If only I could read what he hides behind those dark pools of eternity that he calls eyes. I would love to know exactly what Sebastian is thinking right now, but his face is as unreadable as always.
“Romantic relationships come with too much risk,” he finally says.
“All we did was kiss, Sebastian. I’m not asking you to marry me. I just want to know what the hell is going on. Either we’re working together, or we’re dating, or… I promised myself that I wouldn’t mix the two again. But I can’t do that if…”
“I know, it was a mistake. This whole thing is a mistake.” Sebastian lets out a huge sigh and leans back in his chair, turning away from me to stare out his window, as always.
I blink, a pang of apprehension resonating through me. “What whole thing? Do you mean hiring me? Or meeting me?”
Sebastian doesn’t answer for a moment. When he does, it’s only one word. “Both.”
My stomach drops so far down I’m sure it will splatter all over my feet. I quickly turn toward the door. I need to get out of here. He’s right. This whole thing was a mistake.
“Wait.”
I stop, hand on the knob and ready to yank it open as tears begin to burn in my eyes. This is so stupid. What the hell do I care about this job, or this guy? I just met him a week ago. I don’t want him to see the shame I’m feeling at caring so much, so I keep facing away even as I hear him get up and walk toward me.
“That’s not what I meant. I mean, it is, but not the way you’re taking it. Not the way it sounds.” I feel one of his big hands touch my shoulder, but I keep looking away, trying to will the tears back down into their ducts before they start to spill down my cheeks.
“Evelyn. Let me explain. Please, come and sit down.” Gently, he squeezes my shoulder and pulls to turn me. I let him, but keep my head down and yank away as I walk over to the chair in front of his desk and drop into it.
“Fine. Explain.” I can’t say anything beyond that without risking Sebastian hearing my voice crack.
He’s silent for a while as he walks back to the window that he loves to stare out of so much. I can see the reflection of his face in the glass, but he’s not looking back at me. He’s staring out, back to the east end of the city where his club is. It feels like a couple of minutes before he finally speaks. It at least gives me time to regain my composure. Gives me time to realize he’s probably right. This was all a big mistake. I should have gone with my first instinct when I turned this job down. I should have never agreed to give it a try.
I almost forget that he’s there and his deep voice startles me when he finally begins to speak.
“I told you before that the MC are like a family to me, but what you don’t understand is how troubled they are. They’re on a dark path, Evelyn, and I’m the only one that can keep them from self-destructing.”
“What does that have to do with me? With us?” I can’t keep the bitterness out of my voice, despite what I had just told myself seconds ago. It probably was a mistake to start working here, but I want to be the one that decides that, not him.
“This whole thing,” Sebastian turns to face me now, gesturing around him and then toward the window, “Piston, the MC… it’s a delicate balancing act. There are about a million moving parts, and if one thing goes wrong, the whole thing collapses. And it doesn’t just take me down. Piston employs thousands. Not just in Chicago, but in three different countries now. And then there’s the MC. Those guys… if the shit goes down for them, they don’t just lose their jobs. They end up going to prison.”
For all the control Sebastian has over his emotions, it’s clear that the idea of all of that pains him.
“I’ve spent years figuring out how to walk the tightrope between the MC and Piston. One misstep, and it all comes crashing down. There are so many points of failure, Evelyn. Too many variables. It’s hard enough for me to keep track of them, when I’m the only one that can fail. To bring someone else into this…” I’ve lost him again. He’s a million miles away, caught in the curvature of the horizon.
I’m finally starting to understand him. I give him a moment and collect my thoughts before I speak, trying to decide if I really want to say the words that are on the tip of my tongue. But the longer they sit there, the surer I am that I have to say them.
“You don’t have to do it alone.” My voice is soft, and I’m not even sure that he heard me until he shakes his head.
“It’s not fair to bring someone else in. It’s not safe. The MC are… as much as I’ve tried to reform them, it hasn’t really been working as planned. I underestimated how much some of these guys enjoy being the badass. I can hand them a silver fucking spoon, but they’d rather go and steal a copper one. These are still dangerous men, Evelyn.” He turns to look at me again, his dark eyes hard and his jaw stiff. “I’m still a dangerous man.”
I know he’s trying to scare me, but I understand him now. I get what he’s doing, and I’m not afraid. If anything, it just draws me in even more.
“I want to help,” I say.
“You can’t. Didn’t you hear me? I said that—”
“I heard you,” I interrupt. “I want to help. I get why you needed to keep all of this a secret. I understand what is at risk if the two sides get linked. But the fact is, I already know about both of them. You don’t have to do this alone anymore.”
“Why do you even want to get involved?” His eyes are probing me, as if he’s looking for my angle. His gaze is so powerful I can almost feel it penetrating me, burning away each layer of my façade, but I let him look. There’s nothing to find. No secrets, anyway. No hidden agenda.
“Because you need help. This is too much to do alone, even for you. I think you’re starting to see that now. Besides, you said it yourself, you and I are the only ones that know about both sides of your life, and you aren’t willing to tell anyone else. That means I’m the only one that can help you.” I pause and smile, touching his hand. “Anyway, I’m your assistant, remember? It’s my job to help.”
