Page 36 of His Ruthless Match (Below #3)

EVA

A deliciously mouthwatering aroma pulled me out of sleep. At first, I couldn’t place it. Bacon, maybe? Eggs? Something else equally delicious? My brain was foggy, my body sore in the best way. I rolled over, eyes half-open, and froze.

Jareth was in my bed.

A very naked Jareth.

The events of last night came rushing back in vivid detail. Heat crept up my neck as I remembered his hands, his mouth, and the way he’d looked at me like I was the only thing in the world that mattered. My stomach dipped with a mix of mortification and something far more dangerous.

Satisfaction.

A bone-deep satisfaction that made me feel like I could take on the world.

Except I couldn’t. Not yet.

I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and flipped it off airplane mode. The screen lit up with a flood of messages, all from Genevieve.

Genevieve . Oh my god.

I scrambled out of bed and pulled on a robe, then slipped into the hallway. The TV was on in the living room. I turned the corner into the kitchen and nearly screamed when I saw Grelth standing on a barstool in front of my stove, spatula in hand.

“Grelth!” I clutched my chest. “What are you doing here?”

He didn’t even flinch, his wide-eyed gaze fixed on the TV. “Making breakfast and discovering the wonders of human technology. Look at this box! It turns on, and people talk through it. You wouldn’t believe the filth coming out of their mouths. It’s magnificent.”

He was watching an episode of Cheaters Revealed . A woman on screen was screaming at a man and brandishing her stiletto shoe like it was a weapon.

“I’ll never get used to you,” I muttered, shaking my head.

Grelth flipped a pancake with a flourish, still staring at the screen. “Nor I to your world, Miss Eva. But I must admit, this reality television is a stroke of genius.”

Shaking my head in disbelief, I made my way to my home gym. As soon as I’d closed the door behind me, I called Genevieve. To my surprise, she answered on the first ring.

“Where the fuck have you been?” I snapped, the worry and frustration of the last week spilling out.

Genevieve sobbed into the phone. “I don’t know. I don’t fucking know, Eva.”

She sounded broken, and that terrified me. “What do you mean you don’t know? Where are you right now?”

“I woke up in a hotel room,” she sobbed. “Not the one I was staying in before. I don’t even remember getting here.”

I dug my nails into my palm. “Why haven’t you answered my calls? My texts? You disappeared for over a week , Genevieve, but you’ve been all over the internet. Do you have any idea what kind of mess you’ve made?”

“I didn’t… I don’t remember, Eva. I swear to God, I don’t remember. My last memory is of that man knocking you down and dragging me out of the hotel room.”

I stayed silent, letting her talk, and her sobs grew quieter as she continued.

“I… I woke up this morning and realized how much time has passed. It’s like it’s all gone, just blank. I don’t understand what’s happening. I don’t. Eva,” she gasped. “Please, you have to believe me. I didn’t do any of it. I swear to God, I didn’t leave the hotel. I didn’t…”

“Genevieve, slow down.” I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. “You need to listen to me for a second, okay?”

“Okay.”

“There are photos,” I said gently. “Videos, too. You’re all over the blogs. Drunk. Half-dressed. Stumbling out of clubs, letting strangers put their hands all over you. You were recorded doing body shots at a place that I didn’t even know still existed.”

“No,” she breathed. “No. That’s not possible, Eva, I?—”

“I’m not accusing you,” I said quickly, “I’m just… telling you what’s out there. And what I’m having to fight off on your behalf.”

“I didn’t do those things. I wouldn’t.”

“I want to believe that,” I told her. And I meant it. “Because none of it makes sense. I’ve been with you through a lot of chaos, and this feels… wrong. Sloppy. Like someone wants you to unravel in public.”

“Because someone does ,” she insisted. “Eva, someone is messing with me. I haven’t blacked out like that since college, and even then, I always knew when I’d fucked up.

This time I don’t remember anything . One minute I’m at the hotel I booked, the next I’m at a different hotel, and there are all these videos of me doing things I couldn’t have done. ”

I bit my bottom lip.

“I believe you,” I said finally. “At least, I believe you believe it.”

She was silent for a long time. Then, she whispered, “Thank you. I–I didn’t know if you’d even talk to me ever again.”

