Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Evie isn’t one of those women who needs constant reassurance about their looks. She knows exactly how beautiful she is. Sometimes I get the feeling she resents it.
Evie places her palm in mine. I use my other hand to adjust my pants.
I wasn’t lying when I said my cock is fucking hard.
I can’t look at this woman without finding myself in this predicament—regardless of what she’s wearing.
The more I get to know her, the worse my need for her becomes.
I’m ready to say fuck it and take her home, find a way to never let her leave without her hating me for it.
I’m not usually one to tiptoe around someone. I know what I want and I take it. Evie is different. I want her to want to be with me. I don’t want to have to coerce her or force her hand. Doesn’t mean I won’t if I have to, but I’d prefer if she chose me.
I lead her to the garden outside the property next to hers. “Remember how I said I bought a house?” I ask her.
“Yeah.” She nods.
“This is it.” I gesture in front of us.
Evie’s head snaps towards me. “You didn’t!” She gasps. “Emmanuel, why on earth would you buy my neighbor’s house? That’s insane.”
“Because I don’t like the idea of strangers being so close to you. I bought the one on the other side and the one behind yours as well,” I tell her.
“You’re surrounding me,” she whispers. “Why? Seriously, this is a small town. The worst thing to ever happen here was one year when the Christmas tree went up in flames. Turned out some kids put fireworks in it and set them off when the tree was being lit.”
“That’s… I want to know who is close to you. I want to know that you’re safe, especially when I can’t be here with you,” I explain.
Evie shakes her head. “I need to go to work.” Turning around, she tugs her hand out of mine and walks back over to her car. She glares at Paz as she slides into her driver’s seat. “You can either move your car or I’m going to ram it.”
He looks to me. “She took that well, jefe.”
“Seems that way.” I shrug. “Follow her. I have some calls to make.”
With a nod, Paz climbs into his car and reverses out of the driveway. Before Evie can do the same, I open her car door and lean in. My lips press against hers. “I don’t like you being angry at me.”
“You should probably get used to it if you plan on sticking around, because you have this way of annoying me, Emmanuel,” she says.
“I’ll catch up with you later. I have some errands to run. Paz is following you.”
“Thanks for breakfast. I forgot to mention that,” she says. I can tell she’s really struggling with whether she wants to punch or kiss me right now.
“Anytime, mi alma.” I kiss her forehead and then straighten up, closing her door. I watch as she drives away, Paz following behind her.
I head into the house to the left of Evie’s. I made the owners offers they couldn’t refuse, then arranged for them to be relocated while Evie was still in Vegas.
When I walk in, I find the boxes I had Alejandro send me.
I could have had Paz do it, but I don’t want anyone other than me knowing this stuff exists.
Some things are best kept to yourself. With the boxes in my arms, I head back to Evie’s house.
She didn’t lock up, so maybe I’ll install a self-locking door.
Starting in her living room, I open the boxes of surveillance equipment and get to work installing cameras and microphones throughout the room. I don’t just want to be able to see what she’s doing. I want to know what she’s talking about, if she’s talking to anyone.
Once the living room is done, I move on to the kitchen, and then the bedrooms. I don’t plan on having her stay here without me a lot, but if she is, at least I’ll be able to see with my own eyes that she’s safe.
There’s also the fact that I might catch her talking about her past. I haven’t been able to find shit out yet, no matter how many pageant fucking judges my men have interrogated.
It’s really starting to fucking piss me off that I don’t know what happened to her.
That I can’t fix whatever it is that haunts her.
One way or another, I will find out, and I will erase her nightmares.
I’ll enjoy delivering her the heads of whomever the fuck hurt her too.
I just need some fucking names. It’s frustrating not being able to force her to do things my way.
I love her fire, though, and won’t do anything to douse that flame.
She’s going to need it to survive in my world.
After I’ve bugged the entire house, I put all the trash away, and then sit on her sofa and call Alejandro.
“Jefe, how are things stateside?” he asks.
“Did you get anything out of the judges yet?” I fire back. He picked up two more pageant judges yesterday.
“Not yet, but I’ve gone a different route. There’s a local girl who competes in Vegas. I’m going to talk to her father, see if he’s heard anything,” Alejandro says.
“Someone has to know something,” I grunt.
“If they do, they’re all keeping tight-lipped about it,” Alejandro says, “But don’t worry, jefe. I’ll find out. It’s only a matter of time before someone breaks.”
