The moment the door closes, Jessie says, “I believe him.” She looks at me. “Do you?”
“I think I do.”
“How unstable do you think Allyson is?” I turn Jessie to face me. “You really are worried about her?”
“I don’t trust her not to do something else. Last night, she tried to have me arrested…well, she did have me arrested, but it eventually backfired. Her whole plan from last night backfired. I’m free and you humiliated her in front of a room full of people, half of which she probably knew.”
Frowning, I feel the color drain from my face. Jessie is right. Allyson isn’t going to suddenly accept she isn’t going to get what she wants. “She’s going to come at us again.”
“I’m scared, Evan. I wasn’t before when she let herself into your apartment, but after last night, I am.”
“I’m taking you home. You’ll be safe there.”
“Wait! What? No way are you going to leave me with my family while you come back here.” She shakes her head. “I’m not leaving you alone.” Her mouth quivers, tears pooling on her lids. “Please don’t leave me, Evan. We need to stay together.”
I’m hearing what she’s saying but all I can think about is keeping her safe and away from the psychotic woman. I’ll do everything to keep Jessie safe, even if it means painting a big target on my back.
Jessie straddles my lap and takes my face into her soft hands. “Promise me, Evan. Promise me that you won’t let her hurt you. I need to hear you say it.”
My arms press Jessie against me, so tightly it’s a struggle to breathe but I can’t let her go. I’m terrified of what Allyson has planned. She will have a plan. That’s one thing I do know about her. She plans for everything and has back up. But I have an idea that I’m not going to share with Jess because she won’t stay where I put her. Allyson will come after me, and I don’t want Jessie getting in the way.
“I don’t like the way you’re currently looking at me. What are you thinking?”
I try to school my features, but by the narrowed eye stare she’s now giving me I’m not sure it’s working.
“I won’t do anything stupid. I promise, Jessie. I’ve only just found you so there is no way on this earth I’ll do anything to take me away from you.”
“But you’ll do everything to make sure Allyson doesn’t do anything to take me away from you. That’s what you’re not saying, but what you actually mean?”
Sighing, I bury my face in her neck and smell the subtle scent of apple shampoo that she used before Foster arrived. “I love you Jessie. I don’t think you realize just how much.” I wrap her hair into a fist. “We are going to have a wonderful life together, once Allyson is no longer a threat to you, me, or our future. That is something I can promise you with a certainty.”
We hold each other tightly until I force Jessie to pack a bag. I want her some place safe before I take care of Allyson.
29
Jessie
I was right. We should have never told Reece! I’m not even sure how he had me blurting everything out, but I did, and now Callie is crying and my brother looks helpless. He wants to go and find Allyson and teach her a lesson. No way is anyone going to let that happen and I hope that seeing his wife in tears helps to calm him down. I love him dearly, but he’s hotheaded.
“Don’t worry, Jess,” my brother-in-law, Donovan mutters, watching Reece and Callie off in one corner. “He’ll leave it to Evan and the cops.”
I sit up straighter in my chair. “What does that mean?” I narrow my eyes and Donovan squirms, probably realizing he should have kept his mouth shut.
“Um, I’m not sure.” I wish my sister were here because she’d get it out of him, but she’s stayed at home with the twins.
“I’m getting the feeling that something is going on and I’m being kept in the dark,” I say loudly, wanting my voice to travel.
Reece turns his head in my direction, but wraps his wife up in his arms and kisses her forehead. The sight brings tears to my eyes at witnessing how tender my brother is with his wife. She’s everything to my brother, and so are their children. I only have to see them together and apart from a few ups and downs because of my brothers need to protect his sisters; him and Callie have an amazing marriage and love each other. The way Callie’s face lights up when Reece walks into a room never gets old. She lights up like a light bulb, and I know that’s how I react to the sight of Evan.