“I’m not bailing on you, Genevieve,” I said. “But I need you to work with me. If anything feels off, you tell me. Immediately. No hiding things or hoping it’ll blow over. We can’t afford that.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

“I want to know exactly where you are. What hotel, what room number. And you’re not to leave, do you understand? I’m going to hire new bodyguards for you, and they’ll report directly to me. One of them will be posted outside your room at all times.”

“Okay,” she whispered, her voice small and fragile. “Okay. I’ll do whatever you say.”

Something about this didn’t add up, and I needed to figure out what it was. For now, though, I’d have to take her at her word.

“Send me the details,” I said finally. “And don’t make me regret this, Genevieve.”

“I won’t. Thank you, Eva. Thank you.”

Jareth burst through the door like a damn hurricane, nearly scaring the life out of me. My heart leapt into my throat as I spun around, still clutching my phone. “Jareth! What the hell?”

He was in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs, his hair sticking out in every direction like he’d been in a fight with a windstorm. His eyes were wild, darting around the room before locking onto me.

“Here you are,” he growled. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I woke up and couldn’t find you. Not fucking cool, Delgado. You almost gave me a stroke.”

My pulse was still racing, but I held up my hand. “I’m on the phone, Jareth. Chill.”

“Chill?” His hands raked through his hair, and he started pacing like a caged animal. “You disappeared. After last night—” He cursed under his breath. “Never mind. Just don’t do that again.”

I turned back to my phone, barely able to focus on Genevieve’s sobs still trickling through the line. “Genevieve, I have to go. Send me those details. I’ll be in touch soon, okay?”

She sniffled. “Okay.”

Jareth was still pacing, his shoulders tense, his muscles flexing with every movement.

Damn him. Why did he have to look so good when he was irritated?

Memories of last night flashed through my mind uninvited—his lips, his hands, his body pressed against mine.

Heat rushed to my face, and I had to look away before he noticed.

Focus, Eva. Get it together.

I focused on my phone again and sent a quick text to Gabe, telling him to assign his best men to protect Genevieve. I added that I’d send the hotel address shortly and demanded someone be posted at her door at all times.

When I looked up, Jareth was trying to smooth down his hair. It wasn’t working. He looked like a nervous wreck.

“Jareth,” I started cautiously, “I think we should talk about what happened last night.”

He stopped dead in his tracks and held up a hand. “Nope. No time for that.” His tone was clipped, but I heard the unsteadiness in it. “As much as I’d love to evaluate and analyze last night from all angles—and trust me, I mean all angles —we don’t have time.”

I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Your brother called. He wants us at his estate. Immediately. And when he says immediately , he means yesterday.”

“Why?” The question escaped before I could stop it, though I knew it was pointless to ask. Raffaele never explained himself unless he wanted to.

“I don’t know. But he sounded pissed.”

A knot formed in my stomach. I clenched my hands to keep them from shaking. “You don’t think…” My voice trailed off as panic set in. “You don’t think he knows about?—”

“No!” Jareth snapped, but the flicker of doubt in his eyes betrayed him. “There’s no way. He can’t possibly…” He rubbed his jaw. “Shit. What if he does?”

“If he knows, Jareth…”

“I’m dead.” His voice was grim, his pacing more frantic now. “Dead. Do you understand, Eva? I’ll be six feet under, courtesy of your brother. Because not only did we cross the line, we obliterated it. We ran past it so far, it’s a dot on the horizon.”

“Calm down,” I said, though I wasn’t feeling very calm myself. “You’re spiraling.”

“Spiraling?” He let out a humorless laugh, throwing his arms up. “Eva, we are miles past the line. The Shadow is going to kill me. He’s going to fucking kill me.”

I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves. “He doesn’t know. He can’t know.”

Jareth looked at me like I’d just said the dumbest thing imaginable. “Your brother knows everything. Do you know how terrifyingly efficient he is? He probably has a camera in here right now, watching us panic like idiots.”

I glanced around the room, half expecting to see a blinking red light in the corner. “Don’t be ridiculous. He wouldn’t…”

God, maybe he would.

“We don’t have time to figure it out,” Jareth said, cutting off my spiraling thoughts. “We need to move.”

I glanced toward the kitchen. “At least eat something. Grelth went to all that trouble?—”

“No time,” Jareth barked, already heading toward the bedroom. I followed him, grabbing a piece of bacon off the counter as we passed. Grelth leapt off his stool with a squawk.

“You’re not going to eat my food again?” he screeched, his furry arms flailing wildly. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“We’re in a rush,” Jareth said, but he also grabbed a piece of bacon and popped it into his mouth.

