Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Itold Louie I wasn’t going to fuck with Evie. Just fuck her. I take that back, because I don’t have any intention of fucking and then leaving this woman. It’s not often something catches my attention like she has, which is why I know she’s different.
She’s mine.
I could have put a bullet in that French bitch’s head. There and then. I showed restraint, like a goddamn fucking saint. I’ll keep my word. I won’t touch the woman. But I’ve already instructed Paz to dig up dirt on her father, the French president. Because I will end him.
Like I said, my organization is changing. I don’t intentionally go after women. That was my father’s thing, not mine. Will I do it if need be? Sure. I do whatever has to be done.
My best friend since childhood just got hitched, Vegas-style. How we ended up in a little wedding chapel, I have no idea. But Evie was there, so you bet your ass I was following along.
Like I said, I’ve made up my mind. I’m keeping her. I don’t care what I have to do to make that happen. If I piss off my oldest friend in the process, then so be it. I make the rules. I don’t follow them.
Paz was all suited up at the bar, and I watched as Evie tried to flirt with him, thanks to Sammie’s stupid fucking dare. Lucky for him, my second knows better and quickly turned her down. He left not long after that, sending me a message about getting shit ready for tomorrow.
We’re leaving town. Or at least we were. Now, as I look at Evie and the huge grin plastered on her face as she talks on her phone to one of her friends, I think I’ve found a new reason to stick around.
It’s stupid. The longer I spend in the States, the more law enforcement I have gunning for me. I’m more than aware that the FBI would love to pin me down, lock me up, and throw away the fucking key. I’m not stupid enough to ever let that happen. That doesn’t mean they won’t try, though.
“I’m really sorry, Charlotte. I’m crashing.” Evie’s words catch my attention. I’m about to ask her what she means when Charlotte takes hold of her hand and starts guiding her outside.
“Okay, we’ll go back to the hotel,” Charlotte tells her. “Are you okay?”
I’m two steps behind Evie. She doesn’t answer, just nods her head. There’s something wrong. I don’t know what, but she looks as if she’s ready to pass out.
Charlotte tells Louie that they have to get back to the hotel, and like a lost fucking puppy, I follow them out to the car and climb into the front seat.
I keep quiet, hoping that if I don’t say anything, Evie might talk.
She might let slip what’s wrong with her.
It crosses my mind to have a doctor meet us at the casino. She looks sick.
When I glance towards the back seat, I see her head resting against the door. She could just be tired.
“You might wanna wake her up. We’re almost there,” Louie says.
“I can’t. She won’t wake up for a while now,” Charlotte replies.
My head snaps back again. “What do you mean?”
“She has insomnia. She stays awake for days at a time, and then she’ll just crash and sleep for hours without getting up,” Charlotte explains. “We won’t be able to wake her.”
The car stops out front of the Royal Flush.
And as much as I want to tell them I’m taking Evie home—to my home because that’s where I want to keep her—I don’t.
That would cause issues I don’t want to deal with right now.
The main one being Louie. The guy just got hitched.
He’ll be busy consummating his new marriage all night.
And me? I’ll be coming up with a plan to keep the maid of honor.
“It’s okay,” I tell Charlotte as I step out of the car. I open the back door, unbuckle Evie’s belt, and scoop her into my arms. “I’ve got her.”
It’s not the first time I’ve had her body pressed against mine. But, fuck, does it feel good.
“Are you sure?” Charlotte asks me.
I nod. “Lead the way. Where is her room?” I’m going to assume it’s on the top floor, right next to Louie’s penthouse. That’s where the crazy, obsessed fucker would have put Charlotte.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, we’re riding the elevator up to the top floor before Charlotte opens the door to the penthouse suite right next to Louie’s. I set Evie on the bed and watch as Charlotte removes her friend’s boots and then covers her with a blanket.
I don’t want to leave, but it’s easier if I don’t have to answer questions.
I walk out, get into the lift, and as soon as I’m sure Louie and Charlotte are inside his penthouse, I step into the hall and tap my all-access card against the door.
I walk in and make myself comfortable in the chair opposite Evie’s bed.
I take in every single feature of her face.
She’s still wearing makeup. So I stand and make my way into the bathroom.
Digging through the huge fucking cosmetic bag until I find wipes.
I pull out a few, sit on the edge of the bed, carefully brush her hair away from her cheek, and start wiping at the makeup.
I want to see the real her without anything covering her up.
It takes a few of the disposable wipes to get it all off, and she doesn’t even stir as I go about cleaning her face. Odd. I thought for sure she’d wake up.
I toss the used wipes into the trash bin in the bathroom before I pull my phone out and snap a photo of her. This is how I want to see her. Bare.
She’s even more fucking breathtaking. Little freckles dot her nose, her cheeks have a natural shade of pink to them, and those lips… Fucking hell, pink, plump. I want to taste them.
Forcing myself to sit back down, I glance at my screen and message Paz.
Me:
Change of plans. We’re sticking around. Get my mother out of town. I might want to use the house and don’t need her there.