Donovan is one of Reece’s best friends, and he is also married to my sister, Mara, and they’re parents to beautiful twin babies. Donovan is totally besotted with Mara and his family and rightly so, and then there is Jack, the last of the three musketeers. He’s married to Callie’s best friend, Thalia, and he’s the same. It’s as though they’ve only just met and started getting hot and heavy. Marriage changed them and I want exactly what they have. I know I will with Evan, if only I knew what his stupid idea was.
I knew there was something going on with him before we left Birmingham, but now that Donovan hinted as much, I’m annoyed with Evan, and I’m also worried. He’s going to be off doing something stupid to make Allyson slip up. It’s the ‘how’ that worries me. A lot.
Jack crouches in front of my chair bringing my mind back into Kix and not miles away with Evan. He holds my hands and squeezes. “You have a good man willing to fight for you Jessie.” He smiles. “He isn’t going to do anything to hurt you. Please don’t worry about him.”
I tug on his hands and he tips forward, only just catching himself on each side of me. “Tell me what he is doing Jack.”
He frowns, and turns to face Thalia when she rests her hand on his shoulder. “Tell her Jack. She has the right to know, regardless of how everyone thinks she needs protecting. I’d go crazy if someone was hiding something about you from me. It would hurt a lot.”
Jack takes Thalia by the hand and stands, kissing her on the lips, whispering to her. With Thalia’s blush I’m guessing he’s whispering words that have nothing whatsoever to do with Evan and me.
“Evan is helping the police,” Ryder states, hands on his hips staring at me. “I will tell you exactly what he’s doing as long as you promise to stay here with us. Evan is trusting us to keep you safe and that’s what we’re going to do.” He pauses, and I really don’t want to promise him anything, but my need to know what Evan is up to precedes my need to go to him.
Nodding, Ryder narrows his gaze. “Say it out loud, Jessie.” He offers a crooked grin.
“Ugh!” I growl and Donovan snickers, but I ignore him. “I promise to stay safe.”
Ryder hesitates, knowing good and well that I haven’t promised to stay put, but I have promised to stay safe. Two different things and he knows it, but pulls a chair out at the table. He drops down and places his right ankle on his left knee. “He went to talk with Captain Foster and offered his help in getting Allyson to admit to what she’s done. Foster wasn’t happy, but agreed because Evan was going to do it with or without the help from the police.
“I don’t know exactly when this is going to happen, but Evan will be wired and there will be a police presence when he talks to her. He’s going to be playing on her weakness, which is him.”
“What?” I jump up, and get pushed back down by Jack.
“Listen to Ryder,” he says, rubbing my shoulders.
“Jeez, give him some credit. He loves you. He isn’t going to do anything to jeopardize that. He’s going to be playing a role to capture her in the act of being a bitch.” Ryder stares at me and becomes more serious than before. “He can only do this knowing that you are far away from Allyson. His number one priority is protecting you; so please, Jessie, I beg you, don’t go after him. He needs to know you are safe.”
Tears slip down my face as fear and worry take hold of me. Ryder sits forward and pulls me into his arms. “He’s going to be okay, sis.” He kisses the top of my head. “You are safe, which means he isn’t going to be reckless.” He kisses my head once more. “Just hold tight and trus
t him to be careful.”
“I hate that all this is happening because of me,” I cry onto his shoulder. “I just want him with me, Ryder.”
“I know honey.” He holds me while I continue to cry. “As for this being your fault, it isn’t. It would have happened eventually once Allyson knew Evan wasn’t going to marry her. We all know that including Evan.”
“We bought a house,” I announce, not sure why that suddenly popped out of my mouth. I pull away from Ryder’s shoulder and pat his chest. “Thanks for the shoulder to cry on.” I smile and take my own seat again. I blow my nose on the tissues Thalia passes me, and continue, “We bought Mrs. McClusky’s house.”
“Oh my God! You did?” Dahlia, my half-sister and Ryder’s wife says, joining us. “You’ve always loved that house. I used to see you sitting on the porch steps with juice and cake as you were growing up…You bought it?”
