She scowled at the scumbag. This wasn’t necessarily a bad section, but there was crime everywhere. It wasn’t late, but the alley was narrow and dark. While “Kev” was behind her, Gap-tooth was blocking her escape. Other than anyone who might be visiting the insurance agency beneath her apartment, there wasn’t much foot traffic going by.
“If you’ll excuse me,” she said impatiently.
Gravel crunched behind her and her lungs seized. Fuck.
“Looks about sixteen to me,” Kev said.
Gap-tooth’s gap was slowly displayed in a lascivious reptilian grin. “She sure does.”
His hand lifted and without thought, Scout reacted. Something tired and outraged snapped inside her. Her fist connected with his nose, and he folded like a cheap metal chair. Her knee slammed into his face, and he dropped like a sack of potatoes to the ground. Goddamn men!
The other man shouted and grabbed hold of her arms.
A scream high enough to curdle blood ripped from her lungs. “Don’t touch me! Fire! Fire!”
He shoved her against the brick wall, her hair catching on the rough, porous surface, and she shoved her knee into his crotch. He grunted and she nearly vomited when spit came out of his mouth. “You fucking cunt!”
His grip tightened and she clocked him right in the ear. He howled and grabbed his head, stepping back. She kicked him in the nuts as hard as she could, and he dropped to writhe beside his partner in crime.
“Hey! What’s going on?”
She turned and a man in a suit was blocking the exit of the alley. She’d kick his ass too!
Her chest heaved as she panted, adrenaline pumping wildly through her veins. Fists clenched in front of her chest, she pivoted, waiting for one of the men to rise. They both were on the ground moaning as she huffed and shook.
“I need a police officer at twenty-three South Knights Boulevard,” suit man said into some fancy cell phone.
Instinctively, at the mention of the cops, Scout’s gut urged her to run. Having grown up under the circumstances she had, the law didn’t usually take kindly to her type, but she’d done nothing wrong and she wasn’t that type anymore. She had papers and a home. She’d merely defended herself. It took everything she had not to run and hide.
She grabbed her bag off the ground and quickly left the alley.
“The cops are coming. You can’t leave.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong!” she snapped at Suit Man.
“You have no business being in this alley,” he snapped back, like an adult chastising a small child.
“I live here!”
He drew back. “Are you Evelyn?”
Finally, some clarity. She assumed his suit meant he worked in an office. Knowing her name meant he likely worked in the insurance office below her apartment. “Yes. I moved in yesterday. These two assholes were doing some business I inadvertently interrupted, and they wouldn’t let me leave.”
He paled. “Holy crap. Are you okay? Do you need to sit down? Ellen!”
A rotund woman in a purple suit came out the door to the office. “What? I’m on the phone, Elliot.”
He scowled at her. “This is Evelyn, the new tenant upstairs. She was just attacked. Take her inside and give her some water and a place to sit until the cops get here. I don’t want these two vagrants getting away.”
The woman’s mouth popped open like a trout. “Oh, dear! Come along, sweetie. Are you hurt? Do you need anything? Imagine, such a small girl like yourself being accosted. What’s happening to this world? I tell you . . .”
She continued to prattle on as she shuffled Scout into the small insurance office and shoved her into a seat. Scout gazed at the ceiling longingly. Home was so close. All she wanted to do was get there. From one of those blue coolers, the woman poured a glass of water and wrapped Scout’s fingers around the little plastic cup.
Lights flashed outside and she turned as a uniformed officer stepped out of his car. Through the glass, Scout could see Elliot talking to the policeman. Moments later the men were being pressed over the hood of the squad car and cuffed. Another police car arrived on the scene, no doubt after the officer discovered whatever was in the little baggie the gap-toothed man had been purchasing.
The insurance woman—Scout couldn’t remember her name—paced by the window, chattering like a small bird trapped in the large body of a woman. Scout had the distinct impression Elliot was her husband.
The door opened and the officer stepped in. He scanned the room, and when his gaze landed on her she drew back and shrunk in her chair. Cops had never been nice to her. Even as a child, she’d been taught not to trust them because, if caught, they had the power to take her from her mom.
“Evelyn?”
She nodded.
“I’m Officer Ludlow. How are you doing?” His voice and soft expression claimed sympathy, but Scout wasn’t falling for it.
She shrugged. “Okay.”
He grinned. He had very white teeth that were slightly crooked, but still made a nice smile. “You did quite a number on those guys out there. Did you take self-defense?”
Yes. The course was called Life and Basic Survival 101. Scout shook her head, and his expression sobered.
“I know you’re pretty shook up. I just need a statement from you, and then you can go.”
She didn’t like being put into this position. Authority made her nervous. She wanted Lucian, which was odd, being that he held more authority than anyone in Folsom. Or perhaps that was why.
“Hon, do you think you could tell me what happened?”
She wasn’t his honey, and the endearment did nothing to open her up. Her voice seemed lodged somewhere deep in the pit of her belly, and her trembling had morphed into a full-body tremor as her adrenaline ebbed.
