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“Thought you’d get that message.” He nods with an eerie grin. “Your mother owed me money, and I’m here to collect.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Then get it. And quick. Or who knows what will happen.” He takes a step toward me, and I flinch, ashamed that I’m showing weakness even if I’m scared out of my mind.
“Get away from her.”
I hear a low growl of a voice from the porch, and even though Evan hasn’t moved a muscle, I can feel his steely presence behind me. The guy’s eyes flick over my shoulder, and even though he’s still menacing, I see the tiniest shift of an expression on his face. He thought he’d be alone with a defenseless woman, and now there is someone else in the picture.
“Seventy-five grand. You have one month.” His voice is vile and ominous.
“Get the fuck off our property,” Evan growls again, and I wish I could walk backward up the stairs toward him.
But my feet are glued to the ground, the ultimatum shocking me to my core. Where in the hell am I going to come up with seventy-five grand in one month? I’ll be living on the streets, or worse …
When things used to get really bad with my mother, to the point I thought I’d have to leave or go into foster care, I would imagine all the ways I could make money. Ways that meant lowering my standards and morals, going against how I think of myself so I could see the next day. That kind of desperation leaves a mark on your soul, and I’m very close to branding myself with it.
“Don’t think I don’t know who you are,” the creep says to Evan before backing up into the shadows.
It’s a threat, that’s for certain, but I don’t know if someone like Evan Ashton even cares all that much about it. He lives in a world where nothing can touch him. Not the way it can me.
Almost unconsciously, I realize I’m shaking. The nausea sweeps over me, the realization of the situation I was just in, stealing my breath. Not only do I have another obstacle heaped on top of me, but my mother was in with some very shady people. Shady people who now know who I am.
And now I have to figure out how to get them off my back. Do I use her life insurance to pay them off instead and take even more debt on the house? At this point, I’ll never dig myself out of this.
Strong arms wrap around me, bringing me in until my nose hits a warm chest. Evan’s scent envelops me like his body does, and I let him hold me up when I feel like my knees are about to buckle.
Without another word, he scoops me up, my head resting on his chest as he carries me into the house. Even with the humiliation I suffered at his hands after our night at the bar, I’m powerless to stop him from taking care of me. If I don’t let him, I might as well have collapsed in a defeated heap on the driveway.
“Even if I had that kind of money, I don’t know where to find him. I don’t know if I could be legally in trouble for giving it over to him.” My voice is shaky and hysterical.
Evan’s hand rubs up and down my back as he sits me on the couch, still holding me tight. I might be in the midst of a panic attack, but his comfort is keeping it at bay.
“We will figure it out. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
If only he could guarantee that. If only I could put stock in someone else stepping up for me. But as it has always been, I’m on my own.
I’ll weather this storm just like I’ve done all the others. Just give me a night to breakdown, and then I’ll be back to take on all of my demons.
The last things I remember before passing out are leaning on Evan’s shoulder, a cup of tea warming my frigid hands, and his low voice promising me everything will be okay.
18
EVAN
“Why the hell does she still have all this stuff here?” I mutter to myself, cursing my sister as I pull box after box out of the top of her old master bedroom closet. Alana has long since moved into her family house with Warren, and yet she still has all this crap here while I’m shoving my clothes into two tiny drawers in a dresser.
This morning, the one day off from the restaurant until tonight that I’ve had in forever, I decided to make my current living space a little homier. Living out of suitcases is not what I had planned when I left Mom and Dad’s house, but I simply haven’t had time to do anything about it.
Which is why I’m currently trying to de-clutter my hoarder of a sister’s closet. I’ve gotten a good chunk of my clothes hung up on empty hangers, but my suitcases are still littering the floor and need to be stacked at the top of this closet.
Not only that but staying busy when I’m not going into the restaurant this morning is something I desperately need. After that creepy-ass motherfucker scared August in the driveway last night, I haven’t been able to shake the feeling of dread ever since. Seeing how white her face was when I carried her inside, how much the shaking rattled her bones, made me want to light the world on fire and burn that guy with it.
Why the hell is she now responsible for her mother’s fuckups? It’s not fucking fair, and nothing about that guy seems to be on the up and up. August’s mother landed her in a dangerous situation, and there is no way I’m letting her go it alone … except I don’t see a way in which she’ll let me help.
If August is anything, it’s steadfastly independent and stubborn as hell about that. She doesn’t think she can trust a soul and believes she must accomplish everything on her own.
This is different, though. This is a whole new level of scary, and she shouldn’t be navigating these waters without a life raft. Someone, maybe the police, need to look into this guy. I know Cass and Alana have used a private investigator in the past for other dangerous situations, and maybe it’s time to get that guy involved.
