Chapter 18
Eve
My occasional sniffles are the only sound in my living room now that Atlas and…and Kortez are sitting down.
Kortez.
I thought he was dead.
He should have been dead.
If he’s not…then all I’ve done has been for nothing.
Wylder’s fingers go underneath my chin, lifting it up until our eyes meet. “It’s okay, love.”
I shake my head, “He’s alive, Wyld.”
He looks above my head, no doubt to the two men sitting across from us, before he nods. “I know.”
My voice is rough as I whisper, “What are we going to do?”
He sighs and goes to answer but before he can, the couch tilts down and I feel Roman grabbing at my waist, fingers warm on my stomach where my shirt has ridden up.
I almost forgot he was even here. It took him so long to get dressed.
My eyes turn to look at him to see him still bare chested and covered in blood, only a pair of gym shorts around his waist.
What the hell took him so long?
Wylder shoots him a glare before looking down at me, his hazel eyes burning gold. “You and him?”
A blush runs through my cheeks as I shrug, “I…”
Wyld gives me a smile small and kisses my forehead, “You don’t have to explain, Evie.”
I hear a smack, and Roman’s hands disappear from my waist, then Wyld says, “Ours, not yours.”
Wyld moves me in between them on the couch and Roman’s hand lands on my thigh as Wyld wraps his around my shoulders.
“Ours.” Roman echoes Wylder before turning to look at the two men on the opposite couch that we’ve all three been ignoring, the two who are shooting daggers at both Roman and Wylder while somehow managing to look near tears every time their eyes pass over me.
One of us needs to speak.
One of us –
“How did you find her?” Atlas apparently gets tired of waiting, because he leans forward on the couch and levels Roman with a look, his dark eyes looking almost black.
He scoffs and shakes his head before Roman can even respond, “Why didn’t you tell me?
All those phone calls…all those texts…and you didn’t tell me. ”
Roman sighs beside me and squeezes my thigh in his hand. “I was going to, but you were in Cuba dealing with Wade and I knew even bringing her up would mess your head up. I didn’t want to put you in danger, man. Not when I knew she would still be here when you got done.”
Atlas lets out a hollow laugh and stands, walking around the couch and running his hands down his face. “You mean, you wanted extra time to fuck the woman you knew I was in love with.”
Wylder jumps up from the couch, his hands clenched into fists once again. “You aren’t going to talk about Evie like that.”
Atlas laughs just as Kor stands up, joining Wylder in the middle of the room. “And who the hell are you to say how we can or can’t talk about Evie? My Evie?”
Oh, good Lord.
I settle back into the couch just as Wylder gives Kor a dark chuckle.
“Your Evie? I’m the man who’s been here for the last three years.
I’m the man who has helped her through every nightmare, whose shoulder she cried on every time she thought about your dead body, the man who has owned every single one of her orgasms ever since he walked into her life.
” Wylder shakes his head with a smirk. “How many of her orgasms do you own exactly?”
The room is deathly quiet as Wylder’s words sink in, and I don’t think anyone is ready for Roman to lean forward and say, “I own three of them, if we’re keeping track.”
Wylder busts out in laughter as Atlas punches my couch, muttering different things in Italian too low for me to hear. Kor, though, he turns around and runs his fingers through his hair, shaking his head a few times before spinning back to face Roman.
My eyes widen when I look at his face, because I’ve never seen my best friend look like he does right now. He looks…dark. Too dark to be my Kortez. My Kor is supposed to be light.
“I’m going to fucking kill you, Roman Bavone!”
Kor lunges for Roman but I jump forward, reaching my arms out and wrapping them around Kortez as tightly as I can.
His body stops as soon as I touch him, his knees dropping to the ground in front of the couch as my arms wrap around his neck and my hands dive into his hair.
My legs go around his waist, effectively wrapping my entire body around him until we’re both shaking so hard we’re collapsing into the side of the couch.
One of his arms wraps around my waist and the other tries its best to stabilize us as we continue to hold each other, breathing each other in.
“Evie…”
I try to breathe and end up choking out a sob, my body shaking as reality begins to hit me. Kortez is alive.
He’s alive.
He’s…
“Oh my God! You’re alive!” I pull back just enough to slam my lips into his, kissing him with ten years of pent-up heartbreak and love.
His lips taste like copper and salt, blood and tears, but nothing has ever tasted better.
His arms tighten around me as my lips begin to slow, peppering smaller kisses all over his jaw as I begin to pull away.
“I can’t believe it…I thought you were dead. You…you...Oh my God! You cussed, Kor!”
Roman laughs from behind me and I feel his hand stroke my back, “Yeah, he does a lot of that now, Little Moth. You should hear him when I beat him in Call of Duty.”
I pull back, my eyes flitting from Kor to Atlas, still standing behind the couch and staring at me. His body shakes with tension as I watch his eyes linger on the hickeys Roman left on me last night.
God, he probably thinks I’m a whore. Hell, they probably all do. I remember how Wylder and Roman both claimed me a few minutes ago and smile to myself. Well, maybe not all of them.