The corner of Sebastian’s mouth turns up slightly. “Executive assistant. Not MC assistant.” He touches my hand in return. “I don’t know… I can’t ask you to—”
“You’re not asking,” I say. “Let me help. I can be pretty resourceful. Maybe there’s something I can do. Even if it’s just… even if all it means is that you have someone to talk to about things. Sometimes that’s enough. But I’d like to do more.”
Sebastian’s hand closes on mine, engulfing my palm. He nods, and a rush of warmth whispers through me.
“Okay. Fine. You’re right. If nothing else, it will be helpful for someone else to know everything so that I have at least one person I don’t have to worry about keeping my story straight with. It’s hell trying to remember who knows what, which is why I generally try to keep as much to myself as possible.”
I nod. “I get it. So, where should we start?”
Sebastian purses his lips before stepping back, his fingers lingering for a moment before letting go. His gaze travels up and down the length of my body, almost causing a shiver to run up my spine and reminding me that we still haven’t really discussed the kiss and what, if anything, it means.
“We need to get you some new clothes,” he says.
“What?” I look down at my suit. This thing cost Edward a fortune. The one thing I kept from our relationship was the wardrobe he bought for me. He said he wanted his assistant to be dressed as well as he was, and as much as I think he was a complete ass, the one thing he knew how to do was dress well. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“For here at the office? Nothing. But if you want to be part of the rest of my world, you’re going to need to fit in there. And this… “He gestures up and down at my clothes. “…won’t do at all.”
“Wait, so I’m allowed to come to the club now?”
“Best way for you to understand both worlds are to experience them. You’ve seen those guys as an outsider, but now it’s time you go un
dercover. I already told them you were my ol’ lady. Time to act the part. You’ll come with me after work tonight.”
“Okay,” I say, a smile creeping up on my lips. We could discuss him calling me an old lady later. “So, what does that mean exactly? What kind of clothes do I need to wear?”
Sebastian’s lips quirk in a devilish, though subdued, smile. Mostly I can see the mirth in his eyes, which despite their darkness, seem to twinkle in a way that reminds me of Bash, rather than his corporate counterpart.
“What it means is that you need to slut it up a bit and show a lot more skin…”
18
Bash
I wasn't sure what to expect when I told Eve to slut it up. For a second, I almost thought she might slap me again, with the look she gave me. But then she just smiled and said okay, and that I should pick her up from home when I was ready to head to the club. She needed time to go shopping and change.
She didn’t disappoint.
When she opened the door, I had a hard time keeping my mouth closed. Aside from the couple of times we've fucked, I’m pretty accustomed to seeing my assistant covered up. She tends to wear power suits to the office, and even that first night at the club, she was wearing what I would describe as business casual. The second time I saw her she was in sweats and an old t-shirt, and after that, she was in jeans and blouse. Modesty seemed to be her thing.
Now, though, she took the request to slut it up pretty damn literally. The top she’s wearing is barely containing her sizable tits, leaving her flat belly completely exposed. Below that, she’s wearing a red, faux leather skirt. I’m not sure exactly what it’s made of, but it’s tight and it’s short. And then, to top it off, she’s wearing what I like to call “fuck me” boots. They’re black, shiny, and extend all the way up to her knees.
“Holy crap,” I say without thinking. A smile spreads across her gorgeous face, although I barely notice as that’s the last stop my eyes make. She’s wearing more makeup than normal, as well—a lot of eyeliner and red lipstick that not only matches her skirt, but seems to make her lips look fuller and plumper. I immediately think back to how they felt around my cock that first time we met, and I’m tempted to not bother going to the club at all and trying to see if I can talk her into a repeat performance.
“So, this was what you had in mind?”
“Better,” I reply, reaching out to touch the side of her stomach. She swats my hand away with a laugh.
“I thought I was supposed to be your pretend girlfriend, and we were going to the club to meet your friends. We don’t have to start the act until we get there.”
I raise my eyebrow at her. Does she really expect me to keep my hands off of her when she’s looking like this? We did kiss the other day, and although I was planning on pretending like it never happened, she clearly wanted to talk about it earlier, which means she hasn’t put it out of her mind. But fine. If she wants to wait until people are watching before she lets me touch her, we can play that game.
“Then let’s not waste time getting there,” I say, stepping out of the way so she can exit her apartment and lock her door. “And don’t refer to yourself as my girlfriend, if you want to fit in. That’s civilian talk. You’re my ol’ lady.”
“What the hell is an old lady?” Her nose is cute when she wrinkles it in disgust. “That sounds demeaning.”
“Welcome to the world of the MC. Better get used to it if you want to hang with this crew.” I turn and walk toward the elevator, leading her down to my bike, ignoring the little snort she makes behind me.
The trip to the club took longer than expected, since Eve had never ridden on a bike before. She was tentative at first, and didn’t even know how to get on or sit properly. Then once we finally started moving, she held on to me so tightly that I could barely breathe or maneuver enough to properly turn. But after about ten minutes, she began to relax. The rumbling between her legs probably helped with that. Most women I’ve taken for rides claim that’s the best part.
