by Bethany-Kris
“Go to hell.”
Evelina sucked in a breath when Tommas pushed Abriella into the closest room. It was one of the bathrooms at the far end. She heard another slap echo, and then the slam of the door followed.
She didn’t want to get closer to the couple and their fight. She didn’t want to interrupt them, but at the same time, she didn’t want someone else to find out what was happening, either. Stepping down into the hallway, Evelina moved to the opened laundry room which just happened to be directly beside the bathroom that Tommas and Abriella had entered.
The front loading washer was running through the final couple of minutes. The quiet hum of the machine was near silent as it turned the towels inside slowly to get out the remaining water. Evelina grabbed the knob and turned it back on a heavy spin cycle.
The noise would block out whatever sounds came from the bathroom and the couple. Mostly. She heard a soft cry and a thump, followed by Abriella’s demand for more. She didn’t want to hear those things at all.
Evelina finally understood why Tommas overlooked the mark he found on her body. He had his own to make on another woman and he simply wanted the idea of the marriage. Evelina hoped he got the chance to explain that to Abriella. For now, Evelina would keep Tommas’ secrets.
Because he kept hers.
Evelina turned to flick on the exhaust fan for the room and froze right where she stood. Theo leaned in the doorway with dark eyes trained on the wall. Without a word, he leaned over and hit the fan switch. The noise finally drowned Tommas and Abriella out.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Who is in the next room?”
Theo’s question was answered with silence from Evelina.
Who was she trying to protect?
Despite the hum of the fan and the noise of the washing machine as it vibrated through a loud spin cycle, Theo could still hear the telltale sounds of what was happening in the next room. Repeated thumps to the wall and muffled voices. Whoever it was liked it rough and hard. The noise was muted, and no one upstairs would hear, but he could.
“Eve?” Theo asked again.
“Did you follow me down here?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Theo wasn’t sure how to answer that, honestly. “You seemed upset.”
“So you followed me?”
“I thought—”
“Thought what, Theo?” Evelina cut in, her lips drawing thin and her gaze narrowing. “You told me not to play games with you, remember?”
“I did.”
“Then don’t do this, okay. This is the same thing. It might make me think you give a shit about me and neither one of us needs that nonsense. Go back upstairs.”
Theo cocked a brow. “No.”
“No?”
“No.” Taking a step further into the room, Theo closed the door behind him. “Not thirty minutes ago you basically asked me when we were going to fuck again. Now, you’re trying to shove me off quickly because you don’t want me to know who is in that room fucking, Eve. Isn’t that right? Because someone is in there, and that’s exactly what they’re doing. Deny it.”
Evelina twisted her hands together. “Yes.”
“Who is it?”
“Tommas.”
Theo’s stance softened instantly. “Tommas?”
“That’s what I said, Theo.”
She’d just gotten engaged to the man and Tommas couldn’t wait five minutes before sticking his cock into the closest wet, warm hole that he could find? It wasn’t like a lot of guys in the Outfit were faithful to their wives, because they weren’t. People in the Outfit didn’t marry for love, mostly. They married to strengthen their families and do their duty. The lucky ones like Adriano and Alessa were far and few in between.
Theo didn’t agree with infidelity, but another man and woman’s choices weren’t his to speak about. But hell, why here and now? Didn’t Tommas have even an ounce of respect for Evelina?
Jesus.
“And who else?” Theo asked quieter.
“It’s not—”
“Listen, I don’t give a damn about your precious little morals here, Eve. If you want to act like the Conti princess with everybody else, feel free. With me, you give me Evelina or fucking nobody. Got it?”
Evelina scowled. “It has nothing to do with being a princess, okay.”
“Then what?”
“It’s my friend, Theo. He’s with my friend and I already betrayed her enough tonight with this whole thing. The least I can do is protect her from being hurt more or keep her from getting caught because she is hurting.”
Theo ran through a quick list in his head of people Evelina was close to. Only three females stood out and two were taken.
“Abriella Trentini.”
“Yes.” Evelina crossed her arms and leaned against the loud washer. “You didn’t know?”
“No.”
Obviously not.
Theo had heard rumors that Tommas Rossi was involved with a woman, but that was all he knew. Theo wasn’t the kind of man who pried into personal shit and Tommas didn’t offer info. Everybody assumed Tommas didn’t want a wife. Apparently, it wasn’t a matter of not wanting one, but being unable to have the one he wanted.
“Damn,” Theo mumbled, running a hand over his face. “How long?”
“As far as I know, since she was eighteen.”
Shit. Almost four years.
There was an eight year age gap between Abriella and Tommas.
“It’s not a casual thing then, is it?”
“No,” Evelina whispered. “They even have an apartment together that they stayed at a lot when Abriella had her apartment with her sister.”
“Do a lot of people know?”
“I don’t think so. Just people who are close to Ella and maybe Tommas, too. They’ve been really careful and quiet.”
Theo had to agree.
