Page 6

6

LOCHLAN

A fter calling Evie's name several times to no reply, I stand and walk to my office door and peer out. She's not at her desk, nowhere in sight, and three of the staff look up at me.

"Have you seen Evie?" I grunt in frustration, but they shake their heads like fools. Of course they're not paying attention. They're not paid to keep tabs on Draco's daughter. They're here to do their jobs.

Sighing in annoyance, I stand in that doorway for a few seconds wondering if she's just using the toilet or if she ducked out of the building. Draco told me to keep my eye on her and make sure she was safe and staying out of our business affairs, but how am I supposed to do that if she vanishes? There isn't much around here that could put her in danger, but her discovering the shit that goes down in the warehouse can't happen.

"Feck's sake," I grumble, deciding I have to go find her. I massage my temples as I walk to the outer office door, past the plastic Ficus and toward the elevator. She's not in the hallway. No sounds are coming from the ladies’ bathroom. If she walked out of the office and left without telling me, we're going to have a problem.

I'm always high-strung, but in moments like this, where the person I'm supposed to be in charge of isn't where they're supposed to be, I find myself a bit more tense. Like at the club over the weekend. She has no idea the trouble she was tempting into her life and she has no clue what I saved her from. Now this? Disappearing during work hours?

The elevator doors slide open on the first floor and I scan the area. I'm not sure what she does for her job entirely, but perhaps she has to come down here for some reason. Still, I see no trace of her. The men and women seated at their desks here in recruitment are working hard. A few of them poke their heads up and nod at me. They've seen me around.

When I see the door to the warehouse in back is open a crack, my temper flares. I try not to let it get out of control immediately, but it's hard not to be angry and blame myself for this. Evie is naive. She has no clue the danger she'll put herself in if she gains knowledge of Draco's real business here. She's soft and vulnerable, and bad men in this city hoping to get at her father would use her as leverage faster than she could blink.

My hand presses on the cold metal door, pushing it open, and before I can even utter a syllable, Evie is there, eyes wide, hands shaking, shoulders hunched. Her skin is pale, pupils so tiny you'd think she was stoned, but it's fear. Of me.

"What the feck?" I growl, feeling all the rage of a million angry bulls in my chest. I rein it in as much as I can but it still bursts out of me. My shoulders tense. my hands clench into fists, and my body is on alert, poised to strike if need be. I hate that reaction—it comes on me instantly even in situations like this, where the risk is low, the danger minimal. I want it to stop, but the best I can do is grit my teeth and try to remind myself that I'm speaking to a woman, not attacking a band of insurgents.

"Move," she hisses. Her voice breaks, her tone full of emotion. She shoots her hand out into my chest and pushes me backward, and I allow it. If I wanted to stop her, I could, but she seems terrified. I don’t like that I scare her so much and I know it's probably because she understands who I am and who my family is. I follow her toward the elevator and hear her sniffling, and the red mark on her cheek doesn't escape me, either.

We step into the elevator cage and the doors shut, but when she goes to press the button for level two, I put my hand in the way. "Why were you in the warehouse?" I ask, and she glares at me.

"I went out back to get something from my car." She flashes a phone around and then runs her hand under her eye, wiping away a tear. I realize maybe it's my tone that is upsetting her and feel like a dolt for being so obtuse.

Backing away, I lower my hand and she pushes the button. We're not going to have a good working relationship, and I’m going to have a very difficult time protecting Draco's secrets and Evie's life if she's constantly afraid of me.

"I came looking for you because I need help. Would you come to my office to show me some things?" Stepping back, I fold my hands over my belt buckle and try to use as calm of a tone as possible.

"You mean my father's office? And yes," she says meekly, some of the fear starting to relax out of her shoulders.

The doors slide open. Half the room watches her follow me to Draco's office where Evelyn passes by me and I shut the door. None of the other staff members have said a word about my taking his place, but to Evie this must seem like an intrusion. There are so many reasons for her to be upset with me and fear me. If I can reduce some of them by sitting her down and having a talk, I will. Maybe this is why Ronan forced me to do this task that's beneath me. He knows I have to go soft to deal with all of this.

"Evelyn," I start, which sparks a bit of fire in her eyes. She hates her full name, but this is serious and I want her to understand by context how serious I am. I stroll over to my seat and sit down comfortably. She hovers at the end of my desk chewing on her lip, fiddling with the phone in her hand. "I am not your enemy, okay? I don’t want to be here any more than you want me here, but your Da asked me to do this favor for him. I just want to do a good job, and I'm sorry if I frighten you. I don't mean to."

