What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG Book 3)

by Lauren Hawkeye

  He heard her cell phone ringing and he went to her purse. He didn’t open it because that would be invading her privacy. Instead he clutched the expensive black bag and headed towards the bathroom. He could hear the shower running and he imagine her magnificent body all slippery from the shower.

  He walked into the bedroom and sat her purse down on the bed, it tipped over and everything fell out of her purse. Make-up, chapstick, and a bunch of other little things but the thing that caught his eye was a red folder. Axel had told him he had given Evangeline a red folder that was all about him.

  He reached for it and opened it up. It had almost everything about him, his birth certificate, and information about his work visa. Some more information about his family and the business he left to his little brother. But the most shocking thing was the pictures of his wife and daughter. His eyes started to water as he took their pictures in his hands. After they died he put away all of their pictures. He couldn’t bear to see his wife and daughter’s smiling faces it just hurt him too bad. The red folder fell to the ground and papers scattered all over.

  Evangeline dried herself off and reached for her blue fluffy Doctor Who robe. She was completely infatuated with the show and had a lot of things to prove it. After tying the robe she walked out of the steamy bathroom. She looked to her left and found her bedroom light on, grinning she rushed to the bedroom and stopped in the doorway.

  Her purse and everything inside was scattered on the ground. Angelo was sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. His shoulder were lightly trembling and her heart broke for him. He had found the red folder and everything Axel had found on him.

  “Angelo,” she didn’t even recognize her own voice. He didn’t lift his head but his shoulders stiffen at the sound of her voice. “I never looked in that folder.”

  He lifted his head from his hands and what she saw devastated her. His normally bright chocolate eyes were now red and dark. “Axel told me about the folder, and I knew you had something on me. But this?” He held up two pictures one with a stunning woman with long straight jet black hair and bright Caribbean green eyes. The other picture was of a little girl with the same chocolate eyes as Angelo.

  Evangeline knew who she was looking at. “I didn’t know what was in there. I was going to throw the folder away. What is in there I wanted to learn from you not from a report.”

  “Evangeline, this is too far. I had told you more about myself then I have ever imagined telling someone else. Why did you need Axel to do a complete background check on your lovers?”

  She narrowed her eyes. Axel had done a little too much talking. “I did it to protect myself. I didn’t even think about asking for yours to be done. There was something about you that made me immediately trust you.” He stood up and the pictures fell out of his hand.

  “I can’t do this right now, I need time away from you.” She watched him take a deep breath to pull himself together.

  When he walked by her she grabbed his arm. “Wait, you don’t just get to leave. Not after I allowed you into my freaking heart.”

  He glanced at her and quickly looked away. “If I stay I will say things I will regret later, when I’m not furious at what’s going on.” He lightly placed his hand on top of hers, and raised her hand off of his arm.

  She was frozen in place as she watched Angelo walk away from her. Only when she heard the front door close she allowed herself to drop to the ground. This was why she never let anyone get close to her, because everything ended in utter heartbreak.

  No matter what, she wouldn’t let herself cry, but her chest felt as though someone punched her. When most women go through a break-up, they have girlfriends they can turn to. But she didn’t have any girlfriends, because she never had time to make them or keep up with them. She glanced at her flashing phone and reached for it.

  She had one missed call from her sister. Pressing the call back button she slowly brought the phone to her ear. “Hey Evangeline,” and that was the moment when she lost herself.

  “I need you.” She said the words to her older sister that she hadn’t said in so long.

  “You…need me?” her sister sounded shocked and Evangeline didn’t blame her.

  “Yes, will you please come over? I need you…Angelo just left…me.” She choked on the last word.

  “Oh my God. I will be right there.” She forced herself to stand and to walk to the door. She needed to tell James that her sister was coming over.

  She opened the door and the cold air hit her, she glanced down at herself and realized she was still in her robe and her hair was still wet. James’ eyes were glued to her as he quickly moved towards her. His eyes were inspecting her just like Axel did.

  “Ma’am, is everything alright?” she nodded even though she was lying.

  “Yes, my sister is coming over. Will you please make sure she gets in?” He didn’t believe her, but he nodded and she turned back into her warm house. She closed the door and leaned against it, she was still trying to make sense of what just happened.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Four Days Later…

  Evangeline sat at her desk staring at her computer screen. She should be on her way to her sister’s right now but she told Melissa that she would be late. Now her traitorous mind was taking her to the man that had recently broke her heart. She knew it was stupid of her to fall for a man she barely knew but she did. Since the night Angelo had found the folder she hadn’t heard from him. No calls, or messages not even a text.

  She had given everyone the day off but she was here because she was avoiding her family. She wasn’t good at hiding her feelings right now, and didn’t want to show any emotions around her mother. Her mother could always tell when she was trying to fake something. She always said it was her motherly powers.