Scout faced the woman in the office . . . Ellen, she thought. For some reason she was able to speak to the woman. Clearing her throat, she said, “Could you get someone on the phone for me?”
Ellen rushed to her desk. “Sure, sweetie.” Her chair creaked as she sat and her manicured fingers grasped the receiver. “What’s the number?”
“Um . . . I’m not sure. It’s . . .” He would be at work. Patras Industries. But her request wouldn’t budge past her lips.
You can do this! You do not need him!
Fear had her trembling. If she called him, he’d come. He’d handle everything and get her out of this mess as quickly as possible. Lucian would know exactly how to proceed. But she didn’t want to keep running to him whenever she needed help.
Eying the cop, she felt the same anxious tremors she’d always suffered when faced with an authority figure. You’re not a child anymore! They can’t take you away from your mom. She thought about Pearl, alone and afraid in rehab. She was doing her part, and this was Scout’s.
Swallowing back her request, she glanced at Ellen. “Never mind.”
“Are you sure, dear?”
No, but she nodded anyway. When the phone returned to the receiver, Scout faced the officer. “What do you need to know?”
“Why don’t you start with what you were doing in the alley?”
“I live upstairs.”
“There’s a small efficiency above our office,” Ellen confirmed. “The landlord notified us yesterday that Evelyn was the new tenant.”
The officer jotted down some notes in a little tablet and faced Scout again. Could you explain what happened from the time you arrived?”
She was fighting with everything she had not to fall apart. Her thoughts were jumbled and her hands wouldn’t quit shaking. Swallowing, she kept her focus on the man’s badge and explained what had taken place. She told him they’d been making a drug deal, how they tried to corner her, how they grabbed her, and how she just reacted.
“You did a fine job of defending yourself.”
She blink
ed at the admiration, but his praise meant nothing. What was she supposed to do? Let them attack her without fighting back?
Once he took down her information, he thanked her and left. She sat for a few moments just staring at the empty space where the squad car had been.
“Would you like me to walk you to your door, Evelyn?”
Reminded of her surroundings, she blinked up at the man in the suit. What was his name? “No, thank you. I should go.”
As she stood, her legs wobbled. She scooped up her belongings and thanked the insurance couple again. Her eyes combed every shadow as she made her way down the alley and quickly unlocked her door. Once she made it inside, she locked everything up tight.
Too stunned to cry, she climbed the stairs, stripped off her clothes and drew a bath. She did it, and she did it on her own.
***
Scout typically woke up a little after dawn, but the following morning she was up before the sun had a chance to rise. She jerked upright in bed and made a startled sound as something that sounded like a wrecking ball rattled her walls.
Scrambling out of bed, her foot caught on the cord of her lamp and knocked it onto the ground. “Shit!”
She righted the lamp and turned it on. Her feet turned in a circle as she tried to find her bearings. It was six in the morning. Shuffling to the kitchen, she grabbed a butter knife and her one-cup coffeepot. Not the best weapons, but they would do.
Marching down the dim steps of her apartment, she quietly waited, only to flinch when the banging started again. “Who is it?” she hissed.
“Evelyn?”
She frowned and lowered her weapons. “Lucian?”
“Open the door.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Open. The damn. Door.”
Sighing, she shifted the knife and coffeepot in her hands and unlocked the door. Pulling it open, she snapped, “Do you have any idea what time it is?”
He wasn’t dressed like he usually was outside of the penthouse. He wore dark jeans, a rumpled sweater, and his jaw was unshaven. Shoving his way through the door, she gasped as his arm shot out in front of her. “What the hell is this?”
She glanced at the papers twisted in his fist. “It’s a newspaper.”
His jaw ticked. “Explain to me, why—at five in the morning—I am reading your address and description in the criminal reports.”
Her mouth opened. “What? I told them I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“You were attacked?” She jumped at the sharpness in his voice. He didn’t give her time to reply. “Why the hell didn’t you call me?”
Her lips firmed. “It had nothing to do with you.”
“Your safety has everything to do with me!”
“Pfft! Please, Lucian—”
Her words cut off as he crowded her in the tiny entryway. “Do not act like your safety has not been my priority since we met. Jesus, Evelyn! What the fuck happened? Are you hurt?”
She blinked at him. He was really upset. “I . . . I handled it.” Her voice was smaller than she would have liked.
Lucian forked his fingers through his hair and dropped to the second step of her narrow staircase. His seemed totally distraught. “I want you to depend on me in times of trouble. Why won’t you?”
Because she couldn’t trust him to always be there. “I’m fine.” How had he found her? “Did they put my name in the paper?” That seemed a major violation of her privacy. She wished she could read the article.
“No. They put your description and the location of the attack and stated it happened only a few feet from your residence. Whoever runs the office downstairs must have made a statement to the media, because there’s an article on page six of the business section. I’ve already been to the police. Dugan handled the rest. No more interviews will be given regarding your personal life.”
Damn it!
He suddenly looked around the small entryway. “What is this place?”
“It’s my home.”
His brow kinked. “Since when?”
