Chapter 26 Eva
EVA
I’m caught in between two worlds—conscious enough to hear the hum of voices, and too far gone to respond.
“Is she okay?” Valerie shrieks near me.
Dan’s strong cologne wafts over me, pulling me back to reality as I’m lifted off the floor and carried somewhere warm. Valerie’s sobs follow us. Then my head hits something soft, my body sinking into the couch or the bed, I’m not sure. A cold finger lands on the pulse point in my throat.
“She’s fine.” Jonathan examines my head, turning it every which way. “She’s just unconscious. Give her some space.”
“This is your fault,” Valerie cries. My fingers twitch, but my eyes feel too heavy to open.
“You just had to bring her here for your grand display of power. It’s not enough that you have corrupted Daniel?
Eva is too fragile for your world right now, you know that.
Doctor Janet warned us, Eva can’t handle all of us together.
There are too many memories. Did you forget how close it was in the ICU? ”
Um—What?
My head gets clearer, eyelids lighter, limbs stronger. But I don’t move.
I want to know what the hell they are talking about.
“My memory works perfectly fine, Valerie,” Grandpa responds. “We obviously overestimated how well she was doing. But rest assured, she will get all the help she needs.”
“What she needs is to stay away from here,” Valerie wails. More Tears. More sobs.
Then a chaotic bout breaks out between Grandpa and Valerie, unintelligible words are exchanged. I can’t follow who is saying what. Finally, Jonathan manages to yell them out of the room, leaving a long silence.
Did everyone leave? My eyes begin to flicker, ready to see light, but then I hear a voice.
“It was just an accident.” Grace sighs. “She’s doing well in Fort. She’ll be fine.”
“How is she going to be fine?” Dan yells, making no attempt to whisper for my sake. “She’s with Mason fucking Grant.”
“Have you considered you might be wrong?”
“Do you need to see the video again?”
“I’ve seen it,” Grace replies. “But you don’t know them, Dan. I have lived there for over a year, and I’m telling you, there is just no way they are this careless. Not a chance.”
“Forgive me if I don’t take your word for it,” Daniel grits out with spite. “It’s not like you care what happens to her.”
“Excuse me?”
“I asked you to do one thing. Look out for Bean. But I should’ve known you are simply too shallow to put away your misplaced contempt for my sister.”
Dan’s words hang in the air for a long, silent moment.
“How dare you?” Grace grits out.
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.” Stilettoes clack on the wooden floor. “And just so we’re clear, you asked me to do more than ‘one thing.’ I’m done with all that.”
Could they be a little more descriptive? A little context would be brilliant.
“Suit yourself,” Daniel snaps. “I don’t need anyone’s help to take down Reginald Grant and his fucking Fort.”
My heart skips a few beats.
“And if it turns out I’m right and you’re wrong?”
“Then I will have brought down a corrupt, immoral man for the greater good,” he snaps. “Either way, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.”
What does he mean, bring Reginald Grant down? Who does he think he is, Robin Hood? The panic of last night comes back to me, my fingers turning cold at the thought of Dan and Mason braced for a fight.
A few exaggerated breaths thicken the air. I can feel the tension, even with my eyes closed. If they are looking at me, I definitely gave it away. But knowing them both, they are too busy glaring at each other to notice.
The door creaks open, and I’m glad for whoever walked in.
“Is she awake?” Jonathan asks. “Maybe I should take a closer look. Dan, I think you should get going. I’ll take it from here.”
“Yeah, I suppose.” Dan sighs.
What? No. He is not going anywhere. I have questions he needs to answer. I’m about to give up the charade when the cushion next to me dips again and a minty exhale washes over my face.
“Take care, Bean,” Dan whispers, his distorted voice making me freeze. “You’re all I’ve got left.”
I hold my breath as he drops a peck on my forehead, my throat choking with a lump too large for me to stop him.
I couldn’t take it anymore when Jonathan started flashing a torch in my eyes.
But I tried my best to fake my return to consciousness and gave in to the lethargy of my head rush.
He made me drink some electrolyte drink and told me Grace and Valerie had to take Lily home, and Grandpa and Dan had to go back to Etheridge Enterprises.
Even Jonathan wasn’t convinced when he tried to sell me that load of crap, but he looked relieved when I didn’t press.
What’s the point? It hurts to hear them lie to my face.
The conversation I heard, thanks to my fall, answered the questions I have been carrying around for months.
It was abundantly, undeniably clear—my mind has snapped.
Maybe Dr. Janet was right all along. I’m just so weak, I can’t handle the loss of my parents.
That the mere memories of them turns my brain off and makes me black me out.
So, everyone I love, everyone who has been an important part of my life, must keep me at a distance to not trigger more episodes.
And they can’t even tell me for fear of breaking the last filament that’s holding me together.
So, they’ll keep lying to me, which I now know is the code for: Let’s keep the weakling alive.
And I’ll just have to keep pretending I only lost my parents, not every single person I love.
Valerie was right about one thing. I need to stay away from London. So, I call Kate and ask her to pack my things while Jonathan drives me back to Etheridge Mansion. I don’t even bother going inside. My bag is already in the boot, Jack ready to go. I officially have no reason to linger any longer.
Even so, the ride to Fort George is painful. Every mile feels like another string snipped from my family.
“Kid?” Jack looks over his shoulder, his voice sharp. “Are you okay?”
I pat the moisture under my eyes and give him a small smile. He pulls a box of tissues from the glove compartment and hands it to me.
“I can take you back?” Jack offers. “I have been enjoying my eventless life this weekend.”
“I think you’ve had enough time off, don’t you?” I smile.
“Does that mean you’ll keep breaking your protocol? Tell me now, so I can put in my notice.”
“No, that means I’ll be deciding my protocol,” I respond, my voice more confident than I expected.
Jack raises an eyebrow. “That’s right. You’ll take me where I want to go, leave me when I ask you to, and trust me that I won’t put myself at risk.
In return, I will inform you where I am at all times and not break the agreed protocol.
That’s the only way this is going to work. ”
Jack squints, and his eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror.
“You know you are a carbon copy of your mother.” He gives me a knowing look. “In more ways than one.”
“So everyone keeps telling me.” I chuckle.
“Okay then,” he sighs. “Am I taking you to your place or his?”
“You know where Mason lives?”
“Part of my job.” He shrugs lazily. “So, what’s your destination?”
Good question.
I texted him when I left London.
Two hours later—nothing.
I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me.
The timing is curious. His fixation all this time, tracking me all the way to London: was that all so he could take my virginity?
Mason’s interest in me never made sense.
I don’t kill with a smile like Grace, nor am I effortlessly slim like Thea, who makes the rest of us look out of focus.
I probably don’t even break into the top ten of his fan club.
Not that I have insecurities about my looks. Confidence was never my issue. I knew my place in a room and held my own reflection well. Until now. Until him.
Deep inside, I know I was never meant to be the kind of girl he noticed, let alone chased. I kept telling myself he’d get bored. But he didn’t.
And now that he’s found my weak spots and wedged himself in the gears of my mind…
“I guess, neither.” Jack’s voice breaks my chain of thought.
“What?” I ask, confused.
He motions toward the rearview mirror.
My head snaps to the back window, and my heart jump-starts into a flutter.
Mason is chasing us on his Ducati, weaving through the traffic.