  She had told Axel to stay downstairs because there was only one way up to her floor and that was through the lobby. He wasn’t too happy about it but she hadn’t had any messages since the shattered red heart. Of course Axel said that proved it was Angelo, but she still didn’t believe it was him. Yesterday he had shown her what Inspector Bertolazzi had sent him, and she didn’t believe Angelo had anything to do with his wife’s and daughter’s murder. She was with him when he told her about them and she had seen his face.

  There was a knock at her door, and she stood up. She walked to the door and took a deep breath when she opened it. Axel was standing there.

  “Ms. Skyler, your sister keeps calling me. She really wants you to come over.” Evangeline moved out of the door way to allow him to enter.

  She started to walk back to her desk but he seized her hand. “I’m sorry she keeps calling you. I will tell her to stop.” She tried to pull her hand free but he just tightened his hold.

  “I don’t care about that,” he turned her around. He looked so worried. “I care about you, and I have seen you change since he left you.” He squeezed his eyes shut.

  “I don’t want to talk about this.” She said because she had managed not to cry since Angelo left her. After he left she thought she might cry but nothing came. She was getting little to no sleep for the past four nights.

  He opened his aquamarine eyes. “Sweetheart, I can say this because…I love you. You need to call him, and tell him that you miss him.” She felt her eyes widen at his confession and her mouth dropped opened. Axel Roberts, her only friend just acknowledged his love for her. He cupped her face with his free hand and smiled miserably at her. “I made a mistake in my life and didn’t tell the woman I love how I felt. Then she went ahead and fell for someone else and there was no going back for her.”

  For the first time in years she felt her eyes burning with her unshed tears. She knew if she blinked she would have tears rolling down her cheeks. “I…can’t,” her voice broke.

  “You can. I don’t want to see you like this. You are a strong woman but everyone needs someone to lean on sometimes. Angelo is your somebody.” She shook her head because he was the one to walk out on her,
not the other way around.

  “He left me.” She forced her voice to stay steady.

  “I might have had a role in that. I cornered him again when he left your office that day. I showed him what I found and then I sent it to his boss.” She narrowed her eyes. She didn’t know he did that, and she wondered if that was the true reason why Angelo lost his job. “I know I’m a senseless jerk but you have to recognize I did it for you.”

  She saw that, but she hated knowing he had gone through all the trouble because of his feelings for her. Feelings that he had kept hidden for God knows how long and then had to express those feelings when she was finding her own happiness.

  The morning after Angelo left her and she opened her door to find Axel waiting for her she nearly broke down and did something she would have regretted. When she kissed him she felt nothing but emptiness. He wasn’t the one she wanted to be kissing and her body knew that along with her heart. He had pulled away and asked her what the hell happened; she had told him everything.

  “I really think you should call him or let me drop you off at his house.” She glared at him and pulled away.

  “Seriously? Last week you thought he was my stalker and now you are encouraging me to be with him.” He smiled at her but she didn’t return it.

  “I have never seen you like this, you are moody as hell and sad. I hate seeing you like your world is crumbling around you. You deserve the best and you think that is Angelo.” His phone started to ring and he groaned. “This is your sister again, we need to leave or I will have her killed.”

  She laughed, and he arched his eyebrow. “Please don’t have my sister killed we are just starting to connect again.” He winked at her and walked out of her office.

  Before he closed the door she heard him say, “We are leaving in ten minutes.”

  She knew he would be back in ten minutes and demand to leave. She just didn’t have it in her to fight, so she started to get her purse and things together. She sent a text to her sister saying they really were leaving in a few minutes and to leave Axel alone.

  She had promised her mother and sister she would come. She knew the women in her family well enough to know they wouldn’t stop calling and messaging her until she showed. When she opened her office door she turned off the lights and then she walked to the elevator.

  When she got down to the lobby she found Axel leaning against the large black marble desk. “I think I need my number changed. Your sister is ruthless.” He narrowed his eyes. “It must run in the family because she reminds me of you”

  “Whatever, are you ready to leave?” he arched an eyebrow and slowly nodded.

  “Whatever? What are you a teenager?” he asked playfully and when she walked by him she smacked him on his hard chest. He laughed at her as she walked to the front doors. Axel had her car waiting for her, but he stopped her holding onto her shoulder.

  She glanced at him and he shook his head. “I know I agreed to let you drive alone to your sister’s but something doesn’t feel right. I don’t know why but I don’t want to leave your side. Sit in the back I will drive you.”

  She sighed, “Nothing has happened in a few days.”

  “I know that is what worries me.” He moved to the car and opened the back door. “Please it will make me feel better knowing you are safe.” She smiled at him. She wished he was the one she had fallen for then maybe her life would be a little bit easier. And she wouldn’t be heart broken. “Fine,” she said as she sat in the back seat. When he got behind the wheel he glanced at her as she buckled her seatbelt. He started the car and she grabbed her phone. She stared at Angelo’s name and number. She had never been the one that called and begged for someone to come back but he was different. He actually meant something to her, he wasn’t just a good fuck.