“For good reason,” he said. “Joel would kill Tommas for this. Abriella is the only thing the Trentini family has left to get them anywhere. She’d make Joel look like a damn fool.”
“He already does.”
“Still …” Theo didn’t really know what to say. “I’m sorry.”
“What for, Theo?”
“I thought you were protecting him or some shit because that’d be your thing, wouldn’t it? You know the rules, and you know how to turn cheek like a good little mob wife.” Theo took another step forward, close enough to reach out and stroke a finger down her bare arm. “It’s got nothing to do with being what they want you to be, does it?”
“I care about Ella. And Tommas, too. He kept my secrets. I won’t tell his.”
Evelina understood loyalty a hell of a lot better than most Outfit men did. And she was a damned woman.
Theo couldn’t stop the heavy feeling in his chest from spreading. He liked that she was that kind of woman. That even with Abriella’s and Tommas’ actions putting Evelina in a bad situation, and probably even hurting her, she still protected them in the only way she knew how.
“He’s intended to be your husband,” Theo said. “You can be angry about this, Eve.”
“I don’t think he intends to be my anything.”
Theo’s brow furrowed. “Why is that?”
“The idea of a marriage is what he asked me for. That is not a guarantee for one, Theo.”
“The idea,” he echoed.
What in the hell was going on around them? Theo felt confused with a giant target on his back that he didn’t even understand how it had gotten there.
“And I also think that’s why he didn’t care about the mark he found on my neck,” Evelina added softer. “Because he doesn’t intend to follow through with this at all, so he’s willing to let me do what I want as long as I’m careful about it.”
“Until he can find a way out of this whole thing,” Theo said.
“Maybe.” Evelina shrugged. “That nonsense upstairs with my father sure seemed like a good show for the crowd and nothing more, di
dn’t it?”
“Riley would not put the offer of an engagement on the table, Eve, not if he meant for it to be followed through to the end.”
“Tommas isn’t Riley.”
“You’re very right about that.” Theo’s mind drifted to the scene he’d seen before he followed Evelina downstairs. Joel had approached Riley with clenched fists and whispered words before both men disappeared into the upstairs section of the home. “Remember when I asked you at the hotel about the marriage rumors?”
“What about it?”
“Was it only Tommas?”
Evelina shook her head. “I overheard my father talking to Tommas a few days before I approached you at the club. Riley had talked to Joel and Tommas about the offer of an engagement to me. Tommas took it for whatever reason. I don’t know why.”
“Or maybe Riley didn’t give Joel the chance to accept.”
“It doesn’t matter, Theo. Not right now.”
The noise from the next room had died down to practically nothing at all before another thump landed against the wall. Theo eyed Evelina silently, taking in the way she didn’t seem bothered by what was happening all that much.
“You’re too good for these people,” Theo told her.
Evelina looked up at him through her dark lashes, amusement dancing behind her green irises. “Actually, I think I’m kind of perfect for them.”
“Oh?”
“I’m a liar just like everybody else and apparently I’m too loyal for my own good.”
She was.
Theo liked it all, too.
“Not exactly a liar,” Theo said.
“Sometimes.”
“Not to me.”
Evelina smiled. “Not yet, anyway.”
Chuckling, Theo asked, “Are you planning on lying to me anytime soon?”
“No.”
“That’s all that matters, babe.” Theo reached up and caught Evelina’s chin between his forefinger and thumb. Tilting her head up, he watched a varying range of emotions flicker over her features. “And I still think you are, Eve.”
“What?”
“Too good for these people.”
Evelina bit her bottom lip. “Don’t say stuff like that, Theo.”
“Why not? It’s true. I speak only the truth, Evelina.”
“But—”
“Hey.” Theo took another step closer, crowding Evelina’s body to the frontloading washer. Her hand grabbed onto the buckle of his belt and her eyes widened. “Don’t start with that nonsense, Eve. Don’t let what others do and think affect who you are.”
“See, stuff like that, Theo.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Evelina’s hand tightened on his belt when his hand settled on the curve of her waist. Theo knew better than to be messing with this girl at all, but especially inside this house. Frankly, right then he couldn’t find it in himself to give a damn. Evelina was upset and he didn’t like that at all.
“Stop frowning,” Theo murmured. “Your smile is a much better sight.”
“That, Theo.” Evelina shook her head and said, “That right there.”
“What?”
The truth?
She didn’t like the truth?
“When you say stuff like that and do … this,” she said, waving between them. “We hooked up, right? That’s all it was. If you keep doing shit like this, you’re going to start messing with my head. No games, that’s what you said. Don’t play them with me, either. Don’t go on making me think you care about me in some way and getting me mixed up in that craziness. We both know it won’t end well.”
“Bad,” he said quietly. “We would be bad. That’s what I said, Eve.”
“Exactly.”
“But I said nothing about not caring for you. Not once did I say something like that.”
Evelina stilled under his heavy stare. “Oh.”
“I do care about the things that happen to you. It also bothers me that twice now you’ve been involved with an incident that has been blamed on me when we both know I didn’t do a damned thing. It concerns me entirely that someone is using you as a means to get rid of me. Or at least, that’s how it seems.”
