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“Of course.” He pauses. “Ruby wants you to call her when you can.”
I’ve given up on stealth and switched to openly watching her conversation with Holden. It’s so different from how our conversations go. They talk like two ordinary people, almost like . . . friends.
The way she and I used to talk.
Even though it was only several years ago, it feels like a lifetime.
But then, time goes by differently in prison.
I learned that one real quick.
But it gave Holden and me a lot of time to figure out my revenge plan. Maybe too much time. He was actually the one who suggested I should marry Evangeline. It was a joke at first, but then we realized how much she’d hate being my wife after the past we share.
We laughed about how ironic it would be for her to put me in prison, only to end up bound to me for the rest of her life. The situation would offer me unlimited access to her, allowing me to infiltrate her life and brain to figure out how to hurt her the most.
Now, I can confidently say that might have been the stupidest idea we’ve ever had.
Holden seems to be friends with her.
And me?
I have no clue what Evangeline and I are.
A mess, that’s for sure.
I wouldn’t consider us friends—though I’m not sure we were ever truly friends anyway—but I also haven’t considered us enemies for a while either. This last week has changed everything I thought about her, about us. Now it’s all upside down. To top it off, she just saved my life, and at this point, I’m pretty sure she didn’t call the police that fateful night out of hate either.
There’s still a mountain of lies and secrets between us, but somehow, we might have started to carve a small pathway toward each other. It’s not an easy path to maneuver, and I’m sure we’ll hit plenty of roadblocks along the way, but maybe, just maybe, there’s a microscopic chance we could end up in a good spot together.
But first, I need answers. And I have to get Evangeline to give them to me. I need her to be the one who tells me what happened. I don’t know why that’s so important; I just know it is.
We wind up the driveway, and she exhales audibly. I don’t blame her. Even though I know the entire house and property have been turned over with a fine-tooth comb and deemed as safe and secure as possible, I can’t suppress the slight pressure that settles on my chest either when we drive past the house to park in the garage.
Holden pushes the button that closes the garage door behind us and gets out.
I look at Evangeline, making sure I have her attention. “I had the best security teams out here to ensure it’s all safe, you hear me? You are mine to protect, and I will never let anything happen to you again.”
She nods, but I can’t disregard how she chews on thecorner of her bottom lip or how her hands have stopped drumming, both now clenched into tight fists.
I exit the car and open the door on her side. She blinks up at me with her big eyes but doesn’t move.
Only when I offer her my hand does she slowly unclench her fingers to put them around my waiting palm. Her grip on me is tight, but I don’t say anything about it, not even when she stands next to me and still holds on to me like her life depends on it.
She just went through something traumatic, we both did.
And I’m not here to judge her or tell her how to feel about it.
If it wasn’t for her concussion and the headache she’s been plagued by, I would have demanded answers at the hospital the second Holden told me what he’d discovered. And while it’s killing me to wait even longer, I’ll give her tonight to rest, but tomorrow all bets are off. At this point, figuring out this shit show—who’s trying to kill us but also what the hell we are—is the only thing I can think about.
She tilts her head back to gaze at me. “Could you take me to my room, please? I think I need to lie down.”
I dip my head. “Of course. Huxley made sure you have everything you need, and I’ll have him get some food ready for you, okay?”
Her throat bobs with a swallow. “I’d like that, thank you.”
“Anything in particular?”
She thinks about it, then we both blurt out, “Waffles!”