by Ali Parker
After our drinks were finished and our check was paid, Eve stood next to her car and flipped her hair over her shoulder with a shy smile on her lips. “Good night, Tyson. Thanks for talking to me. I’m always here to listen, okay?”
Before she could slide into the driver’s seat, I wrapped my hand loosely around her wrist. “I’m not ready for the night to be over yet. Do you want to come back to my place?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Eve
I am an asshole. A selfish, lying asshole. Fine, I was only lying to Tyson by omission, but I knew that wasn’t going to make one bit of difference when he eventually found everything out. He already knew I knew his dad, but he didn’t know how involved I really was.
When he had opened up to me in the restaurant, I wanted to tell him the whole truth more than anything. The only reason why I hadn’t was because I was afraid he would walk away and never look back. I hadn’t been ready for that to happen.
I wouldn’t even have been able to blame him for walking away if he had. I was pretty sure I would have done exactly the same thing if our roles had been reversed. Especially given what he’d just told me.
The news Sonny had given him had shocked me to the core. I felt the whispers of it rocking all the way through to my little toe and back again. Roy had told me that his wife died about six years before I had met him, but he had never told me how. All of this had been going on for so much longer than I had ever realized.
I had known those guys Roy was involved with were evil, but even I couldn’t comprehend how evil they really were if they murdered Mrs. Lovett simply to prove how serious they were being about Roy not having a way out of helping them hide their online trail of money.
It was a level of awful I couldn’t wrap my head around—taking a man’s wife and depriving five children of having a mother only to force their father to keep working for you. Although I had long since learned there were some very sick people sharing the world with the rest of us.
It was selfish of me to take Tyson up on his offer of coming home with him because I still hadn’t told him the truth. Knowing I really cared about him was confusing me. I was going to have to tell him the truth and take whatever consequences followed, or I had to walk away from him. I hadn’t decided what to do yet. All I knew was that when he asked me to come to his place, I felt the same way he did. I hadn’t been ready for our night together to end yet, and so I said yes.
We hadn’t even been all the way through his front door when he pushed me up against the wall, and his lips crashed into mine. He kissed me hard, groaning when my lips parted, and I allowed him in. Holding me firmly in place with his hips, he cupped my cheek with one hand and slid the other to the nape of my neck.
This kiss was somehow more intimate than any we had shared before. The way he cradled my head made me feel like he cherished me, adored me even. I melted against his chest, winding my arms around his neck and pulling him closer to me.
Our bodies were pressed together tightly enough that I could feel his heart hammering just as hard as mine was. I stroked the fingers of one hand over the stubble of his jaw. He lifted his lips away from mine lazily and opened his eyes, holding my gaze captive. “I didn’t invite you over for this, so if you just want to have a drink—”
Bringing my fingers to his soft, slightly swollen lips, I pressed down gently. “I don’t want a drink. Take me to your room.”
There I went, being selfish again. I couldn’t help myself when it came to him. This time, however, I didn’t want him to take me to his bedroom only to scratch the itch he invariably always stoked in me. I wanted to be with him. To let my body tell him all the things my brain wouldn’t allow my mouth to say.
Tyson nodded without a word and slipped one arm under my arm and the other behind my knees, lifting me up and carrying me to his bed. He laid me down on his mattress gently, like I was something precious.
It was different than the other times we’d been together but in a good way. I’d never felt cherished this way. Ever.
Tyson settled his big body over mine, pressing his lips to my neck in soft kisses that made me whimper for more. I felt him smile against my skin, but he didn’t give me what I wanted.
My sweater had ridden up when he laid me down. With his left hand brushing against the exposed sliver of skin between my jeans and the sweater, his right rested on my side, and his thumb stroked random patterns on the underside of my breast.
When we’d been together before, he’d always managed to somehow keep most of his weight off me. That wasn’t true tonight. I was sure I still wasn’t taking his full weight, but he was pushing me into the mattress with the majority of it.
I would’ve expected it to be uncomfortable, but it wasn’t. It made me feel safe and protected like he knew exactly how much I could take and how I would have liked our bodies fused together permanently if that was any kind of option.
Lowering his head to mine for another kiss, he nipped at my bottom lip before reclaiming my mouth. Our soft moans and heavy breathing only barely audible, we undressed each other without saying a word. It was almost reverent the way we touched each other, our movements a seemingly choreographed slow dance.
Tyson lifted his body weight off me only enough to grasp the edge of my sweater and drag it over my head. As my sweater came off, my hands fell to the top button of his shirt, and he leaned back as I swiftly unbuttoned it. When I pushed the shirt off his shoulders, he tossed it aside and rose on his knees. With a few quick flicks, I opened his fly and shoved his jeans and briefs down around his hips.
I lay back on the bed as our mouths met for another kiss as we kicked loose the rest of our clothing. In keeping with our unhurried pace, Tyson’s mouth never left mine. I could feel the hard, hot length of him against my thigh, the thick crown against my slick folds as we kissed, but there was none of our usual rush.
