You Are Mine (16 page)

“Why wait? We could pay Fitzgerald a little visit right now.” Zac's voice was dark, the rough, sensual sound she'd noticed earlier vanishing completely from it. “I have certain … contacts who could arrange a more personal meeting.”

But Honor shook her head, glancing down at her phone again. “Looks like he's out of the country at the moment, at least according to this particular news report. He's coming back in time for this fundraiser.”

“A party.” Alex smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile. “Oh, I do like a party.”

“So what's your plan once you get there?” Katya asked. “Corner him and ask him your questions?”

“Why not?” Gabriel lifted a shoulder. “I'm sure between us we could persuade him to answer.”

“Or,” Zac said softly. “You could go, angel. And save us all this trouble.”

Oh, damn him. Damn him to hell.

She was conscious of everyone's attention on her.

“Why would Eva going save us the trouble?” Katya asked, sounding puzzled.

Eva didn't look at anyone else. Only at the man staring at her. The man who'd brought the past she'd been desperate to leave behind her crashing back into the present.

The man she'd thought she was safe with and now knew that there was no such thing as safe with Zac Rutherford.

No. He wouldn't get this from her, he goddamn wouldn't.

“This meeting is fucking over,” she said.

There was a silence. Everyone stared at her, and suddenly she wanted to scream at them all to leave. To get out, to stop looking at her. Stop asking her for things she didn't want to give.

But it was Alex of all people who moved. He murmured something in Katya's ear and she got off him, rising to stand beside his chair while he got to his feet, only wincing a little as he took a couple of steps toward the fireplace.

Unable to help herself, her nerves frayed beyond endurance, Eva backed heavily into the mantelpiece as Alex came closer.

Only to come to an abrupt halt as Zac moved smoothly to put himself in front of her, a tall, muscled barrier.

Her heart thumped. She couldn't even find it in herself to protest at Zac's obvious protective behavior. Because she knew what Alex was going to say. Knew it with certainty.

Alex gave Zac one intense, piercing look. Then he turned his blue gaze on Eva.

There was a terrible understanding in his eyes and she found herself shaking her head, wanting to deny it.

“Eva,” Alex said in a voice full of gentleness. “Remember what you told me? Put a bullet in his head. That's what you said.”

She remembered. Before Alex had gone to Monte Carlo, when he'd been trying not to involve himself in the deepening mystery of the Seven Devils. When she'd thought all this wasn't so personal. When the past hadn't returned from the grave she'd buried it in to slap her across the face.

Even back then she'd recognized the trauma in Alex, mainly because she'd always felt it herself, deep down. But she didn't want to be reminded, not now. Not with the prospect of her past being laid out for everyone to see.

For you to remember.

“Leave her alone,” Zac said, iron in his voice.

Alex ignored him. “You know I'm right, Eva. Running doesn't solve anything. Believe me, I know.

“This is not your fight.” Violence simmered beneath Zac's cultured British vowels. “Go and sit down.”

Alex's focus switched to Zac. He stared at him for a long moment. Then he said, “You two need to sort your shit out. And do it quickly. The rest of us need you.”

Tell them, Eva.

She turned around sharply, staring down into the empty black grate of the fireplace. Focusing on that and not on the wild beating of her heart or the fear that curled like an animal inside her chest. An animal with sharp teeth and claws.

Please don't let him make her do this. Please.

Behind her Zac was saying something while Alex replied, but she tuned them out.

Everything in her howled in protest at the thought of going to this stupid function. Apart from anything else, she hadn't been around large groups of people in years, which meant that in itself was going to be difficult. But the thought of confronting
him …
In the flesh …

You have to do it. They need you.

How? How the hell was she doing to do it? Because for once she knew that denial wasn't going to work, not with Zac pushing and pushing and pushing.

Zac, who as it turned out, was beautiful.

The voices behind her had grown silent, and she could feel the tension in the room like another presence.

