“What do you want?” He couldn’t keep his eyes from traveling the length of her body, lingering on her cleavage and bare legs.
“To kill you,” she answered with fierce quietness. It wasn’t what she had planned to say, until she saw the look in his eyes.
He took a step towards her, then froze when his daughter came in the room.
“Papa, shall I bring you tea?”
“No. Thank you, fille. Papa needs to speak with this – this lady, alone.” He pushed his daughter to the door. “Go play. Stay out of trouble.”
“Cute kid,” Eve commented when he closed the door again. “She looks like she loves you.”
“Leave her out of this.” He took a step towards her again. “Tell me what you’re really doing here,” he demanded. “I don’t like jokes.”
“I’ve come to kill you,” Eve repeated. “But, first, I want to find out how your daughter is going to react knowing what kind of monster you really are.”
“That will never happen.”
“Are you sure, Laurence? Are you certain that there is no evidence of what you did to me?”
“What are you talking about?” he demanded and she recognized that look in his eyes, knew what he was capable of, remembered what had already been done.
“You’ll never hurt me again,” she hissed through her teeth as her hand snaked out and grabbed him, squeezing tightly where she held him.
His crotch throbbed painfully, and trying to pull away only made it worse. “Let go,” he whispered, and started to sweat.
“Why? Does it hurt? Would it hurt more if I did this?” Eve twisted her wrist, and smiled when Laurence cried out in pain, his knees buckling. “What would your men think of you now, seeing a woman bring you to your knees?”
“I’ll kill you for this,” he spat out the words.
“No you won’t. For your daughter’s sake, you’re going to do as I say. I have people outside just waiting to come in here to kill you, so make your choice. Do what I tell you to do or I make your life hell.”
“What do you want?” It was clear that the pain had become unbearable. “I’ll do anything.”
“Anything? Then walk with me over to the desk. That’s right. Now, I’ve learned that you have four original paintings by Van Gogh. I want them.”
“Like hell...” He stopped when she took a gun out of her pocket. Letting go of her grip, she aimed it steadily at him. “Fine, okay.”
“I’m not done. You also have two original Monet’s. I don’t know how or where you got them, but I want them, too.”
“Do you have any idea what those are worth?” he demanded.
“Oh yes. I do.” She unfolded the legal document that would transfer ownership of each of the paintings to her, then pushed it towards him. “Sign it.”
“Put the gun away.”
“Sign it. The faster you sign, the faster I get out of here, you son of a bitch!”
He grabbed the pen and scribbled his name on the line.
“There. I’ve signed it, now get out!”
“Good,” she said. “These almost make up for what you did. But, not quite.”
“What else do you want?”
“Your dick on a platter,” she said simply, and he looked at her sharply. “Don’t worry; I won’t put the order out just yet. You’re still of some use to me.”
Laurence sat in the chair and held his throbbing crotch in his hand. “What do you mean?”
“Those men you had with you...”
“They’re not on my payroll,” he protested. “They were just men your father owed. I had nothing to do with that.”
“That’s not what Tony says,” she lied. “He said you masterminded the whole thing, he said you were the sick son of a bitch that liked to fuck little girls, and watch them get fucked.”
“Merde! Ce bâtard menteur! I’ll kill him.”
Eve smiled with satisfaction. “You sound upset, Laurence.”
“You come to my home, stealing from me by forcing me to sign away the most valuable things I own, all because your cunt of a father lied to you. Of course I’m upset.”
“I didn’t steal anything, Laurence,” Eve said. “You gave it to me. Now you’re telling my dear old dad lied to me? The anguish.”
“I don’t find your sense of humor amusing,” he told her. “Millions of dollars is what you’ve taken from me. This time, your father is going to pay me back.”
“No. My father will deal with me. What I want is for you to take care of these people he has in his employ.” Taking a folded envelope out of her pocket, Eve laid it on the table and walked to the door.
“What makes you think I’ll do this for you?”
“Because if you don’t, I will destroy you,” she promised him. “There’s a little surprise in that envelope for you, Laurence. A little souvenir. A few photographs to remind you of the animal you really are. Enjoy.”
Lainey stood at the kitchen door, watching Jack drink his coffee and read the paper. It was a morning routine that she had witnessed every day for twelve years, and over the years it was a habit that had gone from endearing to monotonous. Nothing ever changed, and for her, the monotony was how her life had ceased to move forward.
Going back to work had been an attempt to help her find the woman she had forgotten so she could be that woman again for Jack. She had expected to be happier as a result of taking the job in Eve’s gallery, had expected to become a better mother to her sons because of it. And for awhile that had happened. When she had met Eve, her whole life had changed.
But now, Lainey had more questions about herself than before. Was she still in love with the man she was watching now, or had she fallen in love with a woman she had not even known a month ago? Were her feelings for Eve true, or had they been aroused by the novelty and excitement of having something different in her life? They were true, Lainey told herself now. But how much was she willing to sacrifice because of them?
“Jack?”
“There’s fresh coffee,” he said without looking at her.