“How’d you like that?” I ask after she takes off her helmet and shakes out her long, dirty-blonde hair. She’s wearing it down today, and it looks fabulous even after having a helmet over it for twenty minutes.
“Intense,” she says, wiggling her hips a bit. Fuck, everything she does turns me on. I’m not sure how realistic the idea of having her around me all the time while not screwing the hell out of her is. She’s convinced me to let her into this world, but how many of my own rules am I going to break for this woman?
Inside, the bar isn't very busy, which is typical for a Monday night. But what it lacks in actual customers, it makes up for in Soldiers. There are at least a dozen of our crew scattered around, most of them centered on the corner with the pool table where they usually hang out. I guide Evelyn over to them and introduce her as Eve to the men that haven’t met her yet. Ripper is noticeably absent, but that’s more of a relief. I don’t need to deal with his shit tonight.
Most of them have a pretty hard time keeping their eyes off of her many exposed body parts, and I’m surprised at how much that annoys me. Staring at pretty women is second nature to these guys—to me, as well, so it’s not like I should have expected any different.
Even more surprising is how well Eve is taking it. She seems to be drinking in the attention, and laughing at the coarse remarks just as well as Jez ever did. Then I remember what she said to Snake on Saturday. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, after all.
A quick glance at my VP tells me he hasn’t forgotten, either. He’s staring at her lips, probably imagining what they would feel like wrapped around his own cock. With the way she's got them painted, who can blame him. But it still pisses me off, so I decide to step away for a moment and collect myself before I say or do something that will seem out of character. After all, I’ve never cared before when any of these guys hit on any of the girls I’ve slept with, so I shouldn’t start now.
Then again, I’ve also never introduced any of them as my ol’ lady.
“I’m getting a drink. You want to come and get one too?”
“No, but you can bring me back a beer,” Eve says, barely turning to look at me. “I’m just getting to know the club here. They might miss me if I leave so soon.”
“Hell yeah, we would,” growls Maximus. He’s a big man, whose appetite for pussy is almost as big as his appetite for food. I shoot him a glare that he totally doesn’t see, his eyes far too distracted by Eve’s ass. I really need that drink.
“Fine, just watch yourself with these bunch. Some of them don't know how to keep their hands to themselves. But they better learn pretty quick.” I direct this last comment at Maximus, who is already touching Eve’s waist and I can see his fingers starting to drift toward the ass he’d been eyeing. He pulls away and looks at me with a guilty grin that I can barely see behind his big, dark beard.
“I’m not sharing this one, boys,” I remind them one last time before striding over to the bar. I better not leave her alone too long. Eve has more confidence than she should with this group, although I do appreciate the effort to fit in. She’s doing a much better job at it than I expected.
I watch from the bar as I wait for my beers, but even once I get them, I don’t hurry back. Eve is holding her own with these guys more so than I’ve ever seen a woman manage before. Every one of them is part of the group talking to her, their pool game abandoned, and shouts of laughter coming from each as they talk. There are still a lot of roving eyes, and I can see at least one of the Soldiers whose hands are hovering around her ass as he likely weighs the pros and cons between copping a feel and potentially answering to me for it later.
She’s fitting in with the crew much easier than I thought she would, which makes me contemplate another positive to this whole arrangement that I hadn’t considered before. Sure, it’s definitely going to help having someone that I can talk to and that can ease the burden of my double life from an abstract point of view, but maybe she can help more concretely as well. Her value
as an EA at Piston is clear, but I didn’t think about her value on this side of the equation.
Maybe she can be a second set of eyes. Maybe I’m too close, which is why I haven’t been able to root out the real instigators against me from the ones that are just unhappy with change. If Eve gets friendly enough with these guys, maybe she’ll be able to spot something I’ve missed. Maybe she’ll be able to identify who it is leading the hidden charge against me.
Watching her talk with the guys, flirt with them, make them laugh, it stirs a feeling inside of me that is foreign and takes a few moments to identify. Once I do, I can’t deny the truth of it, regardless of how annoying the feeling is. I’m jealous.
“Here’s your beer,” I interrupt, thrusting it at Eve with a bit more force than is necessary. She doesn’t even notice. She just takes it and continues talking to Zane, her hand resting lightly on the leather cuff of his jacket. I’m sure she means it innocently, or at least, as harmless flirtation, but Zane’s eyes keep drifting down to it as they speak. He is obviously reading it as more.
“Found yourself a winner here,” says Maximus. He takes another swig of his beer and some of it dribbles down his beard and onto his shirt. As usual, he’s already well on his way to being three sheets to the wind. “No wonder you haven’t been around much lately. Fuck, if Eve here was my ol’ lady, I probably would never bring her around this bunch.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Introducing her to you fucks was probably a mistake.” I say it with a smile, but there’s a gruffness in my voice that Eve notices and she gives me a look, her hand slipping off of Zane’s wrist.
“Zane here was just telling me about some modifications he’s made to his motorcycle that he wanted to show me. I’m not sure how good of an audience I would be for that, though, since I don’t know a lot about bikes.”
Bounty Page 66
