Scarless & Sacred (The Chicago War #3)

by Bethany-Kris

  “Interesting,” Theo said. “But what does it matter?”

  “It doesn’t. Not to anyone else. But maybe I want to know why you’re doing it to me, too.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Liar,” Evelina whispered.

  Theo’s gaze flitted away briefly before he sat back down in his seat and threw the car out of park. Evelina couldn’t let him do that. It was just another deflection. Before she’d really thought her actions over, she leaned across the seat and grabbed his wrist as he placed his hands on the steering wheel.

  “Stop,” she demanded.

  The muscles in his arm jumped under her touch. She grabbed tighter, squeezing his wrist.

  It was a blink.

  Just a blink … Evelina found herself pushed back to the door roughly. It didn’t hurt, but it was shocking. There was nothing sweet in Theo’s angry, dark stare. His jaw was clenched tight, teeth bared. A hissed cuss was right on the tip of his tongue as Evelina gasped.

  She let him go.

  Theo swallowed hard and rested back into his seat, rubbing his wrist in circles with his other hand. Her small squeeze couldn’t have possibly hurt him, but pain marred his features all the same.

  “I’m … sorry,” Theo rasped.

  Evelina’s eyes widened and her heart raced.

  What just happened?

  “It’s okay,” Evelina said.

  “Don’t grab me, not like that.”

  “Not there or not at all?”

  Theo’s shoulders stiffened.

  It wasn’t the first time Evelina had noticed Theo’s strange quirk of rubbing his wrist whenever he turned quiet or a certain subject was brought up. A subject like his brother or uncle.

  “Theo,” Evelina said softly.

  He closed his eyes, sucked in a breath, and then stared out the front windshield. The anger was gone, but so was everything else. All that was left on Theo’s handsome features was a cold, blank expression as he grabbed the steering wheel, and the car pulled out onto the road.

  “Theo, there or not at all?” she asked again.

  “There.”

  “Okay.” Evelina filed that info away for later. “Why?”

  “Because I don’t like it, all right,” he said harshly.

  “You rub it a lot, I noticed. I asked and—”

  “And I told you it doesn’t hurt, I just don’t like it.”

  Like a vice, she realized. He used it like a vice. Or maybe a memory. Evelina wondered what Theo was hiding.

  “This is why, Eve.”

  Evelina watched him warily. “Why what?”

  “I don’t date.”

  The words might as well have been spit through his teeth. He didn’t take his intense, burning stare off the road for a second. Evelina was grateful because she was sure if he turned it on her, it would surely hurt.

  Evelina blinked, confused. “At all?”

  “No.”

  “Hookups is kind of like dating,” Evelina said. “I mean, in a way.”

  “In a way,” he echoed. “Only if you keep seeking out and fucking the same person.”

  “And you don’t.”

  Theo cringed. “I don’t mind having a dozen women hanging around. I don’t mind sweet-talking them or letting people believe whatever they want about my relationships with those women. I just don’t care.”

  Evelina cleared her throat, feeling more uncertain than ever. “Why?”

  “Because then I don’t have to explain why I don’t have a girlfriend or a wife yet, or even a few kids running around under my feet when I’m twenty-seven-years old. I don’t have to explain why I don’t want those things. Instead, people just see what they want to see about me and they draw their own conclusions. I am more than fine with letting them do that.”

  “Theo—”

  “Why did you come looking for me tonight?” he asked sharply. “Why?”

  “I told you.”

  “A bunch of bullshit.”

  “It is not!”

  Theo glowered at the windshield. “I think it is. I don’t know what you’re looking for when it comes to me, but look elsewhere, princess. You won’t find it here.”

  Evelina glared right back at him, even if he wasn’t looking at her. “You sought me out first, Theo. Remember? Several times.”

  “Stupidity,” Theo spat.

  “Yours or mine?”

  “Mine, obviously.”

  Evelina sighed, over the entire conversation. “You know what, I’m done.”

  “There’s nothing to be done about.”

  Wrong.

  He was so wrong.

  “There’s something,” Evelina said quietly, crossing her arms and watching the buildings pass them by. “There was something.”

  “You have to start something to finish it, Eve.”

  “You started it with me!”

  Theo’s hand smacked the wheel hard. “You don’t get it, do you? I’m not in the right spot or frame of mind to give you anything and even when I thought I was, I still couldn’t. I was playing stupid, just like my fucking brother. Hiding bad things and keeping the lights on at night. I won’t keep doing that, Eve. Look elsewhere.”

  “I didn’t come looking for anything!”

  “Yes, you did,” Theo said heavily. “You did because you came to me tonight. Don’t do this. I can’t do this, Eve.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Of course you don’t. Princess, remember?”

  “DeLuca principe, isn’t that what they call you?”

  Theo laughed, dark and hateful.

  “Yeah. And the king should have kept me locked in the tower, Eve.”

  Before Evelina could respond, Theo cursed under his breath and cut the lights on the Stingray. The car jerked to the side of the road again.

  “Where did you say you left your BMW?” he asked.