Grelth wasn’t having it. “I slaved over this stove for you ungrateful people!” He grabbed each plate of food and dumped the contents into the trash. With a final huff, he popped out of existence.

“Wow,” Jareth said, swallowing the last bite of bacon. “You really pissed Grelth off.”

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the comment as we threw on fresh clothes. Last night’s dress lay crumpled on the floor, and annoyance flashed through me. I really should have hung it up. Oh well, no time to think about that now. Jareth pulled on his boots, his face set with grim determination.

“Ready?” he asked.

I nodded. Grabbing my purse, I followed him out the door. We didn’t speak during the drive to the tear in the Veil. The air between us was thick with tension—some of it about my brother, some of it about the night before, and all of it a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

Jareth and I walked into my brother’s fortress of a home, an architectural monstrosity that screamed intimidation and secrecy.

Oh, and money. Raffaele had money beyond comprehension.

Lucky for me, he was always willing to share, even if I didn’t need his help anymore.

I was doing pretty well for myself—that was, until Genevieve came along.

If I didn’t get her situation under control soon, no one in New York City would want to use my services.

Jareth was nervous. It was so rare a sight that I wanted to poke fun at him just to see how far I could push it. “So, do you think he’s going to sense that we’ve fooled around?”

His eyes went wide, and he spun on me so fast I nearly ran into him. “Shut the fuck up,” he hissed under his breath, glancing around as if expecting Raffaele to materialize from the walls. “Someone will hear you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What’s the big deal? He’s not gonna?—”

“Eva, your brother might be a big teddy bear with you, but to the rest of us? He’s a fucking monster. So, unless you want me to be executed today, you keep that between the two of us.”

I bit back a laugh, unable to resist needling him more. “Aww, the big, bad bodyguard is scared of my big brother. That’s so cute.”

Jareth glared at me. “You weren’t calling me cute last night when my face was buried between your thighs.”

Heat surged into my face, and I felt it spread all the way to my neck. I snapped my mouth shut, unable to think of a comeback that wouldn’t make things worse. He smirked triumphantly, and I filed the moment away as ammunition for later.

We stopped in front of my brother’s study door. Jareth straightened his shoulders like a soldier preparing for battle. I rolled my eyes as I opened the door.

Vivian was perched on my brother’s lap, the two of them staring at each other like teenagers caught in the middle of something very inappropriate. I stifled a groan. Could this day get any worse?

They both straightened immediately. Vivian smoothed her hair as Raffaele slipped on his usual mask of composed authority. I caught Vivian’s eye and smiled knowingly. She shrugged, and her lips twitched like she was suppressing a laugh.

Vivian came over to hug me. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

I hugged her back, surprised at how much I appreciated the gesture. “Thanks, Viv.”

“Have there been any more glitches with the bracelet?”

I shook my head. “Nope. It’s been working fine as far as I can tell.”

“Good. I’m sorry about the unexpected visits from Jareth, though. I think we’ve figured out the issue.” She glanced at Jareth. “But I hate using you as a guinea pig on my new inventions.”

“It’s no problem,” I said, though the thought of Jareth and his incessant hovering made me grit my teeth. “Really.”

Vivian turned to Raffaele. “Don’t you let her leave without saying goodbye to me, okay?” Then, with a polite nod to Jareth, she stepped out of the room.

The air grew heavier without her, and I could practically feel Jareth sweating beside me.

Raffaele didn’t speak right away. He simply pulled a picture out of a folder and slid it across the desk. I leaned in to look, expecting something serious, but stopped short. It was a glossy photo from my award photoshoot. Frowning, I glanced up at my brother.

“That’s from the interview,” I said slowly. “What’s the big deal?”

Raffaele leaned back in his chair, his face stone cold.

“The big deal is what came with it.” He pulled out another photo, this one candid.

I recognized myself immediately—I was walking down the street near my office, completely unaware that someone had been watching.

Then, he placed a letter on the desk between us.

“Just tell me what’s going on,” I said, frustration lacing my voice. My brother had a penchant for theatrics, and I wasn’t in the mood for a slow reveal.

Raffaele’s lips pressed into a thin line as he slid the letter toward Jareth. “Read it.”

Jareth scanned the letter, and I peered over his shoulder to read it.

Looks like you’ve been keeping something from us, Shadow.