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As I enter the manor, I hear Eva’s voice floating down the hall, singing softly to the baby. Realizing she might be trying to find me, I take the stairs in the opposite direction. I need to avoid her right now, even if it’s painful to do so.
I can’t put her life in danger again. I just can’t. The best way to protect her is to stay far, far away.
32
EVANGELINE
As I sit in the window seat in my room, sunlight reflecting through the panes, the events of the past few days play in my mind like a film on loop. The kidnapping, the fear of being tortured, the relief at my rescue by the Everharts—all of it feels like something that happened to someone else, yet the echoes linger, haunting the edges of my mind.
Dr. Monroe’s thorough examination brought reassurance, confirming that both the baby and I were unharmed by the ordeal. It was a relief, albeit a fleeting one, in the face of the turmoil that followed.
But as soon as I was given a clean bill of health, Theo, Ryder, and Oliver all seemed to be needed elsewhere, claiming errands to run or jobs to take care of, leaving me feeling adrift and alone in the vastness of Shadowvale.
It's as if they're deliberately avoiding me, retreating into the shadows like ghosts fleeing the light of day. The realization weighs heavily on my heart, casting a shadow over the fragile peace I had begun to find in their company.
Unease twists in my stomach, anxiety rising as I wonder if they’re angry with me that I was taken. Could they be frustrated that I didn’t do more to try to escape?
My alarm goes off, letting me know it’s time to head into the office, so I swing my legs down and step across the wooden floor, leaving behind my troubles.
Once I arrive at Bridget’s office, she has me handling a stack of work right away, leaving no time for my thoughts to wander to the Everharts and their mysterious absence.
“I need you to get in touch with that farm in New Zealand today,” Bridget orders as I’m calling a manufacturer in Japan. “We want exclusive rights to their sheep.”
As soon as I’m done on the call to Japan, I jump onto Bridget’s next request, but even when that’s happening, I’ve got a million other things to do at the same time. Working with Bridget has become something of a trial by fire.
I come in early every morning and stay late every evening, and we spend a lot of time on the phones or emailing back and forth with clients all over the world. Bridget has even said that if I want to stay on after the baby is born, she’ll be having me fly around the world with her as well.
It’s much different from working as a maid, that’s for sure. I’m forever grateful that she brought me on, though, for many reasons. For one, working in the textile industry is fascinating. For another, I’m getting invaluable experience in something that will help me in the future.
It doesn’t hurt that my pay is triple what I was making as a maid, either.
I’m so busy for a few days that I don’t even think about them at all. Every day, I go to bed exhausted after spending long hours running around after Bridget and doing endless tasks for her to keep her business running smoothly.
But when a third day passes and I still have seen neither hide nor hair of the three Everharts, my heart starts to sink. They have to be avoiding me, right?
“Have you seen Theo or Ryder lately?” I ask Bridget during a rare moment of downtime just before lunch.
“I’d have thought you’d see them every night?” Bridget says, taking her glasses off and raising an eyebrow.
“They haven’t been around since just after they found me at La Lune,” I tell her. “Once Dr. Monroe gave me the all-clear, it’s like they vanished.”
“Hmm.” Bridget taps the arm of her glasses against her desk. “It had to have been frightening seeing you taken by their enemies,” she says slowly. “I bet they’re just trying to regroup, maybe tie up any loose ends so you’re protected.”
“Maybe you’re right,” I say, looking down at my desk. “But I still miss them.”
“Just give them space,” Bridget says, slipping her glasses back on and turning back to her computer. “I wouldn’t worry about it. These boys have been through and seen so much, they’ll get over their issues quickly and be back sniffing around you in no time.”
Despite her reassurance, I can’t help but feel an ache inside. After seeing them every day, all the time, to now never seeing them, it’s enough to drive me crazy.
And not only that, but I’ve been craving them lately. We haven’t been intimate in days, and I wake up at night, damp between my thighs with hazy memories of dreams of sensual touches and possessive kisses.
Unable to stop myself that night when I’m alone, I find myself slipping a hand between my thighs, pushing my panties out of the way, and teasing between my lips, body aching for Ryder’s long, slender fingers or Oliver’s thicker, broader ones.
I imagine Theo pushing his fingers into my mouth as I slip my own between my teeth, petting over my tongue the way he does. A whine escapes me, drool pooling in the corners of my mouth as my fingers skim over my clit with the barest touch, leaving me aching for more.
A soft moan escapes me as I slide the finger down and down, pushing it inside me just to the first knuckle, making a slow circle inside my entrance. My mind replays the last time we were together, just before the day of the kidnapping.
The boys had their hands all over me after I seduced them. We may have started in the den, but we ended up in Theo’s bed that night, sprawled out while Theo fucked me from behind and Oliver held me up while I took him in my mouth. I felt so dirty, so used, but so amazing at the same time.
