Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
The fire in Evie’s eyes has my dick hard. I take her bag from her grip and then place my free hand on her lower back, guiding her off the plane. As soon as we’re in the tunnel and away from all the prying fucking eyes of the other passengers, Evie shrugs away from me.
“Don’t fucking touch me.” She turns and seethes.
I smile. “Trust me, mi alma, I plan on touching you a hell of a lot more.”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She folds her arms over her chest. “I know what you did, creep.”
“What did I do?” I keep walking. My hand reaches for her lower back, my fingers clenching around the fabric of her dress when she tries to move away again. “Don’t,” I warn her.
“Don’t what?” she asks me. “And you know what you did. You watched me sleep, and God only knows what else you did. Is that your thing? Touching unsuspecting women while they’re passed out and can’t say no?”
I chuckle. “No. Touching you, however, is definitely becoming my thing.”
“You better find a new thing because you won’t have hands left to touch me with if you even so much as think about doing it.” Her chest rises and falls in an exaggerated huff. She’s mad.
Before we make it out of the tunnel, I press Evie up against the wall. “Are you threatening me? Because I gotta be honest, mi alma, people who threaten me don’t live long enough to do it twice.”
“Are you threatening me? I’m not scared of you. Now get the fuck off me, you psycho.” Her hands shove at my chest, and I take a step back. Not because I want to, but because I don’t need to be making any more of a scene in the fucking airport than what we already have.
“Not threatening. Educating. I’d very much prefer to keep you alive,” I tell her.
“What the hell do you want with me, Emmanuel?” she says, and the sound of my name on her lips…? Fuck me, I want to hear her scream it for the entire fucking world to hear.
“You,” I reply simply.
“Me?” Her eyes widen. “You can’t have me. I’m not available.”
“You don’t have a boyfriend or a husband. You’re available.” I shrug.
“You don’t know that, and just because I don’t have a man, doesn’t mean I want or need one. Especially not a creep who does shit to me when I’m asleep.”
“I didn’t touch you,” I tell her. She seems really hung up on the fact I watched her sleep. “Actually, I did. I wiped your makeup off your face. But other than that, I didn’t touch you.”
“You… wiped my makeup off? Why?”
“I’ve heard it’s not good to sleep in that shit. Besides, you don’t need it,” I say.
“Yes, I do. But… don’t do that again. In fact, how about you just don’t watch me sleep again either and let me get back on the plane so I can go home.”
“I’m not agreeing to those terms.” My hand lands on her lower back. This time, she doesn’t try to shrug me off.
“Where are you taking me? Somewhere you can have your filthy way with me against my will? Is that what gets you off? Helpless women?”
And she’s back to that. I roll my eyes. “You’re not helpless, Evie, and I wouldn’t take you against your will. When I take you, it’ll be because you’re begging me to do it.”
“Yeah? Do me a favor and hold your breath until that happens,” she hisses.
Paz is waiting for me at the end of the tunnel. He has Evie’s luggage.
“You?” Evie stomps over to him. “Are you gay?”
My lips tip up. Paz looks confused. “No, ma’am,” he says with a shake of his head.
“Then why the hell wouldn’t you give me your number?” Evie asks.
“Ah… jefe?” My second looks to me for help.
“Evie, this is Paz. He works for me. Anything you need, he’ll make sure you have it,” I tell her.
“Good, I need a new plane ticket home and your number, Paz. I have all this built-up sexual energy I could use your help getting out,” she says in a sugary-sweet southern accent.
Paz’s face visibly pales, and he takes a step backwards.
“He will get you anything but that,” I say before dropping my mouth closer to her ear. “Don’t make me kill my most-trusted man because you have the hots for him, mi alma. I don’t share.”
“First, I’m not yours. And second…” Evie smiles wide at me. “You couldn’t possibly kill all the men I want to jump because there’s a lot of them, Emmanuel. Like a lot, a lot. I have an entire to-do list.”
My jaw clenches. She’s fucking with me. I know she’s trying to get a reaction, and it’s fucking working.
“We’re going.” My hand wraps around hers. When she tries to get away, I tighten my grip and glare at her. “Do not test my patience,” I warn. “There is only so much I will tolerate.”
“Guess you best be killing me now then. I mean, that’s what you’ll do eventually anyway. Why drag it out.”
Her words hit me hard and sharp. Each one digging a knife into wounds I buried a long time ago. She’s right. I will end up killing her. It’s what happened to the last girl I took an interest in.