“I am so sorry, Evie. We tried to find you, I swear. But with Atlas’s father breathing down our necks and now Wade, we could barely find the time to breathe and – “
I lift my hand up and stop Kor before he can continue. “Atlas’s father?”
Kortez nods and I turn to look at Atlas. “Is that who is responsible for your disappearance?”
Atlas sighs and walks around the couch, sitting back down and looking over at me. “Yes. My father got word that I was getting too comfortable there and came to collect me. When he did, though, I fought him. Then Kor showed up and…well my father liked him a little too much and took him, too.”
My mind flashes through my memories of the warehouse, the man I killed and what he told me.
Mr. Valente.
He never explicitly said Atlas’s name. I just assumed.
“What about all the blood? Your warehouse…it was covered.”
I shove my hands between my thighs to try and stave off the shaking as Atlas groans.
“When my father ordered his men to take Kortez I didn’t respond in the best way.
One of them knocked Tez out and…” He sighs and rubs his palms on his pants.
“I killed him. That’s what all the blood was.
Well, that and my father having me beat for going against him. ”
My forehead falls to Kor’s shoulder, and I let out a deep breath, “I’m so stupid.”
Kortez rubs at my back, and I feel Wylder approach my side.
He’s the only one who knows what this new revelation means for me.
For ten years, I’ve had to force myself to hate Atlas because I thought he killed Kortez, even though my heart swore it still loved him.
I was set on taking revenge for my best friend even though I knew it may kill me in the process to spill the blood of the man I loved – and I was okay with that.
I had to be.
Now, it turns out that Kortez is alive.
Atlas wasn’t the bad guy after all.
I had all this misplaced anger.
What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to tell –
Kor stops rubbing my back and tilts my head to look up at him, “How come you haven’t asked how we know Roman?”
I see Atlas tense to my side, but I shoot him a small smile and roll my eyes. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist. Both Italian, all these phone calls he’s been making in secret and the boss he’s been talking about but won’t name. It’s you, right?”
Atlas watches me for a moment, his eyes narrow, before he gives me a slow nod. “Yeah, but we’re also cousins. More like brothers, really.”
I turn my head toward Roman to find him watching me with careful eyes. “When did you know who I was to them?”
He leans toward me and reaches into my shirt, grabbing the chain I always wear around my neck and pulling it out for everyone to see.
I hear Atlas suck in a breath behind me.
“Family ring. Atlas had me steal this and fly it to Florida for him ten years ago for a girl he met. Never even saw a photo of her, but I’m glad she was a mystery.
” He leans in and licks his way up my neck, hitting where he left a hickey the night before.
“It made things a hell of a lot more interesting now.”
My body shivers, and it hits me that I’m still sitting on Kor’s lap while surrounded by the others. I turn, looking to Wylder for silent help that he immediately gives me by reaching over and plucking me right off of Kor’s lap and placing me on his.
His lips press tiny kisses along my neck, right over where Romen licked, before grazing the shell of my ear and whispering, “What’s the plan, love?”
I’m facing all the others, so it’s not like I can be obvious with my words. Whatever the plan, I need to figure it out – fast – and I need to be conspicuous.
A shrill ring sounds around the room and everyone begins to look around before my eyes land on my cell phone lighting up on the floor by the front door. “Ro, can you go grab that?”
“Sure thing, Eve.” He jogs over and picks it up, looking at the screen in confusion before walking back over to me. “Who is Coach Davis?”
“Oh shit!” I grab my phone from him and quickly swipe to answer, pressing it against my ear. “Hey, Mr. Davis!”
“Hey there, Miss Patton! I’m just giving all the parents a call, we’re about fifteen minutes from the school so I wanted to remind you about pick up.
” Coach Davis’s gravelly voice is nearly covered by the yelling and laughing of prepubescent boys in the background, no doubt mine being one of them, but the coach sounds happy all the same.
I have no clue how he stays so patient being the baseball coach and boy scout leader for Abel’s class when even one night of hosting the boys for sleepover was enough to drive me crazy.
“Of course! I’ll see you there, Mr. Davis! Thanks for the reminder.”
We hang up and I turn to look at Wylder, my eyes wide and desperate. “I need you to get these three to your house, I completely forgot Abel comes home from camp today.”
“Shit.” Wylder stands, putting me on my feet and dropping a quick kiss on my lips. “Be careful and call if you need me. We’ll have this placed cleaned up before you get back.”
I nod and take off for the stairs, leaving Roman, Kor, and Atlas alone with Wylder to clean my house and move next door.
A throat clears behind me before I can get too far, and I turn to see Atlas and Kor standing shoulder to shoulder, a snickering Roman standing behind them.
“Yes?”
Kor shoots a quick look at Roman before turning back around and saying, “Roman said we should ask you a question.”
I shoot Roman a look before waving my hand for them to continue, “And?”
Atlas crosses his arms over his chest and takes a small step forward. “Who is Abel?” His voice wavers as if he’s scared of the answer, and really, he should be.
I give him a wicked smile and a quick wink before turning around and walking up the stairs. Before I get to the top, I yell out, “He’s our son!”