Page 87 of Tricked By Jack

“Eve.” Her hand hovers over the handle when I say her name.

Pausing, she turns to me. “Yes?”

“I meant what I said,” I clarify. “I love you, and I couldn’t fucking bear anything happening to you. Not like…” Like the fucking coward I am, I trail off instead of saying my sister’s name.

She swallows thickly. “I know, Jack. Nothing will happen.”

We use the stairs instead of the elevator. The climb is silent, heavy with everything unsaid. When we reach her floor, I jerk her back against me.

“What the—”

I slam my hand over her mouth and point at her apartment, where the door is wide open. My gut goes cold. Ned should’ve been here, but the hall is empty. Before I can decide how to proceed, Shelby struts out of Eve’s front door.

“Surprise!”

“You totally overreacted,” Eve accuses with a soft laugh as I let go of her.

“Eve,” Shelby calls out, her voice wavering. “Can we talk?”

“This really isn’t a good time,” I bark. I look behind her, to where Ned’s standing. “Are you ready?”

He gives me a sharp nod. “Of course.”

Eve does a double-take when she sees Ned, her eyebrows furrowing. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” she mumbles under her breath.

Ah, shit. I forgot she’s never officially seen Ned with me. Obviously, she knows he’s her neighbor, but that’s not the same asknowinghe works with me. Or maybe she’d already pieced it together and is just…

I open my mouth to say something… anything. But Eve narrows her eyes. “I can only handle one fucking thing at the time. So we’ll talk about this later.” Then she sighs heavily and looks at Shelby. “I need to get ready. We can talk while I change.”

We enter Eve’s apartment, and while the women head toward the bedroom, I stay in the living room with Ned.

“Sounds like you’re in trouble.” Ned grins.

I smirk and nod my agreement as I sit down on Eve’s couch, propping one leg over the other. Looking around, I notice her mantle decoration. I arch my eyebrow as my eyes land on the plaque below.

Why so serious?

The unexpected show of humor should be surprising.But when it comes to my wife, not much surprises me anymore. The cold woman I thought I had figured out completely is nothing like that.

Not only has she taken everything I’ve thrown at her in stride, she’s burrowed her way under my skin and into my heart.

Should I feel bad about everything I’ve done to her? Maybe. But I don’t. Because the woman sleeping in my bed, making me ache for her, is nothing like the doctor I sat across from all those months ago.

There are still many things I don’t know about her. Like, why the fuck does she have her dad’s skull on her mantle? Why isn’t she pissed that she lost her business? I might like that she seems so… adjusted. But it’s unnerving at the same time.

In many ways, she reminds me of a reptile. Keeping still while waiting for the opportune time to strike, and that might be exactly what she’s doing. After all, I know she’s stolen one of my kitchen knives.

I guess only time will tell if she’ll make good on her promise and try to kill me.

Chapter 29

The Bride

Ipinch the bridge of my nose and exhale audibly. One. Two… nope. I can’t stand listening to another apology.

“Just stop,” I sigh, fighting the urge to laugh when Shelby’s eyes widen. “You’ve apologized five times, blamed your brother and Jack three times each, and basically just talked in circles.”

“But Eve—”