No. I shake my head. I’m not going to kill her. My father isn’t here to tell me I can’t have her and no one else is gonna tell me shit either. Including the woman herself.
“I’m not going to kill you. I want to talk.” I keep my expression neutral.
She narrows her eyes at me. “Talk? About what?”
“You. You have the answers I want to know,” I say. I can’t get the sound of her scream out of my head.
Surprisingly, Evie got into the back of my car without a fight. I don’t think she wants to make a spectacle of herself. She’s been quiet the entire drive back to the Lopez Estate. I don’t come here often, but I want her to myself so staying off the Strip it is.
I don’t miss the way Evie’s face pales as we drive through the gates, her eyes landing on the men holding them open for our small convoy—more specifically, their rifles.
“Tell them to keep weapons out of sight while she’s here,” I tell Paz in Spanish. He’s sitting in the front passenger seat.
“On it, jefe.” He nods as the car stops in front of the house.
“What is this place?” Evie asks.
“The compound,” I tell her. “Come on, I’ll give you a tour.” I hold out a hand, waiting for her to get out of the car.
“The only thing I need to see is the exit,” she grumbles.
“Sure, it’s that way.” I point back at the gates while suppressing my grin.
“Are they going to shoot me if I leave?” She looks at the men in the guard shack.
“No one here will ever hurt you, Evie,” I tell her. “And no one is stopping you from leaving.”
“Good. I’ll catch you… never then,” she says as she starts walking towards the gate. A few long strides and I’m right beside her. “What are you doing?”
“I said I wouldn’t stop you from leaving, not that I wouldn’t follow you wherever you went,” I tell her.
Evie stops in her tracks. “What the hell do you want?”
“You,” I repeat.
“Nobody wants me, Emmanuel. You don’t even know me.”
“I can guarantee you every man in this compound would want you if it didn’t cost them their lives,” I say. “I want you, and you’re here so I can get to know you.”
“You want what everyone wants. The beautiful outside. You don’t want what’s underneath it. Trust me.” She shakes her head before adding under her breath, “I don’t even want that.”
“I want to show you the house.” Taking hold of her hand, I lead her back towards the estate and up the stairs. Maria is waiting for us in the foyer. “Maria, this is mi alma, Evie. Evie, Maria is our housekeeper. She’ll make sure you’re comfortable while you’re here.”
Maria’s eyes light up like she’s just found a long-lost friend. “Miss Evie, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Are you hungry? Of course you are. I’ll get you something,” she says, and then she’s rushing off towards the kitchen.
“She doesn’t need to get me food, Emmanuel,” Evie whispers.
“She’s going to whether I tell her to or not. If Maria wants to feed you, she’s going to feed you.” I laugh. “This way.”
I guide Evie through the bottom level of the house.
“Why are you showing me every room?” she asks.
“Because I want you to be familiar with the estate. It’s big. I don’t need you getting lost in the halls.” Next, I lead her upstairs and show her the bedrooms, leaving mine for last.
Evie steps inside and takes in every detail. “You’re kinda boring, aren’t you?”
I laugh. No one has ever called me boring before. Not to my face anyway. “What makes you think that?”
“I don’t know. I expected your bedroom to be like some kind of sex dungeon. It’s just so… plain.”
“You want me to build you a sex dungeon, Evie?” I quirk a brow at her. I’m not opposed to the idea.
“No. I prefer to not be tied up. Or passed out,” she mutters.
“Again, I didn’t touch you,” I remind her. “I do want to know who did, though.”
Evie’s body tenses and her eyes look everywhere but at me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You screamed out in your sleep.”
“It was a nightmare. People have them. Except you, right? Considering you are the nightmare,” she throws back at me.
I laugh again. I don’t remember a time I’ve smiled so fucking much. “Funny, but it wasn’t a nightmare. It was a memory, and I want to know what it was about. I want to know what happened to you.”
“Nothing happened to me,” she insists.
My phone rings, and Paz’s name flashes on the screen. “I have to take this. I’ll be in my office when you decide to stop lying to me.” I close the distance and kiss the middle of her forehead. “Maria will come and find you soon.”
I leave Evie in my bedroom. I don’t need to keep her locked up. I’ll know the minute she steps out the front door and tries to leave. I’ll also be there to follow her.
“Yeah?” I answer Paz’s call.
“We have a problem,” he says. “Basement.”
“Be there in a minute,” I tell him and make my way downstairs towards the one room I didn’t show Evie on her tour. I don’t need to fill her head with anymore nightmares.