I smile, wistfully. “Technically, Evan bought it, but he says he bought it for ‘us’ to raise a family in.” Tears fill my eyes again. “The sale is due to go through in a few days.” I hiccup. “I hope Evan is with me to celebrate it.”
“Oh, Jess.” Dahlia puts her arm around me and squeezes. “Your man will be here with you as soon as he can.”
Reece takes the vacant seat beside me and pulls Callie onto his lap and holds her close. He reaches out and grabs my hand. “You have this, and I promise I won’t do anything stupid in your honor.”
Callie sighs, and it grows deeper when Reece cups her face and kisses her into silence.
I look around at my family and friends, and pray that Evan is with me to enjoy their company soon.
30
Evan
Footsteps sound outside of my office door and my belly rolls with anger. I want to throttle the woman who is about to walk into my office. Allyson has no idea that I’ve spoken to my parents and that my father has accepted my resignation. Captain Foster was with me and I think his weight and the seriousness of my accusations finally sank in, and my parents backed off and allowed us to use the office to do this. Foster wasn’t stupid though, and had left two officers—one female and one male—with my parents to make sure they didn’t tip Allyson off. I thought they would leave her for now, and stay well away from her. My father isn’t an idiot and knows that Allyson is capable of bringing him down with her. I’m not sure whether or not my mother knows about my father’s affair with the psychotic woman, but I don’t see how she isn’t going to find out after this.
I put my parents and screwed up relationship with them out of my mind as Allyson walks into the office. I’m sitting on the sofa and making a show of reading through a file for a large business deal that Allyson knows an awful lot about, or so my father told me. I guess he’s trying to help in his way, but it’s going to take a lot more than his help today for me to accept his apology—not that he’s spoken one. He has his way and I have a feeling this is it.
Allyson’s eyes drift over me and then her eyes widen when she follows the file I drop onto the new coffee table. She sees the name and her eyes fill with excitement.
“You’re still working for your father? I thought you quit.”
“I did a lot of thinking after the other night, and realized how much I was throwing away if I walked.” I pause for effect. “So here I am.” I open my arms wide. “Working on a project that my father is trusting me with could mean a hell of a lot money for not just the company, but me as well.”
“You don’t seem angry with me.” Allyson sits opposite, clutching her purse.
“Why would I be angry with you? I thought you’d be angry with me after what I said in front of all those people at the anniversary ball.”
“You didn’t mean it though, did you?” She sits forward, hanging on my every word when all I want to do is smack her.
“I’ll tell you, if you tell me why you did what you did to get Jessie out of my life.” I cross my legs and try to act casual when it’s killing me being here with the woman. “I should thank you by the way, you did me a favor getting rid of Jessie.” My stomach rolls as the lie leaves my mouth. I feel like I’m betraying the woman I love. I just have to get her talking and then I can go to my Jess.
“So, you’ll marry me and take me with you when you go overseas to make the deal with that company?”
Like hell!
“Yes.”
I hold her gaze and when she sees whatever it is she’s looking for in my neutral expression, she says, “That girl was too young for you. No good. You need a strong woman who will do anything for her man, and I mean anything.”
“I love that trait in a woman. So why did you drug Jessie in the beginning? I’d never mentioned her to anyone.”
She rolls her eyes. “I saw the way you looked at her. She was the only woman in the room for you. You wanted her, and I was so angry.”
“So you drugged her?” It’s killing me to act casual and so far Allyson is being so damn gullible which makes me wonder why when she’s not usually.
“It was so easy. You took her on the dance floor and I thought you were going to fuck her on there.” She sneers, disgusted. “It should have been me, but you saw a young girl and wanted her. So, I used the drug I had in my purse for you, on her.” She stands, agitated. “I didn’t expect you to take her home with you.”
“What the fuck did you just say?” I roar and her wild eyes snap to me. “You said drug that was meant for me.”
