Instantaneously I felt an impact on my chest and my vision went blurry. The last thing I remembered was Eva's scent before everything went dark.
33
Eva
"Eva. Eva!" a voice yelled. Cold water hit my face and I opened my eyes.
Ned stood before me holding an empty cup. "Oh my God, Eva, you're alive!" he hugged me.
"A little help?" My eyes darted to my hands, still tied behind my back..
"Oh, sorry, I didn't even see that."
The three dead bodies of Marco's assassins laid in various parts of the room, bloody. Ned untied me, and I tried to stand up.
I refocused my eyes to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. It really was him.
"Ned? How did you get here? What the hell happened?" I tried to focus my eyes on Ned but I couldn’t. Woozy, I sat back down.
"This little guy came in handy," Ned said, tossing the solved rubik's cube up in the air. "We had been listening to Marco for two whole weeks. We waited until just the right moment—when Marco finally confessed to you that there was no Luis Reyes, and then we moved in."
"Just the right moment? What the hell is the matter with you? Our lives were in danger! Where is Corbin?! Is he dead?" My heart beat fast, but I still couldn’t stand.
Ned looked down. "Corbin’s not with us.”
"Not with us? What the hell does that mean?" Tears streamed down my cheeks.
Ned pursed his lips like a priest searching for the right words. Extending an arm, he put a hand on my shoulder. "Corbin took several bullets to his body. It doesn't look like he'll make it."
"Is he going to be okay?”
Ned said nothing and turned away from me.
Of course it would happen like this. The moment I decided that I loved a man, he was taken from me. The past couple of weeks in the Reyes mansion flashed through my mind like a cheesy movie montage of cuddling, screwing, and witty banter. The tears came harder at the thought of never seeing Corbin again.
"Here's some water," Ned said, handing me a bottle. "You're probably dehydrated." He rubbed my back.
I took a drink, put my head in my hands and let out a parade of tears.
"Thank God Corbin was just a criminal," Ned says. "I'd hate to have to report an agent death to headquarters."
I swallowed hard, and my tears turned to anger. "Excuse me?"
Ned paced slowly around the room. "Corbin was a criminal. He was a bad person. And you know what else? Seeing you in danger has really made me think. About us."
I actually spewed out the water that I was drinking. I stood up, fury replacing my lightheadedness. "About us? You've got to be fucking kidding me right now."
Ned scrunched his brow at the F-bomb I dropped. He thought I was a damn angel. "Kidding you? No, Eva, I really neglected you, and driving you to...you know. Knowing that you were so close to danger really made me think—"
“Don’t think,” I actually slapped Ned hard on his cheek. "Where is Corbin? Take me to him. Now.”
Ned held his cheek in utter shock.
"He's in a helicopter, about to be evacuated." Ned pointed out the door.
"Where are you going?" Ned shouted as I grazed him on the way out of the room.
"I'm going to find Corbin. I'm fucking in love with him. And you, sir, are an asshole."
Ned's jaw hung open. He was used to nice Eva. Never raise her voice Eva. Well, nice Eva is gone. I felt more Alexa than Eva, and Alexa knew how to be firm, forward, and—when necessary—downright bitchy if I didn’t get what I wanted.
In the distance, I heard a helicopter. I didn't walk. I ran. I sprinted. I took off my heels and threw them away. My dress was dirty with sweat and blood stains and I couldn’t care less.
I saw swaths of DEA and FBI agents and more helicopters throughout the Reyes property. Marco's assassins and guards were held in handcuffs on the ground. There was no sign of Marco. That mustached motherfucker probably got away. Whatever.
"Where is Corbin?" I screamed at one of the guards. He pointed toward a helicopter with its blades already spinning, about to take off. Arriving before it could lift off, I pounded on the door until the medic inside opened it. Corbin was lying on a cot with his arms on his side, as pale as a corpse. It was loud as hell from the helicopter spinning its blade so I grabbed one of the microphone headsets to speak into.
