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And she’s not wrong. The same thoughts have been occupying my mind. He likes to destroy things. Demolish companies and the people who built them if it’s necessary, or just because he feels like it. Devastation is all he does and he enjoys it, revels in it even. And I was going to step right into his shoes, walking down the same path. I would have ended up exactly like him . . . if I hadn’t gone to prison.
I don’t have time to think more about that little realization. The car stops in front of the carpeted entrance and a valet rushes over to open my door.
Showtime.
After a quick glance at Holden and a deep breath, I get out.
I step to the side to make enough room for Evangeline and hold out my hand toward the still-open car door. Warm fingers grasp mine, sending a spark of electricity through my entire body.
A small gasp comes from the car seconds before Evangeline steps out. With our hands still intertwined, she’s only a hair’s breadth away, allowing me to spot the golden rays around her irises, which turn her eyes into the most fascinating golden-brown kaleidoscope I’ve ever seen.
The valet clears his throat behind me. “Welcome, Mr. Montgomery. Miss Caldwell.”
I snap out of my trance for the second time in the last hour.
This is going to be a long night.
Evangeline squeezes my hand and gives the man behind me a dazzling smile. “Hi, Paul. It’s good to see you.”
“The pleasure is all mine, miss.”
My head snaps up at something in the man’s voice, and I glare at him. He’s ogling Evangeline with undisguised interest and appreciation in his eyes. Not that I blame him, she looks mesmerizing, always has been pretty with her curvy figure and dark features, but tonight, her beauty is on a different level.
I step forward, cutting off Paul’s view of myfiancée.
His eyes widen, and he scrambles a few steps to the side, tipping his head a fraction. “Good to have you back, sir. Enjoy your evening.”
With his eyes downcast, he hurries around us and closes the car door.
Evangeline untangles her hand from mine and curls her slender fingers around the crook of my elbow instead, her ring now on full display.
Tonight’s event isn’t as big as most of the other ones we’ll attend, so I thought this would be good practice—a trial run. We don’t need every New York paparazzi after us on our first night out together in public. Although, seeing the way Evangeline nails the role of the charming and doting fiancée, all smiles and open adoration, I shouldn’t have worried. We’ve both grown up in the same tank of sharks, but I needed to be sure she’d be able to manage our situation.
Her acting skills around me have been subpar as best, but it seems like she’s got it under control when there are cameras around.
We make the rounds, talking to so many people that names and faces blur. It doesn’t help either that I’m too busy watching Evangeline while she charms the socks off everyone we come across. Even the ones who approach us with a hint of caution leave with a smile and a promise to connect soon.
Once we’re alone, I lean closer and whisper into her ear, “I’m impressed. Honestly, I wasn’t sure you could pull it off.”
Her shoulder moves against my chest. Did she just shiver?
Just when I think she won’t answer, she mimics my position, her warm breath hitting the shell of my ear.
“I’ve had lots of practice, especially in the last few years. You know that social events were Connie’s domain and notmine, but I had to attend them all after . . .” She inhales sharply. “You know, after she was gone.”
Her voice trails off at the end like she didn’t mean to add on that last part.
I inhale her intoxicating scent and place my hand on her lower back, in what I’m sure comes off as a loving gesture between two people having an intimate conversation. “I’m sorry you lost your sister.”
The words are out, and I can’t take them back.
For some inexplicable reason, I don’t want to either.
Since I was arrested a day after Connie’s accident, I couldn’t attend her funeral and had to mourn her in my concrete cell. Over the years, my only outside contact was with the people my father periodically sent to ensure I remembered, even though I was in prison, I was still expected to keep our family name in a good light.
And yes, I lost my fiancée—my future family—but Evangeline lost her sister, one she loved dearly. It couldn’t have been easy for her.
She studies me, her gaze flitting back and forth between my eyes. “Why did you do it, Phoenix?”