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Beyond the door was a home gym. Exercise equipment, weight racks, and a multitude of machines that looked like they doubled as torture devices lined the walls. Floor-to-ceiling mirrors gleamed, and in one corner was what looked like a mini yoga studio.
Evan was in front of a hanging punching bag in nothing but a pair of low-slung athletic shorts and boxing gloves. His skin gleamed with sweat, highlighting the individual dips and curves of his impressive muscles as he wailed on the bag like he was trying to punch it into next week.
I stood there, frozen. Unable to do more than stare at the gloriousness of not only his physique, but the show of aggression. Why was that so hot?
“Evan?” I called, my voice far more hesitant than it had been when I’d been searching for him.
He didn’t even pause as he beat that bag like it had insulted his grandmother.
“Ev?” I tried again, louder this time.
Halting his assault, he turned to face me.
Sweat beaded on his forehead. Damp hair hung down over his eyes. His shoulders rose and fell as he breathed hard from the exertion, but it was the look on his face, intense and feral, that sent a prickle of fear through me.
Evan might look like the perfect, put-together businessman when he was around others, but in that moment, I understood just how dangerous and capable he was.
Slowly, he rested one arm over the top of the punching bag and brought the other hand to his mouth. He tugged the Velcro strap free with his teeth and shook the glove off.
“Nick?” He pulled a white earbud out of his ear. “What are you doing here?”
“Um…” I fixed my gaze on one of the many weight machines and not on the bulge under his shorts. “I’m mad at you.”
“You are.” The amusement in his tone was almost enough to make me look at him again.
Almost.
“Yes.”
“Care to explain why?”
“Because you’re a liar who lies.”
“I need a little more context than that.”
I shifted my gaze to him. “Can you put on a shirt or something? It’s hard to be mad when you’re all shiny and looking like a snack.”
He smirked and pulled off his other glove.
“You lied to me.”
“I got that much. What did I lie about?”
“The letters!”
The smirk fell off his face.
“Why didn’t you tell me you got more of them? And why the hell did I only find out today that Vlado has been following me? You’ve been lying to me for weeks.”
“I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you the whole truth.”
“A half-truth is still a lie.” I stood akimbo and glared at him. “Why didn’t you just tell me what’s going on? You told me about the first letter. Why hide this from me?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Adrenaline surged through me as my anger hovered right below flashpoint. “By hiding things from me? By treating me like an empty-headed toy who can’t think for myself? You said you didn’t see me like that. You told me you were different.” My lip trembled as my eyes burned. “But you’re not. You’re exactly the same as everyone else.”
“Nick.” He stepped closer.