"Is Corbin okay?" I asked.
"He suffered four shots, one to the stomach and three to the back and shoulder. I don't think he's going to make it. And sorry, lady, you can’t be in here.”
Giving the medic a nasty look for calling me ‘lady,’ I put a headset over Corbin's ears and spoke into the helicopter’s microphone. "Corbin, baby. I love you. I fucking love you. I don't know what this was the last two weeks. I have no idea how this happened. But I love you and you're going to stay alive. You hear me?”
Corbin's eyes opened just a smidge. I leaned down and kissed him on the lips. Another tear rolled down my cheek.
"Thanks...Alexa," he says slowly. I swore I saw him crack the tiniest smile.
Even when he was on the brink of death he screwed with me. Sonofabitch.
"Who’s Alexa? I thought you were Eva Napleton? Are you authorized to be here?" one of the helicopter techs said to me.
I shook my head. "Long story."
"Listen," the tech went on. "This is really touching and all, but we've got to fly to San Diego right freaking now to get him to a hospital. And we need to fly as light as possible."
"I'm not leaving him," I said
The two of them looked at each other. "Alright, fuck it," the pilot said. “Prepare for takeoff.”
We lifted off the ground, and I saw the landscape surrounding Marco's beautiful mansion disappear in the distance behind us.
I took Corbin's hand in my own and said a silent prayer.
34
Eva
“I’m sorry ma’am, you won’t be able to see Mr. Young. It’s family only.” A nurse stood in front of me with a clipboard and a drowsy face. It looked like she’d been working all night.
“It’s fine, I’m his partner,” I argued.
She narrowed her eyes and spoke in an unempathetic tone. “Are you married?”
“Not exactly,” I said. “We’re undercover agent partners. Now please, let me through.”
“Really? You’re an undercover agent?” She scoffed, giving me an up-and-down. I could see where she was coming from. My red dress was smudged with sweat—and even some blood.
How could I explain what was going on to this woman in words that she would understand?
Someone said something to her on the walkie-talkie on her hip, and she turned her head. “You need me where? Okay.”
She put her hand on my arm. “Please excuse me, Miss. Your partner should be in surgery for another five hours. I suggest you get some rest and clean yourself up. Need to be clean in front of the patients, you know.”
With that, she turned and walked through the automatic double doors into the rest of the hospital. The doors closed abruptly in my face.
Frustrated, I walked over to the seats in the waiting room and fired off a text to Amanda. I shut my eyes.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were a homeless person,” I heard Amanda’s voice and felt her hand on my shoulder. I opened my sleepy lids and looked down at my body, which was covered in sweat and dirt. I could see how she might get that impression.
“Long story,” I groaned.
“I’d love to hear it. Here, put this on. It’ll help you look a little less homeless at least.” She handed me a cardigan. It wasn’t really my style, but I decided now was not the time to worry about having a fashionable appearance. I took it and put it on.
“What time is it?” I asked groggily.
“It’s almost midnight.”
“Oh my gosh, Corbin is out of surgery!” I sat up with a sudden surge of adrenaline.
“Okay, stop,” she said, sitting down next to me. “You have some explaining
to do. First, you go off the grid for two straight weeks. I know you said you were on vacation, but you didn’t return a single text or send me any ‘lol’s’ at the funny email links I sent you. What the hell? That’s not normal for you.”
I took a deep breath. Fuck it. The only good news I’d gotten if I was being honest was Marco’s death--which would probably be all over the news soon, anyway. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Are you really asking me if I can keep a secret? I’m a lawyer. And your best friend. I’m offended.”
I rubbed my face. “It’s just…it’s classified. But I’ll tell you. Remember how I was talking about Corbin and I going undercover together? Well we did. I was undercover as Corbin’s mistress.”
If Amanda’s jaw dropped any further, it would be on the floor.
“Corbin’s…mistress?”
