AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He quickens his pace until he’s between me and the door. “Behind me, Evangeline.”
I tease him with a scoff and pat his back a few times, side-stepping him. “If someone was here to hurt me, they wouldn’t ring the doorbell and announce themselves, ya know?”
He sweeps his arm to the side, herding me behind him once more. “Please, sugar,” he murmurs.
Some of my amusement fades, recognizing the serious tone. I place my palm in the middle of his back, a gentle reassurance. “Alright, Lincoln. I’ll stay behind you.”
I hang back a few steps, leaning against the banister at the bottom of the staircase. The soft clink of the lock turning over pulls a smirk from me, but because I’m the best girlfriend, I resist the urge to gloat about it.
I try to look around him when he opens the door, but the man’s shoulders are so broad, he fills up most of the doorway.
“Who is it?” I stage-whisper.
“No one,” he murmurs without turning around.
I take a step toward him, my hand releasing its grip on the smooth wooden banister as I join him at the front door. “Oh, it was a delivery.”
“I’ll get it,” he insists, reaching for the screen door handle and gently moving me to the side.
I shake my head, but it’s in fondness not frustration. I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably continue to say it, but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the protectiveness. And that’s a good thing. The moment I start taking him or any of my men for granted, I hope someone knocks some sense into me.
I hold the screen door open as he crosses the porch to the white box on the edge. Huh, they put it in the blind spot. One of the places you wouldn’t be able to see unless you opened the door.
“Who’s it for?”
“It’s for you, and there’s no return address.” He looks at me as he brings it inside the house. “Were you expecting something?”
“No, not that I can think of. Unless it’s something my mom or sister sent in retaliation for Silas threatening to send my mom six feet under.” I raise my brows dramatically.
I still can’t believe he went there with her. I mean, I loved it, don’t get me wrong. But out of the three of them, that’s the kind of thing I’d expect from Nova. Maybe Bane if pushed enough. But brazen threats aren’t what I would think of for Silas’s style. Or maybe I don’t really know his style, and that’s exactly the kind of thing he does when it comes to someone he cares about.
That realization sends a warm tingly feeling throughout my limbs as I follow behind Lincoln into the kitchen.
“Should we, I don’t know, dust it for prints or something?”
He arches a brow, the corner of his lip twitching as he looks at me. “You been watching those true crime shows again, sugar?”
I give him my most haughty look. “I may or may not have convinced Nova to listen to my favorite podcast on the way home yesterday.”
“Mhmm.” He grins, pulling out a utility knife. “Well I don’t have one of those, sugar. So I’m just going to open it and see what’s inside. Let’s pray it’s not a bomb.”
“Jesus, Lincoln,” I gasp. My heart pounds as I lunge for him before he can cut the tape on the one side. “Don’t touch it.”
“Sugar, I was just teasing,” he murmurs, holding still.
“Yeah, well that shit isn’t funny. Do you remember the last few weeks we’ve had? I don’t want to jinx us.”
“C’mere, Evangeline,” he coaxes, his voice low and soothing.
My feet carry me toward his side on command, like he’s some kind of snake charmer and I’m helpless to resist. Not that I’m trying that hard anyway.
“Silas is going to kill us if we die from a box bomb, you know.”
“Nah, it’s Nova we have to worry about. That asshole has more untapped aggression to get out than anyone I’ve ever met before.”
I side eye him, thinking our versions of the same man are vastly different. I blow out a breath and look at the box in question. “Okay should we, I don’t know, listen or something? Wouldn’t we hear ticking?”
His mouth tugs up into a grin. “Sure, sugar. Let’s listen for ticking.”
