“No, Eve, you won’t. Once we’re done here, they’re next.”
That ugly, evil grin made Eve wish she had had Laurence killed after paying him a visit two years ago and making him hand over priceless paintings. God, she had wanted to. But, she wasn’t like Tony. Eve was not a murderer. Oh, but if she got her hands on that gun, she would turn into one right now.
“You’ll never find them,” she said icily.
“You’ll take me to them,” he challenged.
Eve smiled, knowing it would piss him off. “I don’t know where they are, Laurence. I put them on a plane before coming here. Destination unknown to me. You’ll never get to them.”
“Fucking bitch! I should have killed you that night.”
Déjà vu, Eve thought mirthlessly. She remembered that night, right before he was killed, Maurice had said almost the same thing to her. How many lives did she have? Was she finally on her last one?
“Laurence! Put the gun down!”
The intense relief she felt almost floored Eve. She hadn’t thought they would find her so soon, but then, she wasn’t exactly sure how long she had been there.
“Fuck you! The bitch deserves to die!”
“That wasn’t our agreement!”
Relief turned into pure shock, and Eve whirled around to stare at Billy. He wasn’t in the instructions she left Lainey. Agreement? What the fuck? Her eyes darted from Billy to Adam, with Adam’s expression mirroring her own shocked expression.
Adam locked eyes with Eve, not knowing how much longer they had. I love you, he mouthed.
Eve’s face became a picture of unadulterated grief. She had failed. It was she most important task she had in her life, to save Adam, and she failed. I love you, too, she returned.
The entire exchange of glances and declarations of love took place in the matter of seconds. But, it felt as if time had stopped for them.
“I’m backing out of our agreement. I made the mistake of letting her live years ago. I won’t make that mistake …”
It happened so fast, Eve didn’t even have time to react. For the second time in as many weeks, she was covered with someone else’s blood. Laurence’s body is laying at her feet, blood from the hole in his head covering her sneakers.
“Beautiful? Look at me.”
Eve’s brow furrowed in confusion, but she brought her eyes up to meet Adam’s.
“Focus, Eve. I’m here.”
She had to cut him loose. Laurence was dead, and no one came after them. That must mean … she took a tentative step towards Adam.
“Don’t.” Billy’s voice was low. It wasn’t menacing, but it made her stop her advance.
Eve turned to Billy, slowly. “Billy?”
He looked a little shell-shocked himself, visibly shaking, but still holding his gun up. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way.”
“I don’t understand, Billy.”
Her voice was so soft, and sounded so young at that moment that all he wanted to do was go to her, and wrap her in his arms. “I lied to you before, Eve, darling. Eduardo did talk. He gave Laurence up almost immediately.” He didn’t tell her that he had offered him immunity. It wasn’t in his authority to do so, but it got him what he wanted. And, now Eduardo was dead. The bastard tried to kill the woman Billy loved. There was no way he would’ve let him live.
Eve gasped. “You lied to me.”
“I had to, my love. If I had told you, you would have gotten to Laurence before me. I needed to know why he was after you. You wouldn’t have told me the truth.” Billy’s voice became harsh, scolding her.
Eve shook her head. She couldn’t process any of this information, and it was frustrating her. All she wanted to do was get Adam out of that damn chair and get him checked out by a doctor.
“You’re not making sense, Billy.” She started towards Adam again. “Just help me get him loose, I need to get him to the hospital.”
“I said stay away from him!” Billy’s booming voice echoed throughout the empty warehouse.
Eve jerked her hand back, keeping her perplexed eyes on Adam. She saw him shake his head, the move so slight, she almost didn’t notice. He face held such sorrow, she found it hard to stay on her feet, and not crumble before him. Then, Eve felt the anger rise in her like nothing she had ever felt before. She whipped around to face Billy.
“What the fuck is going on, Billy? By lying to me, you put my husband and my daughter in danger! How could you do that?!”
“I would never have allowed anything to happen to Bella, Eve. You must know that.”
“And, Adam?”
“Eve, darling …”
“Don’t you dare! You were going to let Laurence kill my husband!”
“A necessity. He would have only stood in our way, trying to keep us apart.”
Eve stared at him as if he had grown a second head. “You’re delusional,” she whispered.
Billy’s eyes hardened. “You never even gave me a chance. I did everything I could for you, I helped you with Tony, I made that file implying you were a whore disappear, I …”
“You are married. You have children. You are a part of a past I want to forget!”
She stepped towards Billy, dismissing Adam’s warnings to stop.
“I couldn’t love you then, Billy, because I was a young girl who had just gone through the most horrible thing a girl could go through. As the years went by, I couldn’t love you because you reminded me of that time, and I found Adam.” Eve took another step. “I will never love you now because you have conspired to kill the love of my life.”
She saw the hurt fill Billy’s eyes, but didn’t care. No matter how deep she looked inside herself, she would never be able to find compassion for him.
“You’re just emotional right now. Once all of this is behind us …” His words trailed of in stunned silence as Eve grabbed his hand that held the gun and pressed it to her chest over her heart.
“Kill me, Billy.”
