Chapter 42
Eve
My laughter is too shallow for my liking, but Wade doesn’t notice. He just throws his head back and laughs with me, his beer slamming down on the table in front of him as he shakes his head. “I knew your plan would work. You had your hooks in him before you walked out the door.”
I tip my beer in his direction, “A woman knows her strengths, Wade.”
He smiles, his eyes crinkling at the edges and somehow making him seem less of a villain than I know him to be. “Oh, Evangeline. I’ll be honest, I was a little worried I may not be able to bring you back to my side. I feared he had his hooks in you, too.”
I take a large drink and set my beer down, pushing the empty bottle away from me and watching as Poppy, one of Wade’s hired maids, replaces it with a fresh one.
“You know how manipulative those Italians can be. I can’t thank you enough for saving me from a lifetime of being lied to.” The words taste like ash in my mouth, but I act like the words I say are the sweetest truth I’ve ever spoken. I have to.
When Wade took me a week ago and told me what happened to his mother, I almost felt bad for him. Who wouldn’t be completely broken after a childhood filled with abuse and hatred? Who wouldn’t want revenge on the people responsible for his mother’s murder?
Unfortunately for him, it’s my family he came after. Not the man who is truly responsible for his anguish.
Aldo.
“I do apologize for lying to you, Evie. I may have had the best intentions but,” Wade shrugs, “You know what they say. The highway to hell…”
I wave him off with my hand, “It’s already forgotten.”
It’s not, but I’ll pretend it is. This entire week, I’ve been working to earn his trust back. My mouth is numb from the false smiles and my tongue is exhausted from the lies I spill, but it’s a necessity. I see the madness warring behind his eyes. I see the desperation.
Somehow, the same obsession I see in Kortez’s eyes when he looks at me is the same look Wade gives me when he thinks I’m not looking. I don’t know when it happened, but Wade wants me by his side for more than a partner in crime. He wants me as his.
It’s another avenue I don’t want to follow, but I must. He’s been allowing me to join him for meals, a time I spend with a fake smile plastered to my face while he drones on and on about what he plans to do to the Valente family.
I hate the pretense, but it gives me time to learn the ins and outs of the place he’s set up.
What I thought was a horribly decorated mansion is actually a warehouse.
Wade has tried his best to cover the blood stains and the chains hanging from the rafters with plush rugs and fancy furniture but he can’t hide the truth.
The windows in my room are blocked by blacked out curtains so I could never see the outside until I ventured out to lunch with Wade by my side on my fourth day here.
What greeted me out the windows was a busted-up parking lot with more factories and warehouses lined up in the distance.
I can taste the sea air anytime a door opens, but I’m not stupid enough to think I’ll make it far.
There are always half a dozen guards on the main floor where we eat and I’ve counted the same number passing by the windows at alternating ten-minute intervals.
Each guard has a pistol tucked into a holster at their waist and a rifle strapped across their back.
Wade always carries a gun, too. My eyes drift to where it lay beside his plate. His hand is only an inch away, too close for me to try and take it without him getting to it first.
He’s being careful even if he wants to trust me because he knows all I need is a second. Over the years, he’s heard of my training with Wylder. Hell, he even sat in on a few of them to make sure I was advanced enough to survive. He knows I could be dangerous. He knows I am dangerous.
It's why when he walked into my room this morning and announced that he was letting me roam out of my cage that I couldn’t help my mouth from dropping open.
Within half an hour, the cage was unassembled and carried out of my room while Wade watched me with a smile.
He placed a kiss on my cheek and left only moments later.
I searched for an exit, coming up short when every window was nailed shut and every door locked from the outside. The only upside to this new gilded cage was that I couldn’t find any cameras. It gave me at least a semblance of privacy.
Being let out of my cage followed by a chaste kiss is all I needed to know that I was in. He was beginning to trust me.
“Wade,” I reach over, laying my hand on top of his. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me – the help you’ve given me.”
He licks his lips as I bring myself a little closer, his eyes darting down to the top of my breasts peaking out from my top.