“I love you Amanda, but I’m too tired to fill in all of the blanks. The long short of it is Corbin’s in surgery now and they don’t know if he’s going to make it.”
My heart dropped just thinking about Corbin not making it. The dam broke and I began to cry. Amanda hugged me.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. “You…really care about Corbin now, don’t you. I thought he was just a one night stand?”
I forced a smile to combat my tears. I had no idea how to describe what there was between Corbin and I, even to my best friend.
“It’s okay,” she said, recognizing my discomfort. She wrapped me up in a tight, warm hug. “We don’t have to talk about it now.”
We were interrupted by the sound of the big automatic double doors in the waiting room opening. The same nurse from before walked out.
“Miss Napleton?” she said, looking at her clipboard.
“Yes?” I strode toward her eagerly.
“I have news about Corbin. Maybe you want to sit back down for this.”
“Okay...but is he going to make it?”
“We’re not sure.”
This was a low point. I had finally let myself go with a man—and he loved me back—but he was going to die.
It felt like the walls were caving in around me.
35
Corbin
I woke up and saw a bright white light.
Maybe I’d died and gone to heaven.
But I remembered how I hadn’t exactly been a gleaming example of a well-behaved man who would end up in St. Peter’s good graces.
It was more likely that I was back in solitary confinement where they left the lights on for 24 hours to fuck with me. My own personal hell.
The bright light disappeared, and I sensed her. I smelled her. She was there.
I opened my eyes. And saw Eva sitting next to me. Her eyes were tired, her clothes were dirty except for the sweater she had on, and her brown eyes had never looked sexier.
"Oh my God Corbin, you're alive!" she gasped.
"Hey," I mustered, and when I said the words my chest hurt like hell. "Where am I?"
She took my hand in hers. "We’re at Scripps Mercy. Back in San Diego."
"How did we get to San D...oh my God that hurts." My entire chest cavity ached like a freight train had run over it.
"You were shot. Four times. Do you remember? They almost didn’t let me in to see you."
“Jesus.” I looked down at my chest and saw a white bandage covering me. I groaned. I remembered the first shot, but I wasn’t sure how many I took after that.
We sat in silence, words unnecessary for a moment. Eva smiled softly and ran her fingers along the ridges of my palms. I'd never been comfortable with that kind of tender touching—recoiled at it even—but with Eva, it made my heart tingle.
“Did we catch Marco?”
“We did. We took him out. Thanks to you. You almost sacrificed your life for mine,” she whispered, her hand still gently touching mine.
A doctor walked in, ending our moment.
"Corbin, I’m Doctor Peterson. You are one lucky man," the doctor said, putting up some X-rays against a board. I tried to turn my head, but moving was hard, so I decided to just close my eyes and enjoy Eva’s touch.
"Well, either lucky or tough,” the doctor went on. “You were shot four times. but the shots missed all of your vital organs. Give it a few more weeks and you—well, I was going to say you’ll be good as new, but that’s just not true. You'll have a few scars. But you'll live."
"By the way, who are you? Are you his wife?" the doctor said, turning to Eva. “Are you okay to be here?”
"It’s okay," I murmured, opening my eyes and taking Eva’s hand. "She’s my mistress."
The doctor looked up from his clipboard with a funny expression. Eva saw where I was going and played along instantly, running her hand up and down my leg.
"Yeah, he needs a little...special medicinal technique that I know," she said, rubbing my leg.
I smiled and that's all I could do, because it hurt to laugh.
The doctor shrugged. "Well, uh, I guess you can be here even though you're not family if the patient is okay with it. Just as long as this medicinal technique isn’t unauthorized." He nodded and glanced at his clipboard again. "I'll check back up on you tomorrow. Have a good night you two."
Just like that we were alone again.
I smiled. We were alone again, and I wasn’t dead and in hell. On the contrary, I was in heaven with Eva rubbing her hand on my leg, gradually creeping it further up. She had easy access to my bare thigh since all I was wearing was a gown and some briefs.