“Eve!” Adam struggled against the ties, completely oblivious to the pain of them cutting into him. He had one thought. To get to Eve.
She focused on Billy, gripping his hand tightly when he tried to pull away.
“Kill me,” she said again.
“I’m not going to kill you, Eve.” Billy’s voice was incredulous.
“But, you’ll kill Adam?”
“I doubt he’s going to let you divorce him without a fight. This is a solution.”
Eve pushed the gun harder against her chest.
“Then you’ll have to kill me, too. I won’t live without him. I can’t. And, I’ll never be with you.”
Eve’s eyes, normally a light grey that affected him every time he saw her, turned as dark as a storm cloud. He saw it before she said the words.
“I hate you, William,” she said icily.
“You don’t mean that,” he whispered.
“Oh, yes, I do. I hate you. And, if you hurt Adam, you better make sure you kill me, too. If you don’t, I will kill you. I don’t care if I have to spend the rest of my life in prison for it.”
“Eve!”
Eve’s stare never wavered, even as Charlie and James burst through the door, calling out her name. Vaguely, she was aware of an army of people filing in, surrounding them. Somewhere down deep she knew Lainey had followed her instructions, waiting until they were safe before contacting Captain Harris and James, and telling them to track her phone.
“What the hell is going on?” James trained his gun on Donovan, while Harris watched the scene intently.
“Get me out of this fucking chair!” Adam’s roar bounced off the walls. Fuck, he needed to get to Eve before Donovan did what she told him to do.
The staring contest between Billy and Eve continued. She refused to flinch, still holding his wrist tightly. It was Billy that looked away first, tugging his hand away from her. He looked around in complete shock, see he was surrounded. This was not how this was supposed to happen! Laurence was going to kill Adam, and he w
ould come in, save Eve and she would finally be with him. It was a flawless plan! That damned bastard screwed him and now Eve hated him. His heart broke looking at the woman in front of him.
Adam, finally free of his restraints, rushed to Eve, pushing her behind him. He could literally feel the rage pumping through his body, and it took every bit of strength to keep from going after Donovan. He felt Eve press her body to his, grasping his shirt to steady herself, and he reached behind him putting his hands firmly on her thighs.
“What is going on here, Agent Donovan?”
“He was working with that fucker Laurence,” Adam answered when Donovan said nothing.
A sound of disbelief came from Harris, but James’ sneer left no doubt that he believed it completely.
“Is this true, Billy?”
“I just told you …”
Eve squeezed Adam’s bicep, and his mouth clamped closed. She preferred to let Donovan hang himself, so Adam would comply. Let the fucker hang, as long as he was out of their life for good.
Billy’s dazed eyes darted around. He was trapped, he had lost the woman he had loved for most of his adult life, and when his family found out about this, he would lose them, too. He had nothing. Losing Eve alone left him with nothing.
“Drop the gun, Agent Donovan. This doesn’t have to get any worse.” Charlie’s voice soothed, but Eve heard the underlying anger.
Billy’s head jerked to Charlie. “Worse? Worse? She hates me!” He paced, unconcerned about the guns pointed at him. He waved the gun around, talking to himself, mumbling about how it should have been different. “She’s supposed to be with me!”
Eve watched in fascination as the man she has known for years completely lost his mind. She wrapped her arms around Adam’s waist, fully aware that Billy saw the gesture. She saw his eyes move to her hands that were clasped together, holding Adam close. And, when he looked in her eyes, she saw the defeat.
She couldn’t say if she knew what he was going to do in that moment, but it didn’t surprise her when he lifted his hands in surrender. It didn’t shock her when, still watching her, he brought the gun below his chin and pulled the trigger.
Adam leaned against the back of Eve’s Lexus inside the hangar. He had been released from the hospital with a broken nose, cuts around the wrists where he had been bound, a broken rib and other minor injuries that he didn’t think about now. What he thought about now was seeing his baby girl. And, wondering what it’s going to be like seeing Lainey now that there were no doubts about what happened between her and Eve.
Eve paced in front of him, twirling her wedding rings around her finger, and Adam couldn’t hold back the smile. He had never seen her so nervous. If he were being honest with himself, he’d admit he was happy she was so agitated. Maybe it was selfish, but he figured she owed him at least a bit of self-deprecation.
Eve glanced up at Adam and caught him staring at her with a sly grin.
“What?” Holy hell, she was nervous. While at the hospital, she and Adam didn’t have a chance to talk about her affair with Lainey. Then, they were questioned by the police, and Eve found out Laurence’s men had taken out Adam’s security and took him at her warehouse. Most of Adam’s wounds had come from fighting back, and trying to get away. When they got him strapped to the chair, that’s when Laurence came in and started torturing Adam ‘for the fun of it’. Hearing that had pissed Eve off enough to push out of her chair and walk out of Charlie’s office. If she didn’t get air, she would have gone crazy. And, though Adam held her hand on the way to the airport to pick up Bella, he stayed silent. She had wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but was too much of a coward.
“Nothing,” was Adam’s reply, but kept his grin.