The room he gave me was not only completely furnished but held a closet full of clothes in exactly my size.
This is the lowest cut shirt I could find, and it looks like he’s enjoying it.
I match his movement and lick my lips to bring his eyes back up to my face. “I want…”
The warehouse door slides open and I turn to see the sun glinting off bright red hair. Vivianne marches through the door, not bothering to close it behind her as she approaches the table with a murderous look on her face.
“What the fuck, Wade? You’re having dinner with her?” She comes to a stop beside the table and shoots me a glare. “You can’t trust her.”
Wade sighs, leaning back in his chair to look up at his sister. “Vivianne, you know better than to show up here during the day. Someone could have seen you.”
She snorts. “You’re about to rule the entire East coast, Wade. I don’t give a fuck who sees me.”
“You should. We haven’t won yet.” His face hardens and I take the chance to reach over and grab his hand, squeezing until he looks back at me.
“You will, Wade. I have no doubt.”
He gives me a cheeky smile that quickly disappears at his sister’s groan.
“Get a fucking grip, Wade. She’s playing you! Haven’t you realized this whore will open her legs for anyone? You’re not special to her.”
Damn it. I almost have him hooked and she has to come in and ruin it. She’s been my friend too long and it’s given her the ability to read my bullshit, which she’s doing right now.
Her long nails scrape against the chair as she leans down in my face. “You don’t understand how hard it was to pretend to be your friend. For years I watched you whine about revenge just to bend over when he shows up at your door. You’re fucking pathetic, Evie.”
A chair scrapes against the floor and Vivianne goes flying away from me. “Don’t fucking speak to her that way.”
Viv laughs, her red hair swaying behind her as she shakes her head. “God, Wade. You can’t even realize it. You’re so deep in this fucking fantasy you’ve created to realize the truth!”
Wade’s body tenses, his hands curling into fists as he takes a step toward Vivianne. “Shut up!”
She doesn’t.
“You think you’re going to rule the world with her? She doesn’t fucking love you, Wade! She’s going to stab you in the back as soon as she gets the chance. I refuse to lose you, too!”
“Enough!” I place a hand on Wade’s, but he shakes me off, pointing a sharp finger at Viv. I let my arm fall to the table, inching my fingers closer to his pistol he had left lying beside his plate while I keep my eyes on the scene in front of me.
Vivianne notices my movement, her eyes going wide as she reaches into her purse.
As soon as Wade sees the gun pointed in my direction, he’s spinning around to the table and grabbing his own.
Gunshots echo off the warehouse walls as I snatch my hand back into my lap and watch as Vivianne’s body falls to the floor.
Blood immediately begins to pool around her body as wet gasps cause her chest to rise and fall at an uneven pace.
“Fuck!” Wade reaches up and grabs at his hair, pulling it as he walks toward his sister’s dying form.
Wetness seeps into my sleeve and I look down to see my beer has shattered, Vivianne’s bullet missing me by only a few inches.
“Fuck!” Wade repeats his earlier sentiment and tosses his gun to the ground.
I grab a larger piece of the broken glass, tucking it in my shirt sleeve just in time for Wade to turn around and look at me.
His eyes are wild as he approaches, hands clenching into fists as he comes to a stop in front of me. “Are you okay, Evie? Did she get you?”
I shake my head and motion to the spilled beer. “Almost, but I’m okay.” I stand, reaching up to cup his cheek. “Thanks to you, Wade.”
He melts under my touch, holding my hand to his face as he studies my eyes. “I have to take care of this but…I’ll come see you tonight?”
He’s asking for permission as if I have any other choice but to tell him yes, but I guess in his eyes, I do.
“I’ll be waiting.” I lean in and press a soft kiss to his lips that has him releasing a sigh.
“Uric!” He calls one of the guards over. “Take her to her room, please.”
Uric gives him a short nod and grabs my arm, luckily not the one hiding the glass, and leads me to my room.
I can’t help the smile that takes over my face as we walk away. One down, two to go.