Though Evangeline hadn’t spent a whole lot of time in Drake’s club, she wasn’t blind. She’d seen firsthand all the beautiful people. Men and women but especially women. In all shapes, sizes, ethnicities, some small and curvy, others tall with killer legs and a million-dollar smile, not to mention their beautiful hair, skin, clothing and makeup.
And yet for some reason still baffling to her, Drake had locked onto her and claimed her within seconds of them meeting face-to-face for the first time. She shook her head. These things simply didn’t happen to a girl like her from a podunk town in Mississippi. She was clumsy, awkward, shy and extremely conservative, which was why she’d only recently lost her virginity to a man who was all wrong for her. And naïve. God, she had to be the most gullible, naïve woman on the planet. So what on earth did Drake see in her?
“Evangeline, what’s wrong?” Drake asked sharply.
She flushed guiltily at being caught out lost in her thoughts. No way in hell she was going to tell Drake what she’d been thinking, even if she did have the propensity to blurt out the truth no matter how embarrassing it might be. For the first time she was going to lie to him, and she’d promised never to lie to him. But it would only anger him and ruin what had been a perfect morning. She justified her lie by telling herself it wasn’t a damaging lie. She wasn’t betraying him or withholding the truth about something that truly mattered. But even acknowledging that didn’t make her feel any better. She hated lying. Hated it.
“I was just trying to think of what to cook for dinner tonight,” she said lightly.
He studied her for a moment and more heat scorched her cheeks because he didn’t swallow her lame excuse in the least. But to her surprise, he didn’t call her on it, nor did he push her for answers.
“Let’s go take a shower together and then we’ll go get lunch. After, I’ll take you on that carriage ride.”
She sighed in contentment. “That sounds like a perfect day.”
8
“Are you ever planning to allow Evangeline out of the apartment?” Maddox asked dryly.
Drake glanced up sharply, and a perusal of his men netted the same question in their eyes that Maddox had voiced. The question came out of nowhere and had nothing to do with the business matters they were discussing. For that matter, his personal affairs weren’t open for discussion. Apparently he needed to make that clear.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Drake demanded. “I fail to see how my relationship with Evangeline is any of your business.”
His tone was icy and his features glacial as he stared his men down. There was disapproval in their eyes and it pissed him the fuck off. He was tempted to beat the fuck out of each and every one of them. He’d be damned if they were going to pass judgment on his relationship with Evangeline. Fuck that.
“Oh, I don’t know. Let’s see. She hasn’t so much as set foot out of your apartment since you brought her back there. Hell, no one has so much as seen her. You were going to make her your queen and go public with her, but she’s more scarce now than she ever was before.”
Drake’s eyes narrowed at the implied criticism in Maddox’s voice. As though Drake were purposely keeping her under wraps.
“She is free to come and go as she likes,” Drake said in an icy voice. “She’s aware of the necessity of higher security, and she accepts that. I’ve offered to have some of you accompany her wherever she’d like to go, but so far she’s refused, preferring to stay in.”
“Hell, she’s probably embarrassed,” Justice said in disgust. “She has no way of knowing what or how much we know, though she likely suspects we were privy to every single detail of what went down that night. It’s understandable why she wouldn’t be eager to face judgment from others.”
“Who the hell says she would be judged?” Silas demanded in a pissed-off tone.
Justice shot him a look of impatience. “Evangeline has pride. In spades. I’m not saying any of us would judge her. She did nothing wrong.” He shot a pointed look in Drake’s direction that had Drake baring his teeth. “But she doesn’t know what we think or know or what side of the picture we line up on. It’s likely she’s avoiding all of us. I don’t blame her. I can’t say I wouldn’t do the exact same thing in her shoes. By her way of thinking, she’s been shamed enough.”
“Fuck that,” Maddox growled. “The hell I’ll let her believe that shit.”
Silas held up his hand to silence Maddox. “I’ll sort Evangeline out.”
Drake slashed a look in his man’s direction. “Oh, you will?”