Chapter 9
Roman
It’s been two days since the golden hero showed up at Eve’s and he hasn’t left her side since.
He doesn’t trust me. Understandable. I don’t trust him either.
You don’t grow up in the Italian mafia trusting everyone you meet, especially men you know could kill you just as well as you could kill them – and they could get away with it.
Problem is, I’ve been trying to get to know Eve and Wylder cockblocking James is putting a stop to it every. Single. Time.
Figuring out she had a son, a son that no doubt belongs to my cousin and is now the unknown heir to the Valente throne, was a bit of a shocker. I stormed away and it took me more time than I’d care to admit to cool down – but not because she had a child she hadn’t told me about. Not really.
No – it was because I had finally found a woman who matched my fire and somehow my cousin had gotten to her first. A cousin who had never expressed any interest in children now has a son when all I’ve ever wanted was a child to call my own.
It took me about ten hours to reach that realization, and my current goal.
Evangeline Patton was going to have my child next.
I know it’s a little soon for me to make a claim like that and if I told her my intentions, she would probably sic Wylder on me and run for the hills, but…I have a plan.
I may not have been able to talk to Eve much the past few days, but I have been able to watch her.
I see how when she chooses something on TV to watch, it’s always true crime.
I see how she loves when Wylder tells his MC or war stories and the only books she has on her shelves are the dark romance ones.
I see how she watches me when she thinks I’m not watching her.
I had her wrong when I first met her floundering her way through flirting outside of Atlas’s club. She isn’t a princess at all.
Eve is my little moth.
She thrives in the dark, her eyes taking in every little detail to keep herself safe while watching for the weaknesses of any other predators. She knows I’m that predator.
She just doesn’t know how fully I’m going to consume her.
That’s why my plan is going to work.
I’m going to devour her and she’s going to love every second of it, but she isn’t going to know just how deep my fangs are in her delicate little wings until she’s falling right into my trap.
I let my eyes travel across the room to where her and Wylder dance along to some rap song in the kitchen. They’re cooking Italian for dinner, homemade alfredo and salad with fixings freshly picked from Wylder’s garden.
She looks so light right now with her bright blonde hair and her full figure bouncing around as she dances to the music playing in the background.
It’s all a ruse, though. A shield. A form of camouflage to keep her darkness hidden.
I wonder if the golden boy at her side knows the truth.
Standing up, I grab my pack of cigarettes off the coffee table and head to the back door. It’s glass, so I can still see inside, but it’s private enough where I can call Atlas and get an update.
He picks up on the first ring, smoke already burning through my lungs as his voice comes through the speaker. “Not really a good time, Ro.”
I roll my eyes and hear a gunshot fire off in the background. “It’s never a good time with you, Atlas. Are you almost done in Cuba?”
I hear him hesitate and two more gunshots sound off. They sound far enough away that I know it’s not him shooting, but he’s close enough to the fire that he may have to hang up at any moment. “Probably just a few more days. What’s the rush? I thought you said you had a good lawyer?”
Taking another drag of my cigarette, I look through the glass door at Eve who’s now pulling the alfredo out of the oven. “I told you, I can’t say over the phone. I just need you and Tez.”
As much as I want Eve to myself, I know that’s not possible.
Atlas and Kortez will figure out the truth soon enough and if they think I was trying to keep anything from them, they’ll kill me on the spot.
Hell, Kortez will probably kill me and then keep my head on his wall like some sort of fucking trophy. He’s fucked like that.
Atlas scoffs. “Bored of Denver already, cugino?”
I smile into the phone, finishing off my cigarette and immediately lighting another one.
Last one in the pack. Guess I should stop now that I have something to live for.
“Far from it. Did you know they have a pretty serious racing scene here? I’m going tonight.”
I almost fainted when Eve mentioned she goes to the street races here in Denver.
Apparently, she knows how to find them from when she was a teenager, and she goes to every one she can – winning most of them if Wylder is to be believed.
I never would have guessed defense attorneys would be the ones breaking the law, but what the hell do I know.
I hear a few scuffles on the other end of the phone, and it goes silent for a few moments before Kortez’s voice comes through the line. “Just give us a few days to clean this up and we’ll be there.”
He doesn’t give me a chance to respond before the call ends and I’m left finishing my cigarette beneath the stars alone. When I’m done, I toss the empty pack into the outside trash can and walk back inside, the music now turned down low and changed to classic rock as Eve sets the table.
For Americans trying to cook Italian food, it actually smells pretty damned delicious.
Eve sits down at the head of the table, leaving one spot open on each side of her. I see Wylder eyeing the left side, but I slide into it before he has the chance, claiming it as my own. The fire in his eyes is almost better than the small look of interest Eve shoots my way – almost.
Dinner is made up of small talk. I ask if there are any updates on the case, there isn’t, and Wylder asks how Abel is liking camp.
Eve goes on to show us pictures of how Abel built his own fire and won the obstacle course the instructor made in the middle of the forest. I ooh and ah at all the right moments, but the only thing I can think of as she swipes through the photos sent to her by the camp leader is – holy shit, this kid is Atlas’s twin.
It leads me to ask my next question out of pure curiosity, just to see what she’d say. “Where’s his father?”
Eve’s fork clatters down to her plate and her phone clicks as she turns it off, “He’s gone.”
She gets up, her eyes immediately finding Wylder. “I’m going to get changed and then get the car ready for the races.”
Wylder stands, placing a soft kiss on her cheek before grabbing her plate and beginning to clean up. I grab my own and follow him into the kitchen, placing it into the sink.
“I didn’t mean – “
“Don’t ever bring him up again.”
I turn to find Wylder staring daggers at me, his amber eyes alive with fire as he shoves me against the counter and pins me there with one hand around my throat.
“I don’t like you being here, Bavone, but I’m allowing it to appease Evangeline.
If you ever, and I mean ever, bring up Abel’s father again, though, I will kill you with my bare hands. Understand?”
This is one of those moments in life where I have to decide if I’m going to push my luck, or if I’m going to play it safe.
I’ve never been good at playing it safe.
“Why?”
Wylder lets out a rough breath, his fingers tightening around my neck.
“Evie loves her son, Roman, but raising a son alone when you have nothing can break a woman – and it almost did. All this you see now? She didn’t have that before.
Abel’s father left. Her best friend died.
Evie had no one but herself. She doesn’t want to think about him because he represents everything she could have had and everything she lost for reasons she doesn’t, and probably won’t ever, understand.
You make her fall back into that hole I pulled her out of, and I swear to God you’ll be going into one twice as deep. ”
His words cause my heart to stutter in my chest. She thinks Kortez is dead?
He lets go of my throat but keeps his face close to mine, whispering, “I see the way you look at her. Just know that if and when Evie is ready, it’s going to be me at her side. Not another Italian wannabe mafioso.”
I laugh, rubbing my neck and bumping my chest into his. “You’re a fool to think Eve needed any saving at all, golden boy. I won’t take her from you, but I’m throwing my hat in the ring.”
I hear the roar of an engine coming from the garage and shoot him a smile, “The love of a misfit is wicked and eternal. Are you going to keep pretending Eve is a princess needing to be saved or are you going to join us in the dark?”