I love my mother. She had a rough few years after my father found us. I believe my father loved her, though. That’s why he kept her locked up in that house. I get it now. He didn’t want anything to happen to her, and the safest place for her to be was captive.
But I saw how that same captivity broke my mother. It’s not something I’d ever want to see happen to another woman I care about. Which is why I’m not grabbing Evie and walking out of here with her in my arms.
My phone buzzes in my hand and I tear my eyes away from her sleeping form again.
Paz:
Sure thing. You need anything tonight?
Me:
I’m good.
Pocketing my phone, I go back to staring at my future. It hits me that I don’t know much about this woman, other than the fact that she’s from a small, fucking nowhere town and she owns a dress shop.
I bend and snatch up Evie’s bag from the floor where Charlotte left it, digging through the contents until my hand brushes across her ID. I tug it out and read the name there. Evie Carter.
“Who are you, Evie Carter?” I ask aloud.
Next, I grab her phone and hold it to her face to unlock it.
The first thing I do is open her social media accounts and scroll through them.
There are tons of pictures of her with her friends, but none of her with other men.
Which is fucking good. I don’t need to be flying to the fucking south to kill anyone tonight.
Then I open her emails, making sure not to read any that she hasn’t already opened. Most of them are from a girl named Amy, and they’re all about her store. Pretty mundane stuff.
I don’t get it. How can someone so fucking remarkable lead such a normal life?
I’ve been awake all night, waiting for Evie to open her eyes. When I check my watch, I see that it’s a little after nine in the morning. Why the fuck isn’t she awake yet?
She rolls over and I straighten, thinking this is it. But still, she doesn’t stir. She does, however, start mumbling something I can’t decipher. Her head shakes from side to side before she lets out a gut-wrenching scream.
“What the fuck?” I’m on my feet in seconds, but by the time I reach her, she’s stopped screaming and is settled back against the covers.
There’s only one reason someone would have nightmares like that. Something happened to her.
I storm out of her room and let myself into Louie’s apartment. He meets me in the foyer. “Where’s Charlotte?” I ask him. She’s the one person who will have the answers I want.
“She’s asleep. What the fuck are you doing here?” Louie grunts.
“Wake her up.”
“I’m not doing that. What do you want, E?” he asks.
I reach behind my back, draw my pistol, and aim it at his head. “Wake her up!”
“I’m not waking up my wife for you.” Louie crosses his arms over his chest.
Footsteps sound from the other end of the hall before they get closer and then his new bride is right in front of me.
“Charlotte, go back to the bedroom.” Louie tries to step in front of her.
“Don’t move,” I tell her, lowering my gun, because I don’t actually want to scare the woman. “Something is wrong with Evie.”
Charlotte shoves past Louie and stops right in front of me. “What? What happened?” she asks but she’s already walking towards the door.
“She’s talking in her sleep. I want to know what happened to her. Who the fuck is she talking about?”
The question stops Charlotte in her tracks. She spins around to face me. “She’s probably having a nightmare. She has them from time to time. They’re not real.”
She’s lying.
“How do you know she’s talking in her sleep?” Charlotte glares at me with as much distrust as I feel for everyone around me at the moment.
“I was watching her,” I admit while aiming an accusatory finger instead of the pistol that’s itching to get back in my hands. “And you’re lying to me.”
Louie steps between us. “Don’t fucking speak to her like that,” he growls.
I ignore him. “I’m going to find out. You might as well tell me, Charlotte. Someone did something to her, and I want to know who it was.”
“I think that’s something you should ask her. When she’s awake, but don’t expect her to open up to you. She doesn’t talk about her past,” Charlotte says.
She really is a loyal fucking friend. I’ve got a gun in my hand and she still won’t tell me what I want to know.
Then something flickers across her face. “But say they were real… If you could find the person who caused those nightmares, what would you do about it?” she asks me.
“You don’t want to know what I’ll do, because those are the kind of nightmares that will keep you awake at night.” I smile at the thought.
“Look, I don’t know the full story, because like I said, she doesn’t talk about it.
But I’m sure if you dug into the pageant world, you’d find the reason behind her nightmares.
That’s all I’m saying. Anything else you want to know, you’ll have to ask Evie,” she says, and I know that’s about as much as I’ll get out of Charlotte.
“Thank you. I will ask her. When do you think she’ll wake up?”
“I have no idea,” Charlotte tells me.
I don’t say anything else before I walk out of Louie’s penthouse and return to Evie’s side. She hasn’t moved. She’s still fucking asleep.
I take my phone out and Google insomnia and the effects on the body. I want to know how to help her…
This is fucking insane. I don’t even know her. Sure, she resembles my dead girlfriend, but that’s not why I’m so drawn to her.
Is it? Am I only fixated on her because I want a second go at saving Laura?
I don’t think that’s it. I’ve liked knowing that Laura is dead. It’s peaceful. No one can hurt her anymore. She didn’t deserve to die so young, but it’s better that she did.
Evie, though, I’m almost certain I’ll do anything to keep her alive. But if I can’t, then I will take whatever part of her I can. Even if that’s her death.
I will keep this woman to myself. I never have been very fond of sharing.