  “Evangeline, I don’t want to alarm you but someone is following us. I will try to lose them because I don’t want to bring them to your sister’s house.” Slightly she twisted her head to the side and saw a car with their high beams on. “Don’t turn around.” Axel ordered.

  “This would be the reason behind your suspicions.” Her heart was racing because someone was after her, and more malicious than the last stalker. Axel turned off the main road on to a backstreet.

  “You might want to hold on.” She reached up to the handles and placed a hand on the seat in front of her as he took a sharp turn, she glanced behind them and watched the other car do the same thing. “Shit.”

  “Maybe we should call the cops?” she suggested.

  “They wouldn’t make it on time.” The car behind them slammed into them causing her to hit her face on the seat in front of her. “Shit, Evangeline are you okay?”

  “Yes,” at the most she had whiplash. Again the car crashed into them but this time she was ready by placing her hand out in front of her.

  Axel turned the car around and the other car took that opportunity to drive along side of them. The driver’s window was lined up with hers, she tried to look to see who was driving but couldn’t see past the dark tinted windows. The other car smashed their front end into her door causing her to scream. She watched the door cave in as the other car repeated slamming into her side. The glass shattered just as she covered her eyes.

  This stalker wasn’t just infatuated with her they wanted her dead. “Move to the other side!” She did just as the other car slammed into them. “This person is completely crazy.” She heard him say but she was paying more attention to the car that kept hitting them.

  “Axel,” she forced her voice to stay steady. “I don’t think I ever thanked you for being a huge part of my life.”

  “Don’t you dare talk like that I will get us out of this alive!” She knew he believed that but she wasn’t too sure. She closed her eyes when she felt the other car hit, and imagined Angelo. He was the one that changed her for the better, and he didn’t even know it. She would die without him knowing how she felt about him. She should have gone to his place the night he left her house and told him he didn’t get to walk away from her. That whatever he wanted to say he should say it because she would be able to handle it.

  But she was a coward and didn’t chase him. The other car crashed into them one last time and Evangeline hit her head hard against the window. Slowly darkness crept into her vision.

  Angelo just sat on his couched with the TV remote in his hand. He turned it to CNN and closed his eyes as he leaned his head back. When everything was quiet was the time when he thought about her. He knew that it wasn’t Evangeline’s fault that Axel had done is own investigation on him. But he knew how she lost trust in people easily and she probably hated him by now.

  The last four days were hell on earth for him, every little thing reminded him of her. Never did he imagine he would have fallen for a woman in just a few days. But if anyone could make a man fall in love in a short amount of time it would be the mysterious Evangeline Skyler. She had done something he thought was impossible, she had opened up his heart again.

  “Breaking news, the CEO of Sky Tech Evangeline Skyler is in critical condition.” Angelo snapped his head up and stared at the screen. His heart raced as they showed video of Evangeline’s car smashed up. “We are told Evangeline Skyler was rushed in to an emergency surgery at Grace Hospital because of head trauma after a car accident around five PM this evening.”

  The picture that he took came on the screen and tears filled his eyes. He couldn’t lose her now, not before he told her what she meant to him. He shot up and rushed to the door; he needed to be with her. He got in his car and hurried to Grace Hospital. He waited at the nurses’ station until a pretty blonde smiled at him.

  “How may I help you handsome?” she asked and batted her light blue eyes at him. He smiled and leaned closer to her.

  “I am here to see someone special to me. I hope you can help me.” A slow smile spread on her attractive face. He knew how he affected women and right now he would do almost anything to be close to Evangeline.

  “Hmm…I
think I might be able to help you.” She said and leaned even closer to him.

  “I need to fine my girlfriend Evangeline Skyler. I know she was brought here.” The blonde narrowed her eyes and backed away.

  “Sorry but I can’t help you on that. I was told that only family was able to get that information.” She crossed her arms against her chest enhancing her breast. “Will you let her family know that Angelo Giovanni is here?” he wasn’t sure if that would help him or not.

  “I don’t think so, I guess you will have to find out what happens from the news.” She turned away from him and he swore.

  He turned around and found an attractive woman smiling at him. She had her short blonde hair pulled back and from what he could tell no make-up on, but she still looked beautiful.

  “What did you say your name was?” she asked and rested her hands on her hips.

  “Angelo Giovanni,” he stared into her eyes and saw something he recognized.

  She smiled. “That’s what I thought you said. You know you broke my sister’s heart. Even if she would never admit it or let it show.” He couldn’t return her charming smile but she could tell him about Evangeline.

  “You’re Evangeline’s sister,” he placed his hand out and she didn’t hesitate in shaking his hand. “I need to see her, please.”

  She narrowed her eyes and looked so much like Evangeline it nearly shattered him. “I don’t know, if she wanted to see you she would have called you before now.” They both knew she wouldn’t because she was too stubborn for her own good. That as one of the remarkable qualities that attracted him to her.

  “She is too stubborn for that. I am the dumb ass and should have been the one to contact her.” Melissa laughed and nodded.