Chapter 25
Eve
Somehow, after only two days, we’ve all settled into a routine.
Wylder and Abel wake up right at the crack of dawn to make breakfast together, drawing me downstairs as soon as the smell of fresh waffles and bacon drifts up the stairway.
Atlas, Roman, and Kortez join us about midway through our meal, their aversion to the early morning sun clear by their squinted eyes and yawns that keep us company while we all talk around the table.
It’s nice. Domestic.
It’s still a lie.
The facade is broken anytime Atlas tries to make conversation with Abel and our son looks in the opposite direction. It’s even more obvious when my phone buzzes on the table and I have to angle my screen away from the others, an action that gets more and more curious looks every time I do it.
I need to tell them the truth but I just…can’t. It’s gone beyond my worry that they’ll be angry. When I mentioned killing that man at the warehouse, they didn’t even blink. In fact, their eyes shone with something close to pride.
Well, Roman’s had more obsession in them than anything but that’s not the point.
What makes my mouth snap shut whenever I try to tell them about my deal with the devil is the guilt. My anger. My…needs.
For years I made their life a living hell, thinking it was only Atlas who was suffering when in reality Kortez was right beside him. Hell, even Roman who I once believed to only be some pretty muscle for my ex-boyfriend turned out to be a better man than I expected.
I was never told that Atlas now had a partner that looked so much like my dead best friend. I was never told that Aldo cast them away like rejects when they should have been ruling the kingdom in his place.
Which brings me to the third reason I’ve been keeping this last secret to myself…
Aldo. The real reason I spent the last ten years without two of the men I love by my side.
The reason for the dark look in Kor’s eyes and the endless scars that now cover his body.
The reason for Atlas’s supposed betrayal.
I need to kill him.
His blood doesn’t belong to anyone else but me and even though he’s never seen my face, it will be the last thing he remembers before his soul dives down to the underworld.
Atlas and the others wouldn’t want me to get too close. They think I still need protection. If they knew my plans, I wouldn’t be able to slit the king’s throat because my knights would do it for me.
So, I sit at breakfast and pretend I don’t have bloody, murderous thoughts running through my mind as my past, present, and future collide right in front of me.
My past, my best friend, following my son out of the dining room talking about the latest hot wheels.
My present, dropping a kiss on my forehead as he begins to clean up from breakfast while he still wears his apron that says Semper Fry.
My future, the text messages blowing up my phone wondering why I’ve gone AWOL the last few days.
Atlas looks up at me from across the table, his eyes curious as my phone once again begins to ring. “You need to get that, Reginetta?”
I begin to shake my head before my eyes catch on the name lighting up the screen. “Shit, yes I do.” I stand, my eyes going to Roman standing in the kitchen with Wylder as I swipe over on the screen. “Hey, Sawyer.”
“Jesus, Eve, I’ve been trying to reach you all morning.
Your motion to dismiss is scheduled for Monday at nine.
” The sound of Sawyer’s daughter screaming in the background makes me chuckle, as does the exasperated sigh he releases in response.
“Fuck me sideways – Clarissa! Quit jumping from the couches. Please.”
“Sounds like you have your hands full.”
I can practically see him nodding in my head as the screaming dies down on the other end of the phone. “She’s officially hit the terrorist threes, Eve. How did you get through it?”
“Uhh…” I look around the corner to where Abel and Kortez are now carrying boxes of cars down the stairs. “Lots of time outside for him and lots of wine for mom after bedtime.”
He laughs softly and I hear something break. “No, Clare!” He sighs, “That was your mom’s favorite lamp.”
I shake my head as Abel dumps out a box of cars directly in the middle of the living room, motioning to Kor to do the same.
I shrug and smile and he follows my son’s lead, dumping his box out to join the others.
“I’ll let you go, Sawyer. I have a mess breaking out in my living room, too.
Thanks for letting me know about the motion. ”
“No problem, Eve. Keep me updated.”
The line goes silent, and a hand snatches my phone from my grasp right as another slides around my waist. “Motion hearing?”