  Evelina followed Theo’s stare, noting the flashing red, blue, and white lights reflecting off the buildings down the block. The police cars—there had to be more than one with the amount of lights going—couldn’t be seen from their position.

  “Eve?” Theo asked.

  “I parked it in a twenty-four hour spot where it wouldn’t get ticketed or towed.”

  “Where those lights are coming from down that street.”

  Evelina nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Shit.”

  “This is bad, right?”

  Theo scoffed. “No, this is perfect. Great, even.”

  “Sarcasm looks awful on you, Theo.”

  “Liar, I look goddamn good when I’m being an arrogant ass and everybody knows it.”

  Evelina didn’t bother denying it. Because he did look good when he acted like as asshole. Well, he looked good all the time.

  “Shut up, Theo,” Evelina muttered, unwilling to give him the last word.

  A faint smile curved his lips as he shook his head. “That all you got?”

  “For now.”

  Theo pulled the Stingray back on the road silently and turned the lights back on.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Quiet.”

  “Theo—”

  “Eve, sit there and be quiet, goddammit.”

  He didn’t act like anything was amiss as they drove closer to where the lights were flashing down inside the street. A block had been put up at the end of the street where police officers stood, huddled in groups. A few people gathered around the road block, looking down the street.

  Evelina couldn’t help herself; she leaned forward and looked down the road when Theo slowed the car down. If her heart had been racing before, it now felt like it was going to jump right out of her throat.

  “Oh, my God,” Evelina whispered.

  “That your car?” Theo asked.

  Was.

  Was her car, she wanted to say to him.

  Now, it looked like black, twisted metal. It was still smoking. What in the hell happened? Evelina glanced around the people down in the street
, but couldn’t discern the faces. It couldn’t have been a random attack. Not her car. And by the looks of it, that was a pretty big bang.

  When a police officer noticed Theo’s car slowing down, he stepped away from the group of officials to approach. Theo hit the gas and sent Evelina flying back into the seat.

  “Sorry,” Theo muttered.

  “S’okay.”

  It wasn’t.

  Nothing was okay.

  “That was my car,” she said faintly.

  “Looks like it.”

  “No one knew where I was, Theo.”

  “So you said.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Away from here.” Theo rubbed at his temples. “Is your phone turned on?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “GPS,” she explained.

  Just like the GPS that was in her car. The one her father liked to use to track her. Evelina couldn’t breathe. Did Riley do that? Why would he do that if he even did?

  She found it hard to blame it on anyone else when her BMW wasn’t exactly the only one in the city, she’d parked it in a decent, quiet location, and her father would have been the only person who could have found it.

  Theo watched Evelina from the corner of his eye like he could read her thoughts. “Take a breath or something, babe.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “I kind of like it.”

  Evelina frowned. “Me, too.”

  “Breathe,” he repeated quietly. “You’re sure no one followed you, right?”

  “Positive,” Evelina said, wishing it was a lie.

  The truth hurt.

  “GPS was still on your car, yeah?”

  “Yes.”

  Theo cursed lowly.

  “Why would someone do that?” she asked.

  Someone.

  Evelina choked on the word. Theo didn’t answer. The last shooting, he had been given all the fault for it.

  “Will they blame you for this, too?” Evelina asked.

  Theo blew out a harsh breath. “Probably.”

  “Why?”

  “Someone wants me gone.”

  “Someone?” she asked.

  “I thought it was Joel,” Theo admitted. “But I don’t know anymore.”

  “That was my car,” Evelina said.

  She felt like a parrot, repeating one thing over and over as if to make it true.

  “Yeah, it was.”

  Evelina glanced out the window when Theo pulled a U-turn right in the middle of an empty road. “Where are we going?”

  “Somewhere.”

  “Somewhere,” she echoed.

  Theo passed her a look, the darkness filling his features again. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you, Eve.”

  “Here.” Theo tossed a cell phone to Evelina. She let it fall to the king sized bed between them instead of catching it. “Eve, call your brother and let him know you’re okay.”

  Evelina took inventory of the hotel room. The Hilton suite wasn’t anything to scoff at with its leather furniture, huge flat screen and entertainment space sporting among many things, a pool table, plus the wet bar, and an enclosed, heated deck with a hot tub outside.

  Thirteen floors high.

  Evelina felt like she was floating up above, looking down.

  “Eve,” Theo said again.

  “Call my brother, I heard you.”

  “All right. I’m going to go have a smoke or something.”

  “Is the phone safe?” Evelina asked.

  “It’s a phone I use to keep in contact with someone I don’t want others knowing about, so yes, it’s safe.”

  Evelina wanted to press him for more information, but she chose not to. Once Theo stepped outside onto the enclosed deck and shut the glass door, Evelina picked up the phone and dialed Adriano. Her brother picked up on the second ring.

  “Conti speaking.”

  “Adriano, it’s me … Eve,” Evelina said, willing away the shakiness and confusion still lingering in her tone. She didn’t want him worrying or freaking out, but chances were, he already was. When Adriano stayed quiet on the other end, she added, “I’m okay.”

  “Jesus Christ,” Adriano mumbled. “Eve?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Where are you?” her brother demanded. “I’ll come get you.”

