I nod in understanding, feeling guilty that I haven’t made it a priority to donate my time like this more often. It really makes a difference to these sweet, old people. My eyes sweep the room appreciatively. When my gaze lands on Raphael, my heart skips a beat.
He’s sitting at the back of the class, huddled with a few of the men. He’s deep in concentration as he attempts to secure a clasp at the end of a string of beads. He’s approaching the task at hand like it’s the most important task he’s had to carry out in a long time. One of the men, Edward, gives instructions for how to proceed and Raph struggles to keep up with the man’s very high expectations. They’re adorable, all of them. I feel my lips curve up at the corners.
I ask Faith to excuse me and make my way over to see what they’re up to. “Hey fellas,” I say easily as I stroll up to them.
Edward eyes me sharply and shushes me, bringing his wrinkly fingers to his lips. “Quiet,” he says sternly.
“Not trying to draw anyone’s attention over this way,” Raphael tells me, barely glancing at me for a second.
“Sorry,” I whisper, throwing my hands up defensively as I mosey away, chuckling under my breath at how committed they are to this project.
I heard through the grapevine that Edward and Nancy have been dating for a few months. (Yes, these old folks love to gossip.) With his fiery attitude and her snarky disposition, they must have a very exciting relationship.
I go around the room, checking on my other students. My stride slows at the table where Mini sits with her friends, Nancy and Delores. They’re talking and laughing and have absolutely no filter.
“Here you go, dear,” Nancy says handing Mini the messy turquoise beaded necklace she just finished putting together. “An early birthday present.” She winks at her friend.
Mini looks at the thing, trying to hide her horror. “Um, thank you,” she says, attempting to be polite. Nancy doesn’t seem to notice all the effort her friend is using in her attempt to not hurt her feelings.
Nancy takes another one of her unappealing creations and stretches it out to her other friend, but Delores quickly holds up a hand to stop her. “Honey, the only kind of beads I’m interested in for my birthday are anal beads so thanks but no thanks.”
My jaw nearly hits the floor but Mini and Nancy just harrumph and wave her off. “We’re used to her,” Mini tells me over her shoulder.
“Okay,” I say quietly as I slowly, slowly remove myself from their conversation before I hear something else that I can never un-hear.
I get busy packing up the loose supplies hanging out around the room as I wait for everyone to finish up their projects. Moments later, I see Edward approaching out of the corner of my eye, his cane cracking loudly against the floor. He gets to the front of the room and clears his throat.
“If I could have everyone’s attention please,” he says in a voice that’s shaky, not only from age, but from nerves, too. All eyes travel to him. When he’s satisfied that he has the floor, he begins, “I want to present this necklace to my love, Nancy Chester,” he announces as he holds up the string of colourful beads, his gaze riveted to his girlfriend.
Nancy beams, her brown cheeks swelling with a bashful smile. “Oh Eddie,” she says coyly. “You’re so romantic.” Her friends cheer her on as she stands from her seat and wobbles over to where he’s standing.
The two of them fiddle around, arguing and laughing, as they struggle to clasp the necklace into place. They are so damn adorable.
Everyone claps and hoots but Edward isn’t done yet. He shoves a hand into his pocket and produces a pretty little diamond ring. Nancy’s smile drops as surprise rises to her eyes. She clutches her chest and I take a step forward, ready to catch her just in case she’s a fainter.
Edward grips the edge of the table with both hands and attempts to lower himself to one knee.
Nancy waves her arms frantically. “Oh, don’t you dare,” she scolds him with a trembling voice. “Stand up. I won’t let you ruin my fairy tale proposal by throwing out your hip again.” The whole room erupts into laughter as Edward limps back into standing position.
He takes her hands and looks her deep in the eyes. “Nancy Chester, you’re the light of my life. The past few months that you’ve been my girlfriend have been amazing. I swear, you added at least seven and a half extra weeks to my lifespan.” Soft tittering spreads throughout the room. “I want to spend them with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So, will you marry me?”
She brushes tears away from her face. “Yes!” she says confidently. “Yes, I will!”
Another round of ruckus applause spreads through the room as Edward and Nancy share a modest kiss before he slips the ring onto her finger. And now, I’m crying, so happy to be a part of this special moment.
Raph is at the back of the room, leaning against the windowsill, observing it all. He’s got a grin splashed across his perfect face. His head pivots to me and he winks. He looks amused. Highly entertained. But he also looks pleased. It’s a facial expression I could bask in all day. He’s proud of me.
We’ve come a long way. When this all started, I was an annoying thorn in his side. Taking care of me was an obligation he felt. It was born out of his sense of loyalty to my father. He felt it was his duty to get me home uncorrupted and in one piece. Now, he wants to corrupt me all night and hold me while the sun is rising and spend every minute of the day watching me and touching me.
Does he love me?
The thought makes my heart beat a little faster. ‘Cause I’m head over fucking heels for him.