Well, he wasn’t glaring at her, so that was a plus. She looked at her wrist, rolled her eyes then went to Adam and checked his watch. They had another fifteen minutes or so before Bella—and Lainey—got here. No time like the present, she thought with a deep breath.
“Talk to me, amant.”
His grin faltered. This wasn’t something he wanted to talk about, but he supposed it was inevitable. “What would you like me to say, Eve?”
“I don’t know! What are you thinking? How do you feel?” Her heart hammered painfully in her chest. He had said he forgave her, but she couldn’t be certain that he didn’t just say that because of the situation they were in. Maybe he thought they weren’t going to make it out alive, and wanted her to think everything was okay.
He studied her, and his own feelings, in silence. Adam could see her elevated pulse in the vein on her long, elegant neck. “I’m not sure how to feel,” he answered honestly.
Eve closed her eyes. She couldn’t blame him, really. When she had thought he had been with another woman, she was furious, and he hadn’t done anything wrong. She slept with Lainey. She opened her eyes, focusing on Adam again.
“Yell at me. Tell me you hate me. Do something!”
When he said nothing, she dragged a frustrated hand through her hair. Eve was about to turn away when Adam grabbed her waist and pulled her crashing into him. He crushed his mouth to hers in a mind-blowing, breath-taking, knee-weakening kiss. She was panting by the time he broke the kiss.
“I don’t want to yell at you,” he said softly. “I don’t hate you. I think I have to wait until I see … Lainey and then assess what I feel.”
She heard the hesitation at Lainey’s name, and sighed. That was not a good sign. The kiss on the other hand, that gave her hope. Eve brushed her hands up his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck. Depending on his answer to the question she was about to ask, she may need to hold on. A thrill went through her when he reciprocated by wrapping his arms around her waist, spreading his legs so she fit between them.
“Baby? Do you … would you …” Eve lowered her head and squeezed her eyes shut. God, it hurt her so much to have to ask this. When she looked up at Adam again, tears filled her eyes. “Do you want me to stop being Lainey’s friend?”
The words tumbled out of her rapidly, and Adam watched as a tear escaped, sliding down her smooth cheek. It broke his heart.
“That was really hard for you, wasn’t it? Asking me that.”
She nodded, unable to trust her voice, and Adam sighed. He reached up and took a strand of her hair between his thumb and forefinger. “Could you do that?” he asked gently. “Would you do that for me?”
Eve’s face was the definition of mourning, and Adam watched as more tears fell. But, she nodded. He pressed his forehead to hers, and asked what he needed to know.
“Why, Eve? Why did you sleep with her? Tell me what she means to you.”
“Adam …”
His arms tightened around her, urging her to continue.
“I felt a connection with Lainey from the moment I met her. I can’t explain it. Believe me, I’ve tried explaining it to myself, but she’s the best friend I’ve ever had,” she said softly. “No one had ever wanted to get to know me. No one ever saw past the façade enough to know there was more there.” She saw his eyes lower, and brought a hand to his chin to lift it. “Except you and Lainey.”
“But, it was her that helped you. Not me.”
“That’s not true, amant. You had already begun getting in here.” Eve placed a hand over her heart before returning it around the back of his neck. “But, she made me feel … safe.”
“I don’t?”
“Oh, baby, that’s not … I didn’t … that’s not how I meant it. Of course you make me feel safe. What I meant to say was she was safe for me. I feared nothing with her.”
“Because she’s a woman?”
“Because she’s Lainey,” Eve responded quietly. “Maybe the fact that she was a woman played into it, thinking about what happened to me.” She tilted her head and studied him. “You haven’t asked the one question I thought you would ask.”
A small smile played at his lips. “You think I should be asking if you’re a lesbian? Or, at the least, bisexual?”
/> “It would be normal for you to ask, I guess.”
Adam chuckled. “One thing I do know about you, beautiful, is you’re not a lesbian. You wouldn’t be able to make love to me the way that you do if you were.” His brows furrowed as he analyzed her. “I don’t think you …” he cleared his throat and tried again. “I don’t think it had anything to do with gender. It was just how you felt.”
Eve gave him a small smile. He understood her. Always had. And, she rewarded that by hurting him. “You’re being extremely understanding about this,” she said warily.
“Like I said, beautiful, I can’t be sure how I’m going to feel when the plane gets here. But, I’m trying to understand your side of it. I can’t tell you it doesn’t hurt like fuck knowing you slept with someone else.” He saw her flinch, and tightened his grip. “Can I get back to you on your question?”
Eve knew he was talking about her question about her friendship with Lainey, and felt sick to her stomach. She had no idea if she could survive without Lainey, but whatever Adam decided she would honor. So, she nodded.
“And, if I ask you to stop being her friend?”
Eve sucked in a shaky breath, that literally hurt her heart. “I would be devastated if I lost Lainey,” she answered honestly. “But, I couldn’t live without you.”
Adam stared at her, taking in the enormity of her words. Before he could answer, they heard the engine of the plane as it taxied to the hangar. He felt Eve stiffen in his arms, saw the fear and nervousness in her eyes, and he kissed her gently on the lips before letting her go.
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