Roman’s fresh pine scent mixed with something manly and pure Ro fills my nose as he tucks me into his side. “Yeah, I’m trying to get the case dismissed. It’s set for Monday morning.”
Atlas joins us, taking up my other side as he presses a soft kiss to my temple. We’ve kept things pretty PG the past few days with nothing getting as hot as it did that day in the living room, but the promise of more is there. The promise of…us. All of us.
I didn’t know what to expect when Atty and Kor showed up on my doorstep but all four of them coming to the unanimous conclusion to enter a poly relationship was not one of them. I knew I couldn’t choose but…I didn’t expect for them to be okay with it.
They’re more than okay with it, though. A fact that’s proven to me more and more with every second.
None of them hesitate to hold or kiss me, even if someone else is already doing the job for them, and the scorching looks each one of them give me throughout the day is enough to melt my panties right off. Or soak them.
“So, the trial may be done sooner than you thought?”
I nod at Atlas’s question, smiling at Wylder as he comes to a stop beside us. “Yeah…About time, too.”
Atlas scoffs. “I’ll say. I tried to pay that judge off as soon as we got into town, but he wouldn’t budge.”
Roman’s deep voice sounds from behind me, where his head now rests on my shoulder as a hand rubs small circles on my stomach. “He wouldn’t for me either. Have you ever met a judge that you couldn’t pay off?”
The silence following Roman’s question has my bones growing stiff, a feeling that only intensifies as Atlas answers. “No, actually, I haven’t. It’s got Wade’s name written all over it.”
That’s exactly what I was thinking. Thompson hasn’t been returning my calls even after I offered to pay him more to drop the case.
He’s under someone else’s control now and Wade is the most likely suspect.
I just don’t understand why he would be paying to keep the trial going and not answering my calls.
Unless he lied about more than Kortez being dead.
It’s not like I can tell the others about my suspicions, though, and I already have Viv looking into it since I’ve been a little preoccupied.
Kortez stands, leaving Abel in the living room to continue setting up the track as he joins us in the dining room. “He knows his cars.”
I smile at the pride in his voice, my mind instantly remembering all the trips I took with Kor when I was eighteen to find his perfect car. “He does. His favorite is the Maserati.”
“Well, it would be con –“ Roman chokes as I slam my elbow back into his ribs, shooting him a look to stay quiet.
Wylder laughs, breaking the tense silence that follows. “Evie, are we still doing the end of summer party?”
“Fuck.” I groan, my hand instantly coming up to rub at my forehead. “Yeah, I would feel bad telling Abel no after he’s told all his friends.”
“In that case, I’ve got work to do. School starts back on Monday.”
Wyld pushes Atlas out of the way and leans in, capturing my lips in a quick kiss that promises me more later.
We haven’t done much the last few days with my mind being elsewhere, but I think he can tell I’m getting a little too deep inside my head and he knows exactly how to bring me back to the surface.
He pulls away, clapping Atlas on the shoulder. “Come on, you three can help me. It’ll be nice having some extra hands this year.”
Roman reluctantly pulls away, dropping a kiss on the back of my head at the same time Atlas leans in to kiss me on the lips. They pull away at the same time, as if choreographed to leave me in a messy puddle on the floor.
“See ya later, Little Moth.”
Wylder heads toward the back door with Roman and Atlas following on his heels, leaving just Kor and I standing in my dining room, watching as my son runs up the stairs to gather more cars.
“You aren’t going to go help the guys?”
Kor shakes his head, his dark eyes searching mine as he leans against the wall. “I promised Abel I’d race the cars with him after he sets things up. I’m sure those three have it.”
I nod, a small smile gracing my lips as I realize how much I wanted this – Kor back in my life.
He may be darker and scarred but he’s still my Kor.
It’s been hours and Wylder’s backyard is slowly turning into a kid’s summer dream. String lights are hung up around the fenceline and Wylder’s garage is loaded down in water balloons, firecrackers, and foam guns. It’s everything I would have wanted as a child.
Kor stands at my side, watching Roman and Atlas shove each other around in the sprinkler Wyld finished setting up.
Abel is at the house playing on Wylder’s game console as I watch him through the patio windows.