Chapter 30
Raphael
Eva is fast asleep, moonlight pouring into the window and making her look ethereal. I’m sitting in a chair across from the bed, staring out into the darkness. I can’t sleep. There’s too much going on in my head.
The events at the community center this evening really got to me. I don’t know why. It wasn’t just seeing those little old ladies fall in love with their hand-crafted jewelry. It wasn’t just falling captive to the gorgeous smile on Eva's face as she helped them. It was something within me, too. Some hidden part of me came alive while I was there and as much as I'd like to push it down, I can't.
When I saw that old man propose to his girlfriend, it reignited something in me. I guess that I've unconsciously been walking around with the belief that my chance had past. I'd had my turn at love and I'd fucked it up by choosing the wrong woman. So I'd thrown myself into work, allowing myself the occasional illicit encounter while holding firm to the belief that I didn't need anything more. But seeing that senior couple madly in love with each other renewed that pesky thought that maybe I could have something real this time. With Eva.
Jeez. My head is all fucked up. I need to get my shit together.
Here, I am hiding out in this middle of nowhere town, screwing my best friend's daughter behind his back, not giving a shit about my business back in New York.
Evangeline Brooks, you've really worked your magic on me. I'm so far removed from reality and the scary part is that I don't care. As long as I can hide out in this little cocoon we've built, I don't care if the rest of the world is burning down around us.
I shake my head. I need a distraction. Getting up quietly, I grab my phone. Dodging around the half-packed boxes littered all around Eva’s condo, I make my way into the kitchen. The surly cat throws me a hateful stare as I walk by, but turns away without incident. Did he just roll his eyes at me? I shake my head and laugh under my breath as I make myself a quick sandwich. Grabbing a bottle of sparkling water and a chair, I sit at the table and dial Humphries's number.
He answers after an eternity. "Hey Boss," he says, sounding groggy.
Stretching out my legs under the table, I uncap the water bottle. "You in the middle of anything?" I ask.
Humphries chuckles shortly. "Uh, sleep."
I glance over at the time on the stove. Shit. It's 2 in the morning over here, which makes it 3:00 a.m. in New York.
"Didn't think that you need sleep," I say dryly, then take a bite of my sandwich. "I think I just lost all respect for you."
He chuffs. "Staying this pretty requires beauty sleep. In between dominating the boardroom all day and dominating these babes all night, I take catnaps where I can get 'em."
I hear a deep, groggy male voice in the background. "Chuck, shut the fuck up. I have work in the morning so either get off the phone and come back to bed or go into the other room. And get your hairy ass off of my white chaise de chambre."
I furrow a brow and laugh low on my breath as Humphries clamps his hand over the mouthpiece. I hear muffled voices arguing in the background.
A few moments later, he returns, speaking much lower and less arrogantly now. "Sorry, boss. Met this Amazon chick at a bar tonight,” he justifies quickly, “She has a sore throat. Makes her voice all weird and deep."
"No need to explain," I mutter. My employees’ sexual preferences don't bother me as long as it doesn't affect their work.
"Anyway, I assume that you're calling for an update on the business?" he says, eager to change the subject.
"Uh, sure." I'm not calling you at this hour to pour my heart out like a little bitch…I swear I'm not.
"Well, everything's on track. The KromeTech money is finally out of escrow. And I had a meeting with the bankruptcy trustee in the Jerjavec file and he assured me that our assets would be returned in full,” he says expertly. “Plus, I finally convinced that hippie dude in HR to start wearing deodorant. So, I'd say that everything is going well."
I whistle under my breath. "You convinced that guy to wear deodorant? I'm giving you a raise when I get back." He deserves it. I estimate that our air freshener costs will decrease by at least 15% because of this.
"Just doing my job, Boss," he says proudly. There’s a short lull. “I know we shouldn’t talk about this but I’m just dying to know – how are things working out with your little sex slave? Are you getting a good return on investment, if you know what I mean?”
Man – if I was standing next to him, I’d punch him straight in the throat right now.
I growl into the receiver. “I should fire you right this minute but I think I’m going to need to break your nose first.” Nobody talks about Eva that way. Nobody.
“Sorry,” he spits out quickly, “didn’t mean to be disrespectful. Just wanted to know how things are going.”
“Well, things are going well,” I bark defensively. I didn’t call to have this guy piss me off at this hour of the night.
There’s a loaded silence that stretches out way too long.
“Just make sure to cover yourself, legally,” he advises. “If this gets out in the press, you’re done. In every sense of the word.”
I shove my fingers roughly through my hair as I contemplate all the ways my life will combust if this thing goes public. “I’ve got Daniel Trotten on it. You told me he’s the best lawyer for the job. He quietly got a restraining order against the bastard and he set me up with a private investigator who’s devoting all of his attention to monitoring the asshole in question to make sure he doesn’t get anywhere near the girl.”
“Well, that’s all you can do at this point, I guess,” Humphries says with a heavy exhale. Then, his tone changes ever-so-slightly. “That girl really means something to you, doesn’t she?”