“I’ll be back in Vegas tonight, so make sure nothing is at the compound.” I don’t want to give Evie any reason to try to run. She knows what I do. I don’t hide it from her. Knowing and seeing are two different things, though.
“The place will be spotless,” he says.
“Tell everyone to conceal carry. Evie’s not a fan of guns in her face,” I tell him.
“Most people aren’t, jefe. I’ll make sure your girl doesn’t see a thing.” Alejandro will get it done.
“Thanks.” I cut the call and look around. This is Evie’s space. There could be something here, something that could narrow down my search for answers.
I could look. She’d never know I did. Instead, I walk out and lock the door behind me. I peer up and down the street. I should have thought about how I was going to get to Evie’s store before I sent Paz to follow her. I pull out my phone and call him.
“Jefe?”
“Is she still at the shop?” I ask him.
“Yep,” he tells me.
“Good. I need you to come pick me up.” I’ve been here too long. I need to see her. I hate being away from her, which is a fucking problem because she’s not going to allow me to hover over her 24/7.
I watch Evie through her shop window as she helps customers and talks to her employee. “What do we know about this Amy?” I ask Paz.
“Not much. She lives with a boyfriend. Doesn’t do much other than come to work,” he says.
“I don’t like the way she looks at Evie,” I grunt.
“Jefe, most women look at Evie with envy, I’d say.”
“I don’t like it. Have the girl looked into further.” I get out of the car when I see the last customer exit the store. I don’t want to interrupt Evie’s work, but I can’t sit here and watch her all day either. I need to be closer to her.
A bell on the door jingles when I push through, and Evie looks up, a wide smile on her face that morphs into something a lot more genuine when she sees me. And then she glances around the room and the smile falls.
“Amy, can you run down to the bakery and grab me a coffee, please? And one for yourself too?” she directs her employee.
“Ah, you sure?” Amy asks Evie, who looks at me warily.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell the girl not to fucking question her boss. She’s been given an order. She needs to just fucking follow it.
Evie glares at me while answering Amy. “Yep, I’m sure.”
I walk over to the counter, leaning forward and pressing my lips against her cheek. “Mi alma, I missed you.”
“It’s been three hours, E. You can’t have missed me,” she says with a small smile. The bell on the door indicates Amy’s departure.
“And yet I have, immensely.” I walk behind the counter, my hands cupping each side of her face and my lips hovering over hers. “I’m not used to this,” I admit.
“Used to what?”
“Missing someone. Caring if I see someone again or not,” I tell her.
“Have you never been in love before, Emmanuel?” Evie asks. “I mean, not that you are now, but you’re not exactly young. Surely, you’ve had girlfriends before me. Not that I’m your girlfriend either,” she’s quick to clarify.
“You are mine. I don’t care what label you put on it. You are mine, Evie Carter,” I tell her before slamming my lips on hers. My tongue pushes into her mouth. Evie’s arms snake around my neck as she pulls me towards her.
By the time we pull away, she’s breathless. “You didn’t answer my question,” she says.
“What question?” I ask, even though I know the answer. It’s not a conversation I want to have, especially with Evie.
“Have you had a girlfriend before?” she repeats.
“Once, when I was a teenager,” I say. “You know, this shop looks amazing, mi alma. You ever thought about franchising?”
“Who was she?” Evie presses.
“It was a long time ago and it’s the past. It doesn’t matter. What matters is the future. And you, mi alma, are my future.”
“The fact you don’t want to talk about her tells me she matters, E. I’m not going to get all hurt or jealous over some teenage girlfriend, you know. I’ve dated people before too.”
“I don’t want to talk about the men you’ve dated, Evie.
I want to rip their heads off. I don’t like the idea of knowing other people have tasted you, that other people know what you feel like.
You are mine. Everything about you is mine,” I growl.
My arm wraps around her, and I pull her body flush against me.
“Emmanuel, you’re shaking,” Evie whispers.
“Because the thought of you being with other men makes me murderous.”
“You should probably get a shrink.” She laughs. “That’s not normal.”
No, it’s not normal, but it’s who I am.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I chuckle and press my lips to the top of her head. “You know I was serious about you franchising this place,” I tell her. “You have created something very unique here. It’s amazing.”
“I don’t have the capital for that kind of investment, E. And, honestly, it’s a lot to keep up with one store. I couldn’t imagine doing more.”
I did a wire transfer into her bank account two days ago. She hasn’t seen it yet, because if she had, she’d know she had the capital to do whatever the fuck she wanted. The fact she’s not screaming bloody murder at me is also a dead giveaway she hasn’t noticed it.