"What are you doing?" I asked. "I think you’re getting close to my danger zone.”
“Danger zone?” she smiled. “Is that what you’re calling it now?”
"Eva…we’re not playing anymore,” I said.
"I’m not playing. I’m taking care of business. I need to see if something still works."
She slid her hand up my thigh and took me in her hand.
"Alexa...I mean Eva...sorry...fuck."
She looked up at me with the same beautiful brown eyes that had drawn me in that first night at the club.
“What did I do to deserve this?” I said.
"Corbin. I want to be yours. I want to be your Eva. Your Alexa. And everything in between."
"So you're saying you want to have really dirty sex and also be my trophy wife who cooks and cleans?"
"Shut up you silly boy," she smiled.
“Gotta keep the jokes up in a long term relationship, right?”
"I love you, Corbin," she said.
"I love you, too."
She worked her way down with her mouth and I decided this is the best medicine a man could have.
And no, I wasn’t thinking about the work she was doing between my legs.
I was thinking about love.
Who has the dirty mind now?
Epilogue
10 Months Later
Eva
I sliced my way through the crowd until I found an open seat at the bar. I took it, drawing looks from both of the men on either side of me. I was dressed in high heels and a black scoop neck dress so tight I had to wiggle for a minute to fit into it, so I wasn’t surprised that I was being ogled. The men tried to be sly when they stared at my curves by looking away the moment I glanced in their direction.
Nice try, boys. I smiled. If you are going to look, just look.
I ordered a tequila on the rocks with a lime. The man to my right leaned over and poked me on the arm.
“That’s quite a drink for a lady,” he said.
I smiled back and batted my eyes.
“Well I’m not your average lady.” I put a hand on his as I took a sip of my drink. Putting the glass down, I lowered my voice and whispered in his ear. “I want to party. Can you help me?”
He raised his eyebrows in a surprised look. “You want…to party?”
“Yes. You understand what I mean, right?”
I put my finger to my nostril and sniffed; the universal symbol for needing to order the world’s most expensive white powder.
“Why yes of course,” he said. “Come with me.”
I followed him down a stairwell and into a hall where the bathrooms were. The light dimmed and a wave of nervousness flowed through me as he opened a door with no window.
We were the only ones inside the bathroom. He shut the wooden door and locked it with a click.
“How much do you want?”
“A half pound.”
He laughed. “You don’t have that much money.”
“You don't think so?” I said, and pulled out a wad of hundreds. He took the money from me and counted it. “Two thousand dollars is not nearly enough. But I think we can arrange something.”
He snapped his fingers and two other men appeared from behind a secret door in the back of the bathroom.
“Jose, Manny, what do you think? This whore worth an extra three thousand?”
“I say we pay her a thousand for each of us.”
“One thousand for each of you? What do you mean?” I scrunched my face in confusion. “Two thousand should be plenty.”
Goddammit, why does this happen every time?
The men closed in on me from three different angles. The lock started rattling.
“This bathroom is occupied,” the man fumed.
Even though I knew it was coming, I flinched as the wooden door was literally ripped from its frame, and Corbin appeared.
“Who the fuck are you?” the main man asked Corbin.
Corbin saw the men touching me and let out an honest to God snarl.
I flinched again as he threw a punch so close to my face I felt the wind from Corbin’s fist as he hit the first man, who fell into the toilet and stopped moving. Corbin spun around and hit another one of the attackers in the nose and the man fell limp into a heap on the ground.
I stood behind the third man, who pulled out a gun and pointed it.
“Stand down, asshole,” he said, taking a step toward Corbin.
My heart thumping, I delivered a hard left hand chop to the man’s neck, striking precisely the place I wanted at his Adam’s apple. He reacted automatically, beginning to wheeze for air. I pounced on his arm and disarmed him of the gun. Corbin gave him a right hook to the nose and the man’s body went down to the ground like a brick thrown in a river.
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