This was happening, and we knew it, but we were both satisfied taking our time. I loved the way he was touching me, his fingers leaving hot trials of heat and raised hairs in their wake as he dragged them over my arms and sides.
My nails scratched lightly at the muscles in his back, my fingertips against his skin. I wanted him as much as I always did, if not more so, but this seemed important somehow. It felt like we were caught in the serendipitous discovery of one another, a slow, sensual tease of exploration.
My need burgeoned, growing with every touch. Tyson’s hips ground against mine, a low hiss interrupting our kiss. Pleasure sparked through me.
“Eve, baby.” He drew his head back to look into my eyes. “I can’t wait.”
“Neither can I.” I lifted my hips against his to accentuate my point but only succeeded in making both of us moan impatiently. “I need to feel you inside me.”
“I need to be there.” Tyson produced a condom from thin air, rolled it on so fast it was a bit of a blur, and sank into me slowly.
I gasped when he was fully seated. “Tyson.”
“Yeah?” His answer came through gritted teeth.
“Move. Please.” I rocked forward, my hips moving of their own accord.
His eyes darkened, reflecting back the intense need I felt.
Whatever thread of self-control he’d been holding on to snapped, and he withdrew from me only to thrust back in harder and more possessively than ever before. I relished it, all of it. Every trembling muscle and low groan, every stroke of his tongue and touch of his hands. I didn’t want to forget a single thing.
When we both succumbed to our impending climaxes at the same time, I held on to him so tight I knew there were going to be crescent marks from my nails on his skin for hours to come. “Tyson!”
“Eve.” He shuddered against me, his eyes falling closed as his forehead fell to mine. I breathed in the moment, touching his face and trying to memorize every single plane of it when he was overtaken with pleasure. It tore my heart to shreds knowing this couldn’t happen again, tears already stinging my eyes before he even opened his.
<
br /> After allowing myself just a couple of minutes for my muscles to stop shaking and my breathing to return to normal, I climbed out of bed. Tyson lifted an eyebrow, propping himself up on his elbows. “Where are you going this time?”
I could have sworn I saw a flash of pain in his eyes when I got dressed, but I couldn’t act on it. Tyson was going to hate me when the truth came out. The prospect of hurting him and the guilt I already felt about causing that hurt was already threatening to choke me.
My chest felt flayed open. I could already feel the pain, but I knew it was about to get much, much worse. This was a kind of pain that would alter me in ways I couldn’t yet understand was waiting right around the corner.
The longer I stayed in bed with Tyson, feeling safe and maybe even a little loved in his arms, the worse it was going to be when the shit hit the fan. I’d wanted nothing more than to stay with him, to crawl back into his bed and spend night after night in his arms, but it was impossible.
Swallowing back a lump in my throat, I was afraid I might burst into tears before I made it to the door. “I have a big day tomorrow, and so do you. I don’t want to keep you from getting enough sleep, and I still have some work to do.”
Tyson nodded, but I didn’t think he believed me. I paused when I reached his door, sneaking one last look back at him. Moonlight crept across his sheets, illuminating him in the exact way I would see him in my memories from now on: tousled hair that appeared black in the low light, his sculpted body half hidden beneath the thin, white sheet and his expression twisted into a confused frown.
I wished I could’ve really seen him smile at me one last time, but it wasn’t like I deserved any one of his smiles. Especially not a last one.
When he opened his mouth to say something, I waved my fingers, blew him a kiss and hauled ass to my car. I couldn’t quite bring myself to say goodbye, not knowing if and when it would be for the last time.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Tyson
“Mr. Lovett. Do you understand and agree to the conditions of your release?” The judge wasn’t looking at me. For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t the only Lovett in the courtroom.
There were six of us here today. I had been surprised when all my brothers, even Beau, showed up on time this morning. I felt their presence behind me now, as we watched a bespectacled new judge in the county releasing Roy.
Our father was wearing the same suit he’d been wearing all those years ago when he was sentenced. At the time, it had fit him like a glove, having been tailored for the occasion during the course of the trial. I remembered thinking it was ridiculous then, but it was even more so now.
The gray pinstriped fabric hung loosely from his emaciated figure. He’d lost so much in the last few weeks; it looked like he hadn’t been fed since his last appearance in the same courthouse. His hair had more white than dark brown in it now, and the lines on his face were more like ravines.
I had to give it to him, though. He might be older and look a bit worse for wear, but he had survived. For now.
I pushed the ominous warning to the back of my mind and focused back on the proceedings. Roy nodded in answer to the judge’s question, cutting a solitary figure standing in the center of the room. “I do, Your Honor.”
“Have you been presented with the required paperwork to sign?” It might have been my imagination, but it was almost like the judge was stalling. Almost like he didn’t want Roy to walk out of that courthouse a free man any more than I did.
The hearing was closed to the public, but my brothers and a few others had been allowed entry. If you could prove you had a legitimate interest in the case, you could get inside. The only reason they’d closed the hearing was to keep the press out of this part of the proceedings. I was slated to give a press conference as soon as my father had been released, so I was more than happy with the judge taking his sweet-ass time.
