AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The kettle whistles but Eve doesn’t make a move towards it, staring at the tabloids. She raises her eyes towards me, accusation in them. “This is why.”
I wait for her to continue, knowing what is coming, steeling myself against the onslaught of the coming truth.
“This is why I didn’t want Mila to be a part of your life. I was trying to protect her.”
She doesn’t look angry, just defeated, and suddenly I wish she would scream or yell or hurl accusations at me because right now her words are simple and all the more painful.
Even if I didn’t do this myself, I most certainly caused this.
I walked into the lives of the woman I love and our child and disrupted them. And if Eve tells me right now to walk out the door and leave them alone, it will kill me to do so, but I will have to.
“It’s only a matter of time before they link me to the dance studio. Not long before they find out where I live,” her hands clenched, impotent anger on her face.
When she sways, I take a step towards her, without thinking, and she automatically raises a hand stopping me in my tracks. “No. Just stay away.”
My jaw tightens. “Eve, you have a fever. You need to rest. I’ll handle this.”
She runs a hand through her hair, frustration and exhaustion present on her face. “Handle this how? You can’t make the pictures go away. You can’t stop them from taking more pictures.”
She picks up one of the tabloids and reads aloud. “…unlike his usual choice. Some may call her voluptuous, but she leans towards the obese end of the spectrum. The child that accompanied her was a helpless victim as the mother tried to push her onto her new moneymaker—”
I snatch the paper from her. “That’s enough!”
The look on her face is mocking. “Why? Don’t you like being described as a moneymaker? Face it, Zayn. They’ve basically made me into some money-hungry whore who’s after you for your wealth, and I am willing to use my kid to do so. You’re getting off lightly in all this. Or maybe not. They do hint at you maybe having a fat fetish.”
Eve’s face is going paler with each word, and I leap towards her as she loses her balance.
“I’m fine,” she tries to push me away, but I hold on to her, forcing her into the living area.
“You’re not fine,” I say firmly, my tone calm, hiding the monster inside of me that paces inside my head, demanding blood. “You have a fever. You’re stressed out.”
Her legs collapse from under her, and I immediately pick her up bridal style.
Taking her to her bedroom, I put her into bed and hiss when my own skin feels hot at her burning touch. She is on the verge of passing out, and I take off her shoes, tucking her in bed.
Taking out my phone, I call Agatha.
“Zayn, finally! Listen—”
I cut her off. “I need a doctor sent to Eve’s place. Haseeb. Tell him the address and tell him to move fast.”
Agatha’s sounds alarmed. “Mila?”
“No, Eve,” I say, shortly. “I don’t have his contact on me right now. Once that’s done, call me back.”
I don’t have to wait long.
When Agatha calls back, I get down to business.
8
Eve
My body hurts.
Everything hurts.
My head feels like it is filled with cotton and my throat is parched.