Lainey sighed and pulled out a chair to sit across from him. “Are we going to talk about this?” she asked.
When he had left her that night Eve had called, he hadn’t returned, opting instead to sleep in the guest room. When he had returned to their bed the past couple of nights, he slept with his back to her.
“No. I’d rather not hear how more important Eve is to you than me over breakfast.”
“She’s not more important to me, Jack. You won’t even let me explain.”
Jack folded his paper and laid it on the table. “Explain what, Lainey? That our marriage, our love making, wasn’t enough to keep you from answering her phone call?”
“That’s not true! I’m sorry that you feel that way, but you don’t know what she’s going through. This is a very difficult time for Eve.”
“Yes, let’s hear about Eve’s ‘difficult time’. What’s wrong with the poor, beautiful, rich girl? Too much money weighing her down? Is her boyfriend not good-looking enough? Has she run out of things to buy for you?”
“Stop it! You know nothing about her, and you have no right to judge her! Eve has given me opportunities no one else would have. She has treated you and our sons with nothing but kindness and respect.” Lainey hesitated. Once upon a time, she had told Jack everything, but she couldn’t do that now. Now, she had to decide how far her explanation should go.
“There are things that have happened to her, things that are happening now that no one should have to go through, Jack,” she said, choosing her words carefully. “Especially alone. And, she’s completely alone.”
“She’s not completely alone, she has – what’s his name? Adam? That’s why I don’t understand why you have to be so involved with this.”
“She’s my friend, Jack. I can’t just turn my back on her. Besides, she and Adam are - well, they’re not together right now.”
“That’s too bad; I think he really liked her,” he said thoughtf
ully. And then he shrugged. “Maybe she should talk to one of her other boyfriend’s. Women like that usually have more than one lover. Or perhaps she could buy another one.”
“Jack! That’s enough. If you want to be mad at me for the other night, or for any of this shit we’re going through, then fine, I deserve it. But, leave Eve out of it. This is not her fault. She’s not the reason we’re having problems.”
“Who is the reason, Lainey?”
Lainey looked him in the eye. “We are. Both of us. We are going to have to talk about what’s happened between us, and what we’re going to do to fix it.”
“I thought we were fixing it the other night and the night before that.”
“You think this is only about sex? Jesus, Jack, it’s about this!” She picked up the paper and threw it across the room. “It’s about every day being the same. It’s about us not talking anymore. We don’t have a relationship or companionship anymore. You wake up each morning, read your paper and drink your coffee for exactly twenty minutes, and then you go to work. When you come home, you sit down and watch TV, you eat, play with the boys and then you go to bed and fall asleep. We hardly make love. Did you know that more than two months went by without you touching me at all? When I made the first move, you were annoyed with me. You barely say two words to me throughout the course of an entire day. You’ve stopped asking me how my day was. I thought it was because every day was the same with me and you were just as uninterested as I was. But, then I got this wonderful and exciting job, and you still never ask me how my day was. When did this happen, Jack? When did things become so familiar that we don’t even notice each other anymore?”
“I didn’t realize that being familiar with your spouse was a bad thing,” Jack said quietly. “I also didn’t realize that I was the one to blame for all of this.” He looked at his watch and stood up. “I have to go. It’s been more than twenty minutes.”
“Jack.”
She swore under her breath when he didn’t stop, and laid her head down on her folded arms. Nothing was going right. Eve wasn’t returning her calls, Jack was pissed off at her. Lainey felt like her life was spiraling out of control and there was nothing she could do to stop it. With a sigh, she pushed away from the table.
She had to get up and do something, because dwelling on things was not helping her. Even though it was her day off, Lainey picked up the phone and dialed the gallery to check in on Mikey.
“Sumptor Gallery, this is Mikey.”
“Hi, Mikey, it’s Lainey. How are things going over there?”
“Mrs. Stanton! Things are great. A little busy. You won’t believe the new paintings Ms. Sumptor brought in!”
Her smile faded. “Eve is there?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry, I assumed you knew.”
“I-I guess I got the days mixed up. I thought she was due back tomorrow.” Ordinarily Eve would have let her know. Why hadn’t she called? She let out a laugh, hoping it didn’t sound as strained to Mikey as it did to her.
“I understand, I was surprised to see her this morning, too. Would you like to speak with her?”
Just the request had her pulse jumping. “Yes, please.”
“Okay, hold on a minute and I’ll let her know you’re on the phone.”
Lainey’s heart pounded in her chest. For the past couple of days she has been trying to get Eve to talk to her and now she didn’t know what she was going to say. Her anxiety was about to boil over when she heard the line click.
“Mrs. Stanton?”
Lainey held in her sigh when she heard Mikey’s voice.
“Yes, Mikey?”
“Ms. Sumptor is busy with a client at the moment and can’t come to the phone. Do you want me to give her a message?”
Lainey struggled with the tears that threatened to fall. She knew how good Eve was at the avoiding game. “No, no message. Thanks.” She hung up the phone quickly before her voice betrayed the pain she felt inside. “Damn it, Eve, I’m not going to let you do this.”