I felt the heavy stares from those present in the room on Roy’s back as he nodded once more. “I have, Your Honor.”
The judge ran through a few more formalities before finally, grudgingly officially releasing our dad. “In that case, Mr. Lovett, the court wishes you luck with your future endeavors. Don’t waste your second chance, sir. It will be the only one you’ll ever get in this system.”
Dad gave him a surprised nod and turned to face us. I inclined my head toward Jeremy and Evan. Beau had slipped out before the proceedings ended to bring Jeremy’s truck around to the back of the courthouse. We were hoping we could slip him out that way while I went to give the press conference.
The court manager had given me permission earlier to have my brothers escort our father through the staff exit, and Beau knew where he had to wait. It was all part of the plan we’d formulated.
“Dad,” Jeremy said, keeping his voice down as he gave Roy a quick, one-armed hug. “Good to see you.”
“You too,” Dad almost whispered. He returned Jeremy’s hug before repeating the same, stiff motion with Evan. It had been so long since he’d been allowed to touch anyone like that, I imagined it had to feel pretty damn weird to be handing out hugs.
“We’ve gotta go.” Evan released Dad and led the way out of the courtroom, with Dad sandwiched between him and Jeremy.
“Come on,” I said to Sonny, grabbing his attention as he stared after our father. “You’ll get to see him later, don’t worry.”
Sonny, more than any of the rest of us, had always believed there was more to Dad’s actions than simple criminal enterprise. He’d succeeded spectacularly not only in proving it to us but also by bringing down a host of corrupt cops and other criminals in the process.
We still had to nail down the big boys behind this, but we would get there. I knew Sonny was itching to go with our family, but we’d agreed he would stay with me.
Since both Sonny and I worked in law enforcement and Dad was still nothing more than a criminal in the eyes of the world, it was imperative we remain impartial. We could work this case better from the inside, and if anyone caught any whiff of what we were doing, we would both be out on our asses.
We had considered quitting our jobs, given everything that had happened. Corruption in both of our departments had a hand in covering up the actions of all the other people involved in Dad’s case and subsequently keeping him in prison. Now those same corrupt elements were responsible for releasing him when it was more dangerous than ever, but it just wasn’t like us to quit.
Despite it all, we still loved our jobs and were determined to root out the bad apples rather than to run from them. A horde of press was waiting for us outside; camera flashes bright regardless of the fact that it was a clear day outside.
Microphones were shoved into my face, some of the reporters knocking each other on the head with their devices in their haste to get them pointed in my direction. I stopped at the top of the dozen or so steps leading into the courthouse. Sonny stopped short next to a pillar a couple of yards behind me.
I ignored the questions being hollered at me and lifted my hands to call for quiet, waiting for the din to die down before launching into my short, prepared statement on behalf of my office.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the release of Roy Lovett today was a travesty. It was a miscarriage of justice that should never have been allowed to happen. The man was tried and convicted, sentenced to a term in prison which should have been completed.”
Undoubtedly, they would all be calling me a heartless, ruthless prosecutor with no regard for his family once again in the morning, but I could handle it. I’d been called much worse before. “Rest assured that my office will not let this farce carry. We will bring those responsible to justice. Thank you.”
Without taking any questions, I turned and walked away. Sonny fell into step beside me. The reporters were still yelling out their questions to both of us, but we ignored them.
“Why would they think after all this time, we’d start talking to them now?” Sonny growled at my side, his irritation coming off h
im in waves.
“It’s my job to talk to them sometimes.”
“I know.” He shrugged. “But did you hear all that crap they were screaming out about how our family was taking it? That’s not about your job.”
“It’ll calm down again soon.” Eventually, the vultures would find something or someone else to hover over. We only had to wait them out. “Let’s get home. We have a lot to talk to Dad about.”
My brothers and I had managed to organize a safehouse where Dad could stay for the time being. He’d lost our family home after making a few bad investment decisions before he was arrested. It was the beginning of the end for him, at least if I had my story straight.
Dad lost everything back then as a result of those decisions. In his attempt to recoup his losses before anyone could find out, especially my mom, he had ended up getting involved with Ken. He had managed to hang on to the house for a couple of years after it got bad, but eventually, it all caught up with him.
Once Mom was gone, he became more reckless than ever before. At least, that was what it had seemed like at the time. I knew better now. He hadn’t become reckless, he had become determined. Unfortunately, he had to sink himself financially with the ship.
Slowly but surely, Sonny and I were putting all the pieces together. We’d met early this morning before court to talk, and once we started sharing everything we each knew, it was surprising how—with a little inference and speculation—we were getting to the bottom of things. We were both hopeful that Dad might be more forthcoming with information now that he was out, and we knew about most of it anyway.
When Sonny and I got to my car in my designated spot around the back of the courthouse, I unlocked the doors with a click of a button. As if that click had alerted him to our presence, Ken appeared in front of my car. “Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.”
