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“If you think you can come in and seduce these boys away, you have another thing coming, missy. They’ve been neglecting their duties. Oliver asked to postpone his trip. Ryder has no longer come running the second I asked.”
I gulp. “I didn’t do anything,” I whisper.
“Bullshit!” he yells, startling me enough to have me jumping back. “You’re nothing but a fucking maid, so know your place and stop distracting my boys from their work!”
He steps forward again, his hand reaching out, but just at that moment, Ryder walks through the door, taking in the sight in front of him.
“Declan,” he greets warmly. “Why are you talking to the maid? She’s supposed to be preparing my lunch. Come along, Miss Parker. You’re not getting out of that just because you’re so awestruck by the infamous Declan O’Malley.” His tone is sharp, reminiscent of the early days of my working here.
I follow along, chancing a glance over my shoulder at Declan as we leave the room. He’s got a bitter look on his face, but Ryder drags me along by the arm, pulling me down the hall, and takes me up the stairs, pushing me into his room.
“Are you alright?” he asks, dropping his façade as soon as we’re alone. I nod, running my hands over my arms to warm myself up. He shakes his head. “You know, I trust Declan with my life. He’s a great uncle. But he’s dangerous, Eva. I don’t want you alone with him ever again. I don’t know what he wanted from you, but the way you looked when I came in… I suspect it wasn’t for a friendly chat. Promise me you’ll tell us if Declan ever tries to get you alone again.”
My eyes widen slightly, and I nod, relieved that Ryder came when he did.
“I will,” I promise. Hopefully, this will be the last time I’m ever around Declan again.
20
RYDER
Ipull Eva into my chest, hugging her for a moment. “Declan won’t hurt you. I don’t think he’d do that,” I reassure her. “That being said, he’s still dangerous. He’s a Mob Boss. He has to be.”
“I appreciate your help,” Eva admits. “I didn’t know what to do when he cornered me.”
“You can always tell us if he does anything that makes you uncomfortable,” I reassure her. “If he’s in the room or you feel like you can’t say something directly, maybe we can use a code.”
Eva tilts her head. “Is that necessary? Do you think he’d do something?”
“I don’t think he would, but living the life we do, we like to be prepared for anything,” I tell her.
“What code?” Eva asks.
“Hmm. What’s your favorite movie?” I ask.
“Uh… maybe Beauty and the Beast?” she offers.
“Okay, so the thing with codes is sometimes you forget the phrase in the heat of the moment, or it’s hard to fit the phrase naturally into conversation. So what we’ll do is any line from that movie that comes into your head is the code. I’ll know that you’re in danger if you use it.”
Eva smiles slightly and nods. “Okay.” She pauses, brow furrowing. “I should tell you something about…”
“About what?” I prompt when the silence seems to stretch out too long.
“Nothing.” She shakes her head. “I want to thank you for covering for me back there. That’s all.”
“Oh,” I say, nodding. “It’s fine.”
“I need to get back to work now.” Her hand shoots out, squeezing my arm for a moment before she leaves to get back to her duties.
Feeling better at having dealt with Declan confronting Eva, I decide to take a shower. The three of us are going out tonight to the nightclub to take a night off work and commitments. We haven’t had a good night out in ages, at least a few months now. Things have just gotten so busy that we haven’t had time for all three of us to go out together.
Declan seems to leave quickly, just as Oliver returns to the manor.
“Ready to go out?” I ask, lounging on his couch in his room. He’s in the bathroom artfully tousling his curls. I hide my laughter. Oliver is a bit vain about his hair.
“Almost,” he says. “Theo is on his way home now. He got caught up with some business in the city, but he’s done now.”
Once Theo arrives, he changes quickly into something suitable for going out, and we head out in his car to our nightclub.