Determined to speak to Eve, Lainey left for the gallery. Eve couldn’t avoid her if they were face to face. She was going to listen to her whether she liked it or not.
“People are dropping like flies here, Eve. This morning, two FBI agents were found murdered. With their bodies, were confessions and evidence that they worked for your father. Five other men in Paris were found murdered in their homes. They were all tied to your father. He owed them all gambling debts in excess of three million dollars.”
Eve registered the words and said nothing.
“It has been reported that you were in Paris recently,” Billy continued. “Is this true?”
“Yes,” she answered without hesitation.
“Damn it, Eve! Why didn’t you tell me you were going there?”
“I don’t report to anyone.”
“Eve, you are being investigated for a murder and a disappearance. You go to Paris and suddenly five people are dead.”
“Do you think I killed them, Billy?”
“No, of course not, but that’s not the point, Eve. How is it going to look for you when the detectives that are investigating you find out you were there?”
“Was I the first one you thought of when you heard of these deaths?”
“No. I thought of Tony, but...”
“Exactly,” Eve interjected. “I may be on the list, but it sounds to me like Tony is cleaning house. Have you seen his financial statements lately? He’s running out of money, Billy. Which means he can’t pay for their silence anymore - or his debts. They know too much, what better way to keep them quiet?”
“We have to have proof of that.”
“That’s not my burden, Agent Donovan. If Tony is behind this, it’s the FBI’s job to find the proof. After all, two of your agents were killed. Word of advice, though. Tony never does his own killing. He’ll want to keep his hands clean, so there will be someone else doing the dirty work for him.”
“I’ve already taken that into consideration, but I need names and a reason to investigate them.”
“You’ll get what you need.”
“Eve, you can’t get any more involved with this. Take a vacation. Get as far away from Tony and this mess as you can.”
“I’m not running, Billy. I ran before and where did it get me? I’ve been running for thirteen years. It’s time to face my father, and put an end to this game he’s playing with my life.”
“Eve!”
“Stop. Nothing you say can change my mind about this. I called you in to help me. Can you do that?”
She heard him sigh and knew that he must be frustrated. When would he and all the others learn that she could take care of herself?
“Fine, yes, I can do that,” he told her in a resigned voice. “You’ll be happy to know that I’ve cleaned out your file. No trace of the falsified records exists now. To ensure it doesn’t happen again, we’ve set up a trap of sorts. If anyone tries to access your file, we’ll know about it, and act accordingly.”
Eve closed her eyes with relief. Not many things had worried her in life but that file had been one of the things that had.
“What have you found on Detective Carter?”
“Not much, at least nothing incriminating. A couple of reprimands for excessive force during arrests, but that’s all. It tells me he has a hot temper, but it doesn’t mean he’s a murderer. I’ll dig deeper, but that means going through channels. It’s going to take me a while.”
“Do what you have to do,” Eve said and hung up the phone. “And, I’ll do what I have to do.”
She pressed the power button on her monitor. With a click of the mouse, Detective Carter’s most private information flashed on the screen.
“Someone has been a bad, bad boy, Maurice,” she mused as she scrolled down the page. “I’m going to enjoy bringing you down.”
Eve studied every bit of data on Carter’s records until she knew them by heart. Getting the information illegally would make it hard for her to go pu
blic with it, but going public wasn’t her concern. She would use everything she had learned to give Carter just enough rope to hang himself.
When she heard the knock on her office door, Eve knew it would be Lainey. When Mikey had told her that Lainey was on the phone, she had known that a meeting would be inevitable. But, God, she wasn’t sure she could face her right now. She had listened to the messages Lainey had left over and over again, just to hear her voice, but she had never called her back. It was weak, she knew, but that’s how Lainey made her feel. Weak. And strong. Loved. Vulnerable. Excited. She felt so much when Lainey was around that it confused her. Never knowing how she was going to feel at any given moment, scared her. Eve closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. It wouldn’t do to let Lainey see just how much her being there affected Eve.
“Come in,” Eve called out and switched off her monitor, hiding Detective Carter’s records from view.
The silence was deafening, even to Eve, and the room seemed to be closing around her, but she couldn’t speak until she was sure her voice wouldn’t betray her.
“Mikey showed me the new paintings.” Lainey was the first to speak, no longer able to endure the silence. “They’re beautiful.” And extremely expensive, she thought silently.
“Mmm hmm.”
Lainey shook her head at Eve’s bent head. “Where did you get them?”
“They were a gift,” Eve said simply.
“A gift? Those are multi-million dollar paintings, Eve. Who would just give them to you?”
“They were payment for services rendered long ago.” Eve answered, still not looking at Lainey although she didn’t know what she was even writing anymore.
Lainey frowned. She didn’t like the sound of Eve’s explanation. “What services? Who gave them to you?” She waited for Eve’s answer, but Eve just sat there, silently working, never looking up from the papers in front of her. “How long are you going to ignore me?” she demanded finally.
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