  “No, don’t. I’m okay right now.”

  “You were supposed to go to the store!”

  Evelina flinched. “I know.”

  “Do you? Because when you didn’t come back to the apartment, I had to send guys out looking for you. When they couldn’t find you, I had to call Riley to get a trace on your fucking car.”

  “I saw the car,” she said softly.

  “Before or after somebody burned it to the ground?”

  Yikes.

  Adriano did not sound pleased.

  “After,” Evelina said. “I don’t know when that happened. Somebody burned it down? I thought it looked like somebody blew it up.”

  “No, it looks like gasoline or some kind of accelerant was used to burn it. By the time the firemen got there, it was pointless. After I got the last location from Riley, Alessa and I took a drive over there and found the mess. Where in the hell are you, Eve?”

  “I just … needed to get away for a night.”

  “Why? Do you realize how fucking worried I was?” Adriano grumbled something unintelligible and then said, “Listen, I don’t know what is going on with you, but no matter how awful shit is, you don’t get to just disappear like that.”

  Evelina nodded even though her brother couldn’t see it. “I know, but I did, so drop it.”

  “Somebody burned down your car.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Stay away for a couple of days,” Adriano said, a sadness lacing his words. “I’ll cover for you. Somehow. Even if I have to lie about it, whatever.”

  She was not about to argue with that.

  “Okay.”

  “Where are you, Eve?”

  “With somebody,” she admitted.

  “Who?”

  “Somebody I shouldn’t be with.”

  “Christ,” Adriano muttered. “Don’t tell me.”

  “I won’t.”

  She never would.

  Evelina waited for over an hour, but Theo didn’t come back inside the hotel room. No, he just stayed outside in the enclosed deck. Never once did he light up a cigarette, either.

  Frustrated at being ignored, she stalked across the room and opened the glass door. The warm heat blasting into the space hit Evelina instantly. The hot tub was covered but she could hear the hum of the heater and jets working. With the glass windows overlooking a rather busy part of Chicago, the lights thirteen floors down seemed to almost flicker like sparkling diamonds.

  Heights bothered Evelina.

  She shouldn’t have stepped out on the deck.

  “Yes?” Theo asked from where he stood leaning against one of the floor to ceiling windows.

  “Um …”

  “Come on, you can do better than that.”

  Evelina’s hackles rattled at his teasing. “Don’t do that, Theo. You only do that nonsense to get a rise out of me.”

  “And it works.” Theo smirked, adding, “Go order something to eat, or whatever. There’s no need for us to bicker with one another tonight.”

  What was he trying to prove?

  Evelina ignored how high she knew she was above the ground and stepped a little further out on the enclosed deck. “You’re a walking cliché, aren’t you?”

  Theo cocked a brow. “I beg your pardon?”

  “You are a walking cliché. The bad boy with issues, maybe you think you’re irreparable or something, and you have to warn everybody off that gets too close. It’s like your defense mechanism. That’s why you’re always poking at me like you do. Because I get close and you feel like you need to push back. What, is the pretty woman going to come along and fix all the parts on Theo DeLuca that don’t work right
? Is that it?”

  Theo stared at Evelina and not an inch of him moved. He didn’t even blink. Evelina was sure he didn’t breathe, either.

  “Well,” he drawled.

  Evelina shifted in her heels, letting her hands fall to her sides. “Well, what?”

  “That’s a first. I’ve never heard that before.”

  “People don’t get close enough to tell you.”

  “Maybe,” he agreed.

  She felt almost uncomfortable under his heavy stare.

  “Stop it,” Evelina muttered.

  “Stop what?”

  “Looking at me like that; like I’m crazy or something.”

  Theo laughed. “I don’t look at you like you’re crazy, Eve. I look at you like I don’t know what’s going to come next.”

  She took another step forward. “Is that a bad thing?”

  “Yes. This is all bad.”

  “All of it?”

  Theo hummed his agreement. “I already told you this.”

  “That we would be bad.”

  “So bad,” Theo said quietly. “Go back inside.”

  “I really don’t want to.”

  “Bad,” he repeated.

  Evelina wondered if he even cared about his own warnings. Guessing by the way his jaw tightened, his gaze traveled down her black dress, and his balled fists stayed on the railing attached to the glass walled windows, she didn’t think so. She was pretty sure Theo wanted her.

  What would it hurt?

  Who would it hurt?

  Evelina moved forward until she was standing close enough to reach out and touch Theo if she wanted. A heat flared in his eyes. He’d taken his suit jacket off and tossed it over one of the plush chairs on the deck. The silk dress shirt he wore stretched across his chest with every little movement. It showcased defined muscles, and the hint of a tattoo peeking out on his tanned skin where the top two buttons on his shirt were undone.

  Theo was the very definition of tall, dark, and gorgeous.

  “I’m not good at denying things I like,” Theo said, his tone dripping deep with sex. “You should listen and do what I say.”

  “Go back inside,” Evelina said.

  “Yeah. I’ve got enough problems without adding a woman to the list.”

  Evelina didn’t even feel offended by his statement. “And I’d be a problem—”

  “I just said that.”

  “—because you like me,” she finished.