“A few days ago.”
Letting out an aggravated huff, his expression turned defeated. She didn’t like seeing him like that. He reached for her hand and she allowed the contact. His fingers ran over the crest of her knuckles. “Tell me what happened,” he said with gentle patience.
Scout drew in a deep breath and attempted to set him at ease. “I was heading home from work and as I turned into the alley, I accidentally walked up on two guys making a drug deal.”
His eyes narrowed. Under his breath he said, “We won’t touch the fact that I didn’t know where home was or work currently is. Go on.”
She swallowed. “They saw me and when I tried to turn and leave, they wouldn’t let me go.”
His hands tightened over hers. “Then what happened?” he asked through clenched teeth.
God, he was going to freak. “One guy blocked my way and I punched him in the nose. I put him on the ground, but the other guy grabbed me.”
“Motherfucker,” Lucian hissed.
“He only tried to . . . but I got him down too. Then Elliot showed up and called the cops.”
“Who the fuck is Elliot?”
“He runs the insurance office. We share the building.”
Lucian turned like a viper on her. “This man is a friend of yours?”
She rolled her eyes. “I was introduced to him yesterday, and you should be grateful. He called the cops.”
“He also gave away enough personal information that I could tell it was you in the paper!” His expression turned sympathetic. “You handled the cops on your own?”
He wasn’t asking because he thought her incapable, but more because he knew how much she feared officers of the law. Her smile was shaky, but proud as she nodded. “I did.”
“I would have come. All you had to do was call and I would have taken care of everything.”
Her gaze lowered to her bare feet. “I know. But this was something I needed to handle for myself. Don’t you see, Lucian? I need to start depending on me first. I can’t run to you every time life gets hard.”
“Why not?”
“Because we aren’t together anymore.”
His gaze held hers for a long minute. “But you let some stranger help you.”
“I didn’t ask for his help. I screamed and he showed up.”
“You screamed?” he rasped.
“I was scared,” she confessed quietly.
“Jesus, Evelyn,” he whispered. His lips thinned, as he appeared to battle the impulse to do something. She wasn’t sure if that something was kissing her or throttling her. Neither was welcome at the moment. She withdrew her fingers from his tight hold.
Nodding tightly, he stood. “You’re changing.”
Her head slowly shook. “No, Lucian, my circumstances are. This is who I’ve always been. You simply covered it up with fancy dresses and jewelry.”
“Don’t act like all we had was some superficial arrangement. You know it was more than that.”
“It was, but now it’s over. I have to do for me and I can’t do that worrying about you.”
“How do you shut it off, the worry?”
I don’t. She worried about him constantly; whether he was lonely, sad, taking care of himself. Although Lucian had the world at his fingertips, he only had a small circle of people he could really trust. “I just do.”
“I don’t know what hurts more,” he said. “Worrying about you or knowing you don’t worry about me.” He laughed without humor. “I’m supposed to be the hard one, Evelyn.”
“I was never soft.”
His onyx eyes drilled into hers. “You’re everything soft, everything gentle. No one said you couldn’t be strong too. Why do you assume I can’t see your strength?”
She stilled. She didn�
��t know why she thought that, but she did. Since they broke up, she created a list of faults in their relationship that didn’t necessarily mesh with what they shared. Anger toward Parker resurfaced as she contemplated all the negative thoughts he had put in her head. She didn’t know what to believe anymore, what was real and what was fabricated by her bruised ego.
“Do you see me as strong?”
His brows shot up. “You have as much, if not more, determination than me, Evelyn. It’s one of the things I love most about you, but you refuse to believe that. I don’t admire weak-willed people. Look at how far you’ve come . . . Sometimes I worry you’re so strong willed you’ll actually get to a point that you don’t need me. I need you to need me.”
And she needed independence. “Lucian . . .” What could she say? They were at an impasse. Aside from all their other issues, they were simply too broken to fix. She’d thought they were too different, but maybe the problem was they were too alike.
She fidgeted, as they both seemed to contemplate the stalemate situation they faced. Shifting her butter knife into her other hand, she held out the coffeepot, her only olive branch. “Would you like to come up? I can make coffee.”
Lucian eyed her skeptically, hope clear in his dark eyes. It would only be coffee. She couldn’t manage anything more.
Without taking his eyes off her, he withdrew his phone and pressed a button. After a second he said into the phone, “I’ll call you when I need a ride.”
Chapter 6
The Chipped Teacup
Scout anxiously glanced back at Lucian as she took the stairs slowly. His expression was blank, but his eyes moved, observing their surroundings as though he were cataloguing every aspect. As her feet reached the landing, she smiled nervously at him.
Once he reached the top she nearly giggled out loud at how ridiculous he looked in her tiny home. He hunched under the low ceiling and scanned the area, turning his frown on her.
“Evelyn—”
Rather than stand through a lecture, she went to her little coffeemaker, which she was proud to own. He was not going to come in here and shame her with comparisons of his life and hers. Her home was just fine! “I’ll make coffee.”
Coming Home Page 7