“I was going to talk myself into your apartment and then drug you. I figured if you got me pregnant then you’d have to marry me and forget about everyone else.” She shrugs at the confession and my stomach feels as though it’s about to revolt. I can’t even think of anything to say after the surprised confession. “But you love me don’t you? That’s why you’re not going to marry that girl. You’re going to marry me and give me lots of babies. I’ll be a good mother.”
Acid burns in my stomach as I listen to Allyson. She’s totally nuts, and I’m surprised I haven’t seen this side of her before. Because she didn’t want you to know how crazy she really is.
Holding my anger in check, I ask “And the other night? It was you who had Jessie arrested. It was you who got people to lie. You wanted her out of the way so the engagement between us could be announced.” I grin. “You set it up very well because I didn’t suspect a thing.”
Allyson tips her head to the side and watches me through narrow lids. Have I blown it? Has she figured out I’m not here because I’m in love with her, but because I hate her and want her locked away where she belongs?
“You know I set her up otherwise you wouldn’t have seen sense and come back to me.” She smiles. “I can give you so much more than she can, and when she’s completely out of the way you won’t ever think about her again.” Her laugh is sharp and brittle—she’s fucking insane.
We have her confession, so I gradually let my anger be seen. I move around the coffee table and crowd her into the sofa. Her hands reach for me, but I knock them away. “Don’t you ever touch me or the woman I love again,” I hiss. “I have never had any feelings for you. You need locking up and the key to be thrown away for the rest of your miserable life.”
“No, no, no.” She shakes her head, her eyes going wild.
“You are a psychotic bitch who is going to rot in hell before she kills someone.”
The office door bangs open and then a piercing scream reaches my eardrums, followed by a sharp pain in my side. All of a sudden breathing becomes difficult and my vision blurs. I hear a gunshot and seconds later I feel hands moving me to the floor. There’s a lot of light around me, and shouting, but I can’t make out what’s being said.
Then darkness closes in and I forget how to breathe.
31
Jessie
“Fucking shit!” I come awake to Reece cursing.
“Stop shouting, you’re going to wake her up,” Dahlia snaps.
“How the fuck am I supposed to go in there and tell her about Evan?”
My heart sinks and my stomach threatens to revolt at hearing Reece’s words.
Evan!
I quickly get to my feet and run into the other room where Dahlia and Reece are arguing in hushed voices.
“What happened to Evan? Just tell me because I’m thinking the worse.”
They turn and look at me before glancing at each other. In the end it’s Dahlia who moves toward me. She reaches out and rests her arms on my shoulder while tears slip down my face. “What?” My lips quiver and I feel myself breaking to pieces inside.
“He’s in surgery.” She swallows. “Captain Foster called Ryder and apparently once Allyson confessed, Evan lost it and told her exactly what he thought should happen to her.” She breathes deeply. “Allyson had a knife in her purse and she used it on Evan. The police shot Allyson, but she’s going to be okay, and will face a trial.”
My legs fail to hold me upright and I find myself in my brother’s arms as he carries me out of the house and into his truck. He leans over me and fastens my seatbelt while Dahlia hovers around us. “I think I should come too.”
Reece shakes his head. “I have her Dahl, I promise. Ryder needs you here and Callie has already told me she’s moving out if I don’t get Jessie to the hospital so I don’t really have a choice.”
Dahlia rolls her eyes but I let their chatter roll over me because I feel numb. I’ve no idea what else is said between them, but within five minutes Reece is driving me toward the city. It takes me ten minutes more to pull myself together enough to ask, “Is he going to be okay?”
Reece keeps his gaze on the road. “I want to tell you yes, but I have no idea. He was stabbed in the side and was unconscious when the ambulance arrived at the hospital.” He sighs. “Captain Foster called Ryder because apparently Evan had given Foster the number before Allyson arrived at the office. Just in case. I guess if anything happened to him, he wanted someone close to you to tell you.” Reece grabs one of my hands. “I’m sorry I can’t promise he’ll pull through, but I’m here for you either way. I’m not leaving you okay?”
Meant to be Mine: Kincaid Sisters Book 1 Page 14