Her shoulders relax a little and she wipes her face clean. Mascara rings under her eyes are the only sign that she was crying, though her nose is a bit red. She nods and shoves the phone in her pocket, but I still can't get over the red mark on her face.

"I want to ask what you were really doing out there…" I shake my head. "Your cheek looks like someone struck you." I nod at it, gesturing with my hand. I'm not good at picking up on subtle clues, but there is nothing subtle about that welt.

"The wind caught my car door and it smacked my face." She holds her hand over her cheek. "Is it that bad?" Her hand shakes a little. I get the sense she's hiding something, but I'm not her father. She's in this building safe, and so far, there is no sign that she's uncovered any of Draco's secrets.

"It's pretty red…" My wheels are still turning. "Why go through the warehouse instead of the side door like normal?" There isn't much in the warehouse that could get her into trouble right now. The gun shipments went out last week, but we do have a crate of drugs out there waiting for tomorrow's boat. Maybe that's why she's upset? She saw that?

"Are we playing twenty questions?" she snips, and I chuckle at her fire. She reminds me of Maelyn a lot, wanting to be independent and hating authority.

"Alright, fine… Let's call a truce. I don't want you to be upset with me like I'm a bad guy. I'm here to help Draco do his job and hold down the fort here." I avoid telling her that he asked me to protect her. She'll hate that insinuation that she's weak. "So if you do your job and you're here when I need you, I'll do mine and we can stay out of each other's hair."

My frustration is starting to simmer down now, mellowing into a warm attraction I feel every time she's around.

"Fine," she says calmly. "But I don't need a babysitter. I just went out to my car. Is that a crime?"

The air is still tense, more so than I want it to be, but we've agreed to this truce and I want to switch gears. I turn toward my computer and angle the screen toward her more.

"I have to know where to find shipping schedules. Draco gave me a tour of the building but didn't show me the software. Mind helping me out?" I look up at her, and she's already moving, walking toward me. She leans over me. Her tits brush my shoulder and I smell the hint of peppermint on her breath, the scent of lilac perfume or shampoo. It curls around me and I relax into its feminine touch.

"Here." Evelyn reaches for the mouse and moves it around, pointing it at the file navigator. I watch how she expertly draws up the shipping scheduler and opens the files. "The manifests are linked here," she says, directing the mouse icon to the linked blue words, "and here." The longer she stays hovering over me, the more I am drawn to her.

I can't shake the similarity between her and Maelyn. She has the same body type Maelyn had, the same slender fingers. Hell, they even smell the same, or maybe that's my mind playing tricks on me. It makes all sorts of memories bubble up that I have to push down. Evelyn isn't in danger. I don't have to feel this way, but I do. I feel like putting a protective arm around her, pushing her behind my back, ready to fight anyone or anything that might harm her.

"And that's that…" she says, and I realize I've been lost in thought not paying attention to her. I'll have to ask more questions which she will think are dumb questions, but it means more time close to her. I like the thought of that. Being near her makes me feel in control and at peace.

"Lochlan," she says. then she turns to lean on the edge of my desk. I look up at her wondering what she's going to ask as she continues. "Do you think Da is a criminal?" Evelyn winces and looks down, saying, "I mean… I'm not trying to accuse you of anything, but I know your reputation." Her eyes track back up my body to meet my gaze. "Do you think he's like you?"

The question comes out of left field and I wonder if it has to do with anything she may or may not have seen in the warehouse, but I answer cautiously. "Your father is a good man, Evie." I want to touch her arm or leg, show her my compassionate side, but I don't want her to think it's inappropriate. "I don't think you need to worry about it. He has a good heart, and he loves you."

"But do you think he's in danger?" I see the very real fear in her eyes, the same fear I saw in Maelyn's eyes before she walked into that building. I should've gone first. I should've protected her.

"No, Evie. I think he knows what he's doing. Family watches out for each other, you know? So he's protected." My slip-up doesn't even faze her. She's staring off at the wall where one of Draco's many bulletin boards hangs. She nods and stands, smoothing her hand across her skirt, then turns to me.

"What did you mean by—" Her phone rings, making her jump. I watch her blanch and reach for it, and she mutters, "I have to take this," before rushing out. I'm left wondering what she could possibly have heard or seen to make her suspicious of Draco, but now I know I have to turn up the heat on my observation.

If Evie is starting to suspect something, I have to know what she suspects and I have to stop her from getting any confirmation of those suspicions. It's why I'm here. I may have failed Maelyn, but I won't fail at this. I can't.

Draco is depending on me.