He and Kortez played with the cars for almost four hours, something not even I had the patience to do, but Kor didn’t call it quits until Abel did.
“Thank you for playing with him. I do the best I can but…” I sigh and shake my head. “I don’t know, maybe I’m – “
“Stop.” My body is turned to face Kor, his hands gripping my upper arms just enough to sting.
“You’re a working mother doing the best she can.
He’s just happy he has you, Evie.” Kor gives me a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.
“You’re an amazing mother and he’s an amazing little boy. Don’t disregard that.”
“He is an awesome kid…but Kor – “
His grip on my arms tightens as he walks us back towards the fence and out of Abel’s view.
Curls swing as he shakes his head, pressing me against the wood as his hand comes around my throat.
“I’ve searched for you for a decade, Evangeline, and the last thing I’m going to do is sit here and listen to you talk bad about yourself. ”
Oh my God. Kor is….
His dominance makes my inner brat want to jump out and wave a pom pom in his face. “So, what is it that you do want to do, Kortez?”
His arms raise to cage me in, forearms flexing until the scars and tattoos blend together to create a morbid collage of beauty and pain seared into his skin. The black ink off his skin seeps into his eyes, turning them darker until my own depravity is reflected back at me.
I’ve unleashed a beast and I can’t wait until he stakes his claim.
His face leans closer to mine, and I hear the flick of a blade from above my head, my eyes shooting up to land on the open pocketknife coming towards me.
My breath comes faster – not in fear, but in exhilaration.
For so long I thought I would corrupt Kortez.
Fear creeped through me when he walked through my door because I thought he would despise what I’ve turned into.
Hatred fills my veins at the thought of everything Kor went through but right along with that fear is excitement. Now his darkness matches my own.
The knife comes closer, the silver blade glinting as it passes by my face to land on my bare chest. The fingers from his other hand come down to pull at the spaghetti straps, lowering them until the top of my breast peaks from my shirt.
“Would you bleed for me, Evangeline?”
His voice is so deep it almost doesn’t sound like him, but my body knows it is and leans closer. “What?”
He leans in, pressing the blade down into my skin just enough for me to feel it.
“You’re already my heart – Mi Corazón, but would you give me your blood so it can keep beating?
” His lips slide across mine, just a soft lingering kiss to combat the sharpness of the blade.
“Can I learn what the darkest parts of you taste like so my soul can know who its master is?”
Jesus Christ. When did he learn to talk like this?
I nod but it’s not enough. He wants words and I can tell from the shaking in his hand that whatever demons he needs to control are riding him hard.
I don’t mind being his escape.
“Yes, Kortez. I’ll bleed for you.”
He groans and my skin burns as his blade digs into my flesh, the knife going deep enough to leave a scar right on the top of my breast – a mark that I’ll forever belong to him.
Before the blood can drip down and stain my cotton pajamas, he’s moving the knife and swooping in, his tongue sliding over the wound to taste my blood.
A blood oath – the most archaic version of one I’ve ever seen.
He groans, his mouth vibrating on my chest and making me gasp at the sensation as his hands dig into my hips to draw me closer.
My chest feels hot where his tongue continues to lap at my fallen blood, the cut not wanting to close as his hands begin to slide up my shirt.
I hear the murmuring of voices, but my hands are in Kor’s hair, and my eyes are closed as I revel in the sensation of being utterly consumed in a way that’s too primal for me to even understand.
“Fuck!”
Kortez is ripped from me, his knife flying to the ground as he whirls on Atlas, his eyes darker than I’ve ever seen as my blood stains his lips red.
“Eve, you need to get out of here. Roman, go make sure Abel didn’t see. Now!” Atlas’s eyes are wide and pleading as Roman runs past me, his footsteps thundering up the stairs to save my son from a situation I never thought I’d see.
My Kor is feral.
I can see now he’s been keeping things in check the last few days, but I knew he was too quiet. He was quiet because his demons were screaming at him to be set free.
“No.” I shake my head and turn to see Kortez lick my blood from his lips. “You want to play, Kor? Come and get me.”
He smiles.
And I run.