Parker smirked. “Not something a guy like you does often, I imagine.”
“You’ve got me. I’m putting it all on the table. My hands are tied here. I’ve been driving around for days searching for her. I’m out of ideas. You have an idea of where she might be. What do I have to do to get you to help me?”
The other man’s lips pursed and his green eyes jerked away, then back again. He exhaled noisily. “Fine. You want to help her? Well, I don’t trust you. Guys like you don’t do anything without an ulterior motive. Scout needs . . . stability. She’ll do anything to get it. Problem is, she associates stability with money.”
“She’s right.”
“Says you. Judge me all you want, but I want to see you fail. However, if you fail so does she, and that’s not what I want. I want her to have the life she’s after. I want to see her keep a good job, have her own home, and never have to worry when she’ll eat next.”
“I can do all that for her. That’s the plan.”
“Ah, but I won’t see it.” Parker stood and Lucian noticed him limp slightly. No matter how strong he pretended to be, it was obvious his circumstances left him quite weak. “You’re an audacious fellow. I have a proposition for you. I’ll take you to her, but I want to be there when she gets everything she wants. I want to see all those dreams of hers come true. I want a job. You give me a job and I get back on my feet. At that point, you give me a fair shot at her. I’m not saying right away. I’ll need some time. But when I’m ready, I say the word and you back off and give me a fair shot. One month where you don’t interfere.”
Not a chance.
Lucian learned a long time ago how to act unaffected during the negotiations stages of a deal. “She may have a problem with that, you realize. Evelyn doesn’t like being maneuvered without her feelings being considered.”
“Then I suppose we both lose.”
Lucian’s eyes narrowed. Patient Parker had a very shrewd side to him. Something told Lucian the other man had no problem letting him walk away and never telling Evelyn he was here. Every hour of cold made a difference. This wasn’t a situation where one could wait out the other.
It would backfire on Parker, of course. Lucian never broke his word once given, but Parker would somehow break the deal on his own. There was something about the kid that didn’t stem from growing up on the streets. Something . . . informed, innate. Once he’d secured Evelyn, he’d find out exactly who Parker Hughes was.
“Okay, Hughes. You’ve got yourself a deal, but let me give you some free advice. One, she’ll eventually find out you only agreed to help her after securing your own chance at gaining something, and I give you my word I won’t be the one to tell her this. Two, she won’t like it when she does find out. Three, I haven’t gotten where I am today by giving in easily. A challenge is just that to me. And four, I always get what I want.”
“Keep your fucking advice, Patras. All I’m interested in is a job and your word.”
“You have it.” Lucian extended his leather-clad hand.
There was one other condition, however. All bets were off if Lucian got Evelyn to agree to be his wife. Never in a million years had he expected she’d shoot him down.
The anger boiling up inside of him surpassed regret. He couldn’t regret agreeing to let her go. His promise likely saved her life.
Now he was indebted to the asshole. Perhaps he even owed Hughes credit for saving Evelyn’s life. Knowing that made it impossible for Lucian to back out on their deal.
He’d given his word in exchange for finding her. She was worth his honoring his vow. The only silver lining was that in thirty days Parker’s true colors would likely shine through, and Evelyn would see once and for all what a prick the man truly was. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to quell the horrible thoughts running through his mind.
What if she chose him? What if she loved Hughes and never really loved Lucian? What if he’d lost her? It took every ounce of willpower Lucian possessed not to say fuck all and go get her, but he’d made such a disgrace of their relationship in the past twenty-four hours that there would be no reasoning with her now. Their path had been set, and he had thirty agonizing days to survive before he could put things back to right.
He reminded himself that if he hadn’t promised to let her go for one month, he never would have found her. Swallowing hard and pushing down every instinct to go after her, he gripped the armrest of the limo door until it practically ripped off the car.