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Alexi’s face pinches. I can see he isn’t ready to let this go, but it can’t go on like this. “You’re going to kill her, man,” I tell him. “You talk about the shit your father does, taking women and selling them, not giving them a choice in their life. You talk about how much you hate it, but the second you get the opportunity to own one, you almost kill them within the first week.”
He opens his mouth to say something, but I hold up my hand, not finished yet. “She failed, and being ours is her punishment, I get that. But making her kill herself, that’s not part of this. She fucking died on that track, Alexi. Her heart stopped, and I had to give her CPR to restart it.”
Emotion swirls in his eyes, but he keeps his face perfectly blank, just as he’s been trained to do. When he doesn’t have anything else to say, I walk into the living area to sit and set an alarm on my phone to wake Evie up in an hour.
“I told her no one would bother her while she’s recovering. Don’t make me a liar.”
Alexi still says nothing, and a moment later his door slams behind me.
I decide to watch a new Netflix series, and skip out on any of the classes for the rest of the day in case Evie needs something. The episodes are right at an hour long so it’s perfect for checking in on her.
After six hours, I go to wake her again, but she doesn’t move at the sound of me knocking. I walk over to her side when I notice she’s dripping in sweat, just like at the hospital. I make a mental note to ask the doctor if that's normal.
I brush my finger down her arm and say her name gently.
Before I can comprehend what’s happening, I’m flipped to my back on the bed with Evie hovering over me and a blade is being pressed to my neck.
I suddenly remember what she said happened to the guy that tried to stay with her. I figured it was just a fluke accident, but now I can see this threat is very real.
“Evie,” I say gently, raising my hands in surrender. “I’m not going to hurt you.” She blinks a few times, clarity beginning to come into her eyes, and I continue. “Lucky Charm, care to take this blade away from my neck?” I ask her with a soft joking tone, hoping to pull her out of the fog.
She tilts her head at me, then sets the blade on the nightstand slowly, but she doesn't move from straddling me. I move my hands to rest on her hips, hoping to help center her. Her breathing is erratic and her eyes are still full of fear.
Slowly, her arm moves. She reaches up, combing a hand through my hair. My eyes drift closed as I take a moment to breathe her in. She shifts on top of me and I feel myself growing hard. Instead of pulling back, though, she grinds down onto me, a slight gasp escaping her lips.
I open my eyes to see those beautiful parted lips and I can’t help myself. Reaching up a hand, I carefully slide it behind her head and pull her down to me. Softly, I press a kiss to her lips.
She kisses me back, hesitantly, almost like she doesn’t know what to do.
I pull back, looking in her eyes. “Do you know where you are, Lucky Charm?”
She moves off of my lap before laying down next to me. The bed is a king, so we have plenty of room, but she doesn’t go very far. “The devil's lair,” she responds.
My lips twitch up as I roll on my side to look at her. She’s staring at the ceiling. “Do you know who you are?” I ask her, reciting the same questions I’ve been asking her for the past six hours.
“Sometimes.”
I feel like for the first time, I’m really seeing her. She’s being honest, so I risk another question.
“Do you like when I kiss you?” I ask.
She doesn’t move. Just lays there, contemplating her answer. I’ve always been the quiet one, so waiting for answers never bothers me. I’ve found the more silent I am, the more information I usually get. And with Evie, I find myself wanting to know it all.
She turns to look at me. “Yes.”
I smile before pulling her close to me. “Go back to sleep,” I tell her, wrapping my arms around her. “I’ll leave soon, don’t worry.”
At first, she’s stiff in my arms but after a few minutes, she drifts off. I find myself staring at her, memorizing every freckle, every divot, everything. She’s beautiful in a unique way, not a model, but more the image of someone who carries herself with strength. It’s captivating and slightly scary. I’ve never felt this way about someone before, and I don’t know how to process this.
I know I can’t keep her… but I find myself wanting to. Which is why after a few minutes of letting myself hold her, I get up and leave the room. Afraid that if I stay, I won’t be able to let her go.
Chapter 24
I'm hitting the bag in the gym, thinking about Evie finally being able to get some sleep.
Getting that message has put me in a bad headspace and I’m doing everything I can to keep from drowning myself in a bottle of vodka. Once I was able to see with my own eyes Lev was okay, I only felt partially relieved. Seeing Evie in that bed with blood on her face and in her hair, it made me feel something I haven't felt since I was a child.
It was a mix between terror, anger, and something else. Terror that she was so pale, bruises blossoming all over her face, and the one Alexi caused around her neck even darker than before.