“Why would you say that?” I haven’t told Humphries much about Eva. All he knows is that I haven’t let her out of my sight since the auction.
He laughs solemnly. “You’ve been away for nearly three weeks now. You rarely call to check in on the business. It’s practically impossible to reach you via email and I don’t even bother to call anymore because it always goes to voicemail. This so isn’t like you. You never put anything over work. Even the swine flu of 2009 couldn’t keep you away from the office for more than 72 hours. You were slugging it through the halls with your zombie complexion and your hollow eyes, not giving a damn that half the office would dash under their desks for cover every time it looked like you were about to sneeze!”
“Shut the fuck up!” I grunt with a laugh because I know he’s right. He laughs, too.
“What I’m saying is that it’s good to know that you’re alive again after the ‘recession’ you’ve been going through over the past few years.”
“Recession?” I laugh. “Is that a euphemism for ‘sex drought’?”
He laughs, too. “Just speaking your language, sir. It’s hard finding someone to love in this big, cold world. Consider yourself lucky.”
That thick male voice purrs in the background again. “Baby, the bed is getting cold.”
Humphries doesn’t cover the speaker this time. In fact, I almost hear a smile in his voice when he says, “I’ll be right there, babe.” His attention returns to me. “I’m just glad to see that you’ve found someone special. Because that changes everything. And you deserve it, Mr. Silver.”
I deserve it? Do I really deserve Evangeline Brooks?
For a fraction of a second, I give myself permission to imagine what it would be like to take our relationship out in the open, to have her parents happy for us, accepting of us. The thought brings a wide smile to my face.
We'd be good together, she and I. In the long haul. I'm starting to realize that her love is worth more than anything I'd lose by announcing our relationship to the world.
“Good night, Humphries.”
“Good night, Mr. Silver.”
The phone goes dead.
Chapter 31
Evangeline
The place has a smoky, jazzy feel to it with its subdued lighting and its heavy wooden furniture. The red vinyl booths are high, offering lots of privacy, and the brick walls create a veritable fortress around us.
There's no way to deny it – we're hiding out.
I swept my hair up into a classy chignon and swiped on a layer of deep red lipstick tonight. Raphael put on dress pants and a suit coat over his pale gray button-up. We got into his rented sports car and drove twenty miles northwest of Reyfield to Copper Heights, a quaint little town where no one ever goes. This tiny old Italian restaurant is called Gallo’s. It’s family-owned. A hole in the wall.
Despite all that, I feel a nervous twinge in my stomach anytime someone stares at me too hard and I see the way Raphael's eyes dart around each time the front door opens. We're both on edge, guilty as fuck about betraying my parents' trust but too caught up in this web of lust to stop.
The waitress comes by and takes our order. She’s a chatty brunette a little older than I am with almond-shaped eyes and perky breasts. Her nametag reads “Sophia”. With a wide grin, she jots everything down then leaves with the menus.
Raph pulls in a deep breath and reaches across the table, taking my hand in his. He gives me a tender smile. "Date night..."
I smile back, feeling a little flutter in my heart. "Date night..." I tuck my lips in as sadness fills my chest. Raph picks up on it immediately.
"Something's bothering you, Kitten. What is it?"
I don't want to be the whiny, clingy chick who finds a way to ruin a perfectly romantic evening with my complaints so make a banal comment about the music being too loud. He doesn't buy it. I'm a fool for thinking he would in the first place. He's so wise. He reads me so well.
Maybe it's just a trait of being old-as-fuck. Or maybe the man knows me. He gets me.
His fingers skim my chin, tilting my face up so that I’m looking at him. “Talk to me, Eva. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Sighing heavily, I push my hair away from my face. “I just wish that things were different…”
“Different how?” he presses calmly.
I shake my head. “Don’t get me wrong. What we have is good. The sex is good. Great! And being around you – I love being around you.” I cringe as I say this, “I just…I wish we didn’t have to hide…”
I hold my breath, waiting for him to respond. Waiting for him to scold me, to remind me that we’ve talked about this already,
that we agreed that it’s best for all involved if we keep this away from my parents. Instead, his eyes soften. He laces his fingers through mine again. “I’ve been thinking – maybe we should tell your parents about us.” My head spins at his words. He leans across the table, his gray eyes pinning me in place. “Eva, the way I feel about you – it’s real and it’s not going away.”
Oh my…Oh…This is getting serious…This is everything I wanted. And now that he’s set it out on the table right in front of me, I’m so giddy, so afraid, so excited.
My voice comes out as a squeak. “You’re ready to talk to my parents?”
He chuckles at my reaction. It’s a deep, warm laugh that rolls over me like a balm, soothing my niggling insecurities. “Well, maybe not right this minute. But in a few days. Sooner is better than later. So that we have control of it, so that they don’t find out the wrong way…So that we can be out in the open.”
Dirty Silver (The Dirty Suburbs Book 7) Page 15