Page 27

Eve

“So what the hell was that shit with Jason last night? I’ve never seen him lose composure at his table like that.”

Maya takes a seat across from me at the cafe, tossing her sleek black hair over her shoulder as she waves over the nearest barista. I check my phone, not at all surprised to see the numbers 10:45pm glowing up at me amidst the dark, moody lighting of the cafe patio. She and I have become close over the past month, and I’ve come to look forward to our weekly cafe meetups post-Clover evenings. Thank God for 24-hour coffee shops. We talk about Everlast, about work and our pasts, yet lately the topic of conversation has been my relationship with Jason. Today seems no different.

“I have no idea,” I reply, curling my hands around my mug and tapping my fingers against the warm ceramic. “He just lost his shit. The past week he’s been coming completely undone.”

I take a sip as Maya pulls her phone out from her purse, thumbs open her messages and sets it on the table.

“This was a text I received from Derek this morning,” she says as she leans back in her seat, crossing her legs and draping her arm over the back of her chair. “Read it.”

Sliding the phone closer to me, I peer down at the text message and begin to read as Maya orders her coffee. After a few moments, I make it to the end of the text: glancing up at Maya, I push the phone across the table towards her and widen my eyes in surprise.

“So you guys saw the footage.” My voice is steady as I cross my hands in front of me on the table. Maya’s eyes narrow, her head cocking slightly to the side as a smirk curls at the corner of her mouth.

“Don’t play dumb, Eve,” she says as the barista arrives with her drink.

“Careful, it’s hot,” the barista cautions as Maya nods in gratitude and takes a long, slow drink. I can see the poor barista’s jaw drop in surprise as she stands agape as Maya finishes the entire cup and hands it back to her.

“Thank you,” Maya says before turning her attention back to me. She waits for the barista to leave before sliding her chair closer to mine.

“You’re a smart girl. We all know that. We also know that your…tastes…run similar to Jason’s. What we DIDN’T know, was that his love for you was going to push him to this level of delusion.”

Her hand extends as she brushes my cheek with her fingers. I will myself to remain still, silent, keeping my sight set on the onyx pools of Maya’s eyes.

“But YOU knew,” she purrs. “We saw you clock the cameras when you walked into his house. When you approached him in the living room. So tell me, Eve…how long have you been plotting against him?”

All noise around us is drowned out by the sound of blood rushing to my ears. Her hand slides from my cheek to my chin as she grips my face, her nails digging into my skin as she pulls me closer to her.

“Maya, I–”

“Stop,” she interrupts. “Think exceedingly carefully about what you’re about to say. You’re playing a dangerous game, girl, with some very dangerous people. Now is the time for honesty, or so help me I will put you on my table next.”

She shoves my face away from hers and I glare at her, rubbing my cheeks and cracking my neck before letting out a deep sigh.

“I have no need to lie to you,” I confess. “Everything you heard on that footage from Jason’s house is true. I fell in love with Jason, and fell hard. It was like finding my soul in another person, and I loved how I was with him. The electricity, the understanding, the danger: it was perfection.”

“Until he started getting serious,” Maya scoffs.

“Until he started CHANGING, Maya.” My voice is earnest as my face softens, my hand reaching out across the table to grab hers. “I’ve been open with you every time we’ve talked, and I KNOW you know that I love him deeply. But with his lifestyle, with the rules of the club, I also know that he can’t have that ‘fairy tale ending’ that he’s been fantasizing about.”

Maya doesn’t move, her hand still as stone underneath my palm. I give her a gentle squeeze.

“I know I’m new to this life, to you, to the Suits,” I lower my voice as I look around us. “But I’ve shown you all that I can keep secrets. That I can keep my composure. And that I am realistic about what it means for my future. No family. No kids. No liabilities.”

Shifting in her seat, Maya slowly slides her hand from under mine. For the first time since I’ve met her, she looks uncomfortable. The muscles in her jaw feather as she chews on her words before forcing them into existence.

“I’ve known Jason a long time…” she mutters. “A long time. He’s always wanted someone to love, to share his life with. Then you come along. And now, after getting him to care about you and love you, you’re willing to throw that all away?”

I pull my hand back and lean forward towards her, my expression pleading as I try desperately to help Maya understand.

“Maya, I’d like to think we’ve become good friends in the time since we’ve met, yeah? As my friend, as someone who knows me, can you honestly say that you think I WANT to throw away the one man who helped me become the best version of myself? I don’t want to lose Jason. I loved him when he saw me as an equal, as a partner. But now…now he sees me as an escape. As a way out. And I can’t give that to him. I spent years hiding my true self from the world because I was terrified of how dark and twisted I really am. Jason accepted me, encouraged me and trained me to channel my demons. He allowed me to thrive in who I really am. And now he wants me to bury it again? To be a ‘good little housewife’ and leave this life behind?”

I shake my head, my eyes closing with resolve.

“I can’t, Maya. I can’t change who I am for somebody else. I can’t change myself for love. Not when I worked so hard to get where I am now.”

Maya doesn’t say a word. As we stare at each other for a moment, her phone vibrates on the table between us, the sound echoing along the courtyard walls. She finally looks down and swipes open her screen, her eyes glued to it as she scrolls for a moment.

I bite my tongue so hard I taste blood as I try my very hardest not to interrupt. My words hang in the air between us, an olive branch of truth that I hope didn’t fall on deaf ears. Best case scenario, Maya understands. Worst case scenario, Maya deems me as a threat to Jason and the stability of the Suits, and then I end up right back where I started: in the crematorium with Jason.

Except this time it would be me inside that casket.

“Ahem,” Maya clears her throat and I snap out of my trance.

“Derek texted me. Said that Jason is at Clover right now, acting a fool.” She looks me up and down as if seeing me for the first time. “Says he has become possessive and unhinged, yelling at him and threatening Jack.”

My lips part as my jaw slackens. It’s one thing for Jason to yell at me, or maybe even Jack, but Derek?

“Eve, you know Derek has taken a fancy to you,” she says quietly. “He sees how much you’ve changed for Jason. How much effort you’ve put into maintaining realistic expectations regarding the lives we lead as members of the Suits. Unfortunately it seems like the changes that Jason has been making are the opposite. They’re rash, and they’re becoming dangerous for everyone involved. And it’s all because of his love for you.”

She crosses her arms and bites the inside of her cheek as I let her words wash over me. Let them sink in. Understand the weight of them.

“So how do we handle this?” I ask solemnly. “He wants to leave, to live a normal life, to feel human again. How do we give him what he wants?”

Maya’s eyes narrow as she rises from her seat, closing the space between us as she approaches my chair. I look up at her, her raven locks falling like curtains around her face as she places a finger under my chin and lifts my jaw, forcing me to stand and face her. We are eye to eye, standing as equals as she slides her finger from my chin and straightens her back.

“We’re going to tell him we need to talk.”