorgeous face staring at me.
It’s a beautiful woman with long dark hair and eyes.
Assuming she’s lost and looking for a different apartment, I crack the door and ask, “Can I help you?”
“Are you Harper Reed?”
“Yeah,” I say, keeping the door partially shut because I have no idea who this woman is or why she knows me.
The woman looks around the hall she’s standing in and asks, “Do you mind if I come in so we can talk?”
I make no attempt to open the door, so she says in a softer voice, “I’m Yel. Ev’s sister.”
My arm drops from the door, causing it to fall open enough to allow her entry. She takes the opportunity, slipping into my apartment and shutting the door before I can stop her.
“I’m sorry for just showing up here,” she quickly says. “I promise I just want to talk.”
“Did Ev send you?” I manage to ask.
She huffs out a breath and gives me the faintest hint of a smile.
“He’d be furious if he knew I was here, butting into his personal business, but I couldn’t sit back and watch him ruin his life.
He’s been a martyr to this family for too long, and I can’t sit back and keep letting it happen.
” She shrugs a slender shoulder. “He’s my baby brother.
I just want him to be happy, and for the first time in his life he has been. With you.”
I study the woman. She’s petite, and her eyes are a dark brown instead of Ev’s blue-green, but they share the same determined glint in them, even if they are different colors.
She looks around my apartment, and it’s not the haughty look of someone who’s used to the finer things in life and just been forced to enter what must seem like a hovel to her.
She seems genuinely curious, and when she spots Watson on the couch, her face lights up in a smile.
“He’s gorgeous,” she says, walking over to him, and when she notices what’s on the TV, she laughs. “My kids love this show.”
Watson smells her hand when she brings it to his nose, and then lets out a contented sigh when she starts to pet him.
I watch the two of them, still trying to wrap my head around what’s going on.
I finally give up and say, “I’m not sure why you’re here.
Ev knows where to find me. If he wanted to see me, he could easily make that happen. ”
“He thinks you’re going to write that tell-all article,” she says, but then gives me a knowing look. “But I don’t think you will. I think you love my brother just as much as he loves you.”
“Ev doesn’t love me,” I try to tell her. “I think he probably hates me right now, actually.”
“That’s not possible.” She says it with confidence, so much so that my stupid heart squeezes at the mere thought of hope. “He let you in. My brother never lets anyone in, Harper. Ever.”
I walk over and take a seat on the couch, motioning for her to do the same.
Ever the gentleman, Watson watches us without bothering to move even so much as an inch to give us more room.
Yel doesn’t seem to mind. She just smiles and pats his butt, like she’s used to not letting small interruptions faze her.
“How many kids do you have?” I ask.
She gives me another smile. “Three. Veya is eight, Valentin is six, and Lena is four. Veya is very attached to her Uncle Ev.” Pulling out her phone, she pulls up a photo and angles it so I can see the three kids with smiling faces.
They look happy, genuinely happy, not like they’re smiling only because someone pointed a camera at them and told them to.
They’re mid-laugh, eyes lit up with joy, and all three of them look healthy and loved.
They don’t look like kids who are scared of their Bratva family members.
“I think I might’ve found a picture she drew for him,” I confess, pointing to the oldest girl in the photo.
Yel nods. “She loves to draw him pictures. He’s usually very good at handing them to me so I can hold onto them for him.
I have a box filled with Uncle Ev drawings.
He’s very careful about protecting his family and making sure no one knows about us.
Veya must’ve secretly slipped that one into his pocket. ”
“It’s sweet that she loves him so much.”
“It is. They’re all crazy about their uncle, and he’s just as nuts about them.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, shaking my head and trying to clear it. “None of this makes sense to me. You seem so nice and so normal. I don’t understand how your family can be who they are and you be so normal about it. You have to know what they do.”