“So, you don’t care about me, Theo, you’re just worried about the things around me.”
“It’s the same thing, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think so,” she whispered.
Theo tightened his grip on her waist to keep her in place. Evelina didn’t try to move, but he didn’t want to give her the chance to run. He needed to think for a second. He couldn’t do that if he was chasing after her again.
Again …
Because he’d chased this girl in his own way for a long time.
“I think if I didn’t care, I would have given up trying to know anything about you a long time ago,” Theo said, chuckling. “Back when you were eighteen and never gave me a phone call. Or during all those dinner parties when you brushed me off. How about the date you refused and another call you never made?”
“I—”
“I never said I wasn’t interested or that I didn’t care, Evelina.”
“No,” she admitted. “Just that we would be bad.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you interested?” she asked softly.
Theo wet his lips. Evelina looked up at him with a vulnerability in her eyes. “I hate your father. I don’t trust him, we’ve had issues long before he became boss, and I can’t see my problems with him changing anytime soon. You’re involved in a fake engagement with a man who can’t seem to keep his eyes on the right woman for long enough to make people believe what they need to believe. You’ve got a brother who made quite a scandal with the sister of a man who is as stupid as they come, and is probably at least one of the people who would like to get me in a makeshift grave.”
“Your point?”
“I have enough problems, Eve. I have so much shit to worry about and take care of that bringing someone else into it all seems really selfish of me. What do you want from this, huh? Do you want someone to take you out on dates and give you some kind of happily ever after of your own making? Do you want a white wedding and children? That’s not my style. I don’t do that kind of nonsense.”
“I didn’t say anything like that, Theo.”
“No, but it’d lead to that eventually. Everybody gets to that point at some time in their life. So yeah, I think it’d be really fucking selfish of me to even try to start something with someone only to have to end it when I couldn’t give them more than what I have now.”
Evelina blinked, her green eyes glazing with water. “Who made you feel like that?”
Theo cleared his throat, surprised. “Pardon?”
“Who made you feel so entirely worthless, Theo?”
“No one.”
Lies.
Lies were so much easier to speak than the truth.
“Someone did,” Evelina said quietly. “Someone made you feel like you’re not worth more than what you are right now. Alone. By yourself. Surviving. Who did that to you?”
“Drop it.”
“Is that why we would be bad, Theo?”
“Yes,” he admitted.
It was the only thing he would give her.
Evelina pointed her finger hard into his chest. “I never asked you for anything more than what you already gave. And keep in mind, Theo, you’re the one who approached me and handed over exactly what you wanted to give me. So, if you don’t want to do this with me, then don’t fucking do it.”
“Don’t do it, huh?”
“No. Don’t. At all.” Evelina dropped her hand and sighed. “Don’t give me mixed signals, don’t make me think you might care, and don’t approach me again. It’s that simple. Just stop it. All of it.”
Theo opened his mouth to agree, but something kept him from doing so.
“What?” Evelina demanded. “What is it now, Theo?”
“You’re still not asking for anything,” he said.
Nothing.
She extended him loyalty and trust. She’d given him nights with her and then asked for nothing when it ended. Nothing more. Everybody else always wanted something from Theo.
“The only thing I want is for you to leave me alone if that’s what you need to do, Theo. Don’t make me believe there’s something here that could turn into something else. Don’t lead me to believe that putting myself at risk for someone who doesn’t give a damn about me is worth it. Don’t do that. It isn’t fair.”
Theo glanced away, taking in her words and letting them settle in. “But you’re not asking me for more, right?”
“No. Where could this even go?”
“If I didn’t leave you alone, you wouldn’t ask me for more, right?”
Because he wasn’t entirely sure if he was going to leave her alone.
Evelina tightened her grip on his belt again. “No.”
“I don’t want to be selfish, Eve, but I’m very interested in you and who you are.”
“It’s all right to care, Theo.” Evelina tugged on his collar, forcing him to look at her. “You’re not going to leave me alone, are you?”
“You make it easy, even if it’s stupid.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Who you are makes it easy for me to care, Eve.”
“I’m not asking you for anything, Theo.”
But she might … someday.
Evelina poked his chest again. “Stop overthinking this, okay.”
“Okay.”
Without warning, Evelina stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his mouth. It should have been quick and done, but the moment her lips touched his, he wanted more. He figured that out during their stay at the hotel.
A little bit of Evelina Conti was not nearly enough to sedate a man.
She could satisfy him.
She could please him.
She could fuck him dry.
But Theo wanted more.
Like he was the goddamn addict and someone had just handed him the needle, he needed more of this woman. Just a little touch made his cock hard and her sweet kiss was enough to make his chest tight with need. So when she kissed him, he couldn’t just leave it at that. No, he pinned her harder against the vibrating washer, drove his hands under her dress to feel the smoothness of her thighs against his palms, and soaked in the taste and heat of her mouth as her tongue battled with his.
