Lana lurched from her position on the couch and went to her knees in front of Evangeline. She curled her hands around Evangeline’s and stared pleadingly into Evangeline’s face.
“We love you, Vangie. We made a mistake. We were worried about you and hurt when you wouldn’t listen to us, but that didn’t give us the right to act as we did. You ask if we’re taking advantage of you now. And the answer is no, but we did take you for granted then. That’s our sin, honey. Can you forgive us for that? Can we ever be friends again?”
“Oh, Lana,” Evangeline said, reaching to hug her friend. “Of course we can be friends. I still love you all so much and I’ve missed you terribly.”
And then suddenly Nikki and Steph were crowding in as the four women noisily hugged and said their apologies. For the next hour, they chatted and caught up, with the girls filling Evangeline in on the goings-on at the bar where Evangeline had worked with them for so long.
Knowing she’d likely already strained the limits of Maddox’s and Justice’s patience, Evangeline excused herself by telling her friends that she was running late for an appointment and that they could come over another time.
Justice walked them down to the lobby while Maddox remained behind with Evangeline. As soon as they left, Evangeline sank back into her chair feeling like she’d been hit by a truck.
“You okay, babe?” Maddox asked gently. “That was a lot to throw at you all at once.”
“Thank you for being here,” she said gratefully. “I’m not sure how well I would have handled that if I’d been alone.”
It made her sound pathetic and needy, not to mention helpless, but at the moment she was too grateful that she hadn’t been by herself to care how it made her look.
“Promise me that you won’t allow them here unless someone is with you,” Maddox said in a hard tone.
Evangeline looked at him in question.
Maddox sighed. “You’re too damn sweet and trusting, sweetheart. I find the timing of their visit a little suspicious. If they did any checking into Drake, and it’s likely they did, then they’d know you landed a man with deep pockets. Hell, he already covered their rent, so who’s to say they weren’t sniffing around looking for another handout?”
“What?” Evangeline asked, utterly appalled at what he was suggesting. “You think they faked the whole thing?”
She was so aghast that Maddox looked remorseful for having suggested any such thing. But neither did he retract his statement, and that weighed heavily on her. Could he be right?
She covered her face with her hands and let out a soft moan of anguish.
“Hey, babe,” Maddox said, his voice heavy with regret. “Don’t put too much stock into anything I said. I’m a suspicious bastard. It’s my job to be. Especially when it comes to people cozying up to you. They could be legit. All I’m saying is take it slow and be careful. Watch your back and as I said before, don’t agree to see them unless one of us is with you, yeah?”
“Okay,” she said shakily.
He reached down to take her hand and helped her to her feet. “Come on, let me get your coat for you again so we can be on our way. Drake wants you back in time for dinner tonight.”
“You know, you aren’t the hardass you make yourself out to be,” she said teasingly.
He sent her a mock ferocious look and scowled in response. “You ever tell anyone else that, and I’ll be the one spanking that pretty ass. Not Silas.”
13
Drake arrived at his apartment shortly after five that afternoon and was met by Maddox when he entered the lobby. Drake homed in on Maddox’s mood right away and tensed, searching his man’s face for any sign of what was bothering him.
“Evangeline’s had a tough day,” Maddox said in a low voice.
“What the fuck happened?” Drake demanded, alarm splintering up his spine. “Why the hell am I only now finding out about it?”
“Her girls showed up here right as Justice and I were about to leave with her to go shopping. Justice and I stuck to her side and they came up crying and making a fuss and apologizing for being bitches.”
Drake’s gaze narrowed. “And you don’t buy it.”
Maddox shook his head. “No, I don’t. I upset Evangeline when I suggested as much, but the point I was trying to make was that I didn’t want her entertaining her girls without one of us around.”
“How upset is she?” Drake asked.
“She seems to be okay now. Justice and I distracted her and we had a good time. When I left her in the apartment half an hour ago, she was going to go shower and get changed for dinner with you. She seemed to be relaxed and in good spirits, but when it all went down, it hit her like a freight train and it pretty well knocked her on her ass.”