They were arguing about her. God, what a terrible time for them to be arguing among themselves, especially when they were so close to finding out what was going on.

All because you can't deal.

Eva swallowed and turned. The room she'd once felt so comfortable in, so safe, didn't feel so safe any longer. And everyone was looking at her, waiting for her to say something.

But it felt like the walls were closing in, her throat tight, the fear in her chest starting to claw at her. And she couldn't stay here any longer. She had to get out.

Without a word, she brushed past Zac and headed for the door.

“Eva,” he called, and the iron in his voice only made her fear turn choking. “Don't you dare run.”

But she didn't reply or turn around.

“Eva, stop!”

She didn't do that either.

 

CHAPTER EIGHT

Zac cursed viciously and without a word strode after Eva. The door slammed shut after him, leaving a heavy, uncomfortable silence.

Honor's heart caught painfully. Something had scared Eva, that much was obvious, and it was difficult seeing that fear and hurt flare in her delicate, pale face. She was normally so tough and yet it seemed that toughness hid a desperate vulnerability.

It was especially difficult having some inkling into what might have caused such fear and pain.

Alex and Eva had a shared experience from the looks of things, and though Alex might have come to terms with what had happened to him, it was clear Eva had not.

And it had something to do with Evelyn Fitzgerald.

Honor caught her brother's gaze.

Though it had been a rewarding couple of weeks, each of them painfully rebuilding the bridge that Alex had burned behind him, it hadn't exactly been easy either. There was still much that hadn't been spoken of. That would come in time, she had no doubt, but until then, some things were going to be painful.

Such as finding out the real reason Alex had left and not spoken to either her or her mother for nineteen years. Such as finding out her father hadn't committed suicide after all. She hadn't told her mother that yet, was still trying to figure out when she actually would, since Elizabeth St. James had enough to deal with already with her husband in the hospital in a coma.

Except not for much longer.

Beside her Gabriel shifted as if sensing her tension, sliding an arm around her waist to draw her in close to his big, muscular body. She let herself lean against him for a moment, enjoying his warmth and wordless support.

“Violet, huh?” he said quietly.

Honor's ex-roommate and friend. And Evelyn Fitzgerald's daughter.

“Yes.” Honor sighed. “I can't quite believe he might have something to do with it.”

Alex stuck his hands in the pockets of his suit pants. “I thought she was in France?”

“No,” Honor said. “She came back and was staying in my apartment for a while. I've just shifted into Gabriel's place so Vi took over my lease. God, if it's true, if her father is involved with this…” She stopped. Violet was restless, a rebel. Constantly trying to throw off the shackles of her blue-blooded family's expectations. But she had a good heart, was a good person, and Honor thought she loved her dad deep down.

Finding out he perhaps wasn't what he seemed would be devastating, as Honor herself knew from her own experience.

“But we don't know anything for certain yet.” A faint, wry smile turned the end of Alex's mouth. “Jesus, listen to me. Who'd have thought I'd be the fucking voice of reason?”

The unexpected thread of humor loosened the tension in the room.

“Someone needs to be,” Gabriel said. “Might as well be you.” He released Honor, putting his hands on the back of the couch and leaning on them. “So we have a name. Anything else? I didn't turn up shit about Mantel or any of the other Devils. Whatever they've been up to, they covered their tracks pretty thoroughly.”

“I might be able to help with that,” Honor offered.

Gabriel glanced at her. “You got something, baby?”

Honor nodded, turning her attention back to Alex. “The reason I was late was that the hospital called. They're going to bring Dad out of his coma tonight.”

Alex had gone very still, as had Gabe.

“Shit,” Gabriel muttered. “That could be extremely fucking helpful.”

“Mom wanted you to be there,” Honor said, keeping her gaze on her brother.

Alex had seen his mother a couple of times since he'd recovered from his bullet wound. Initially their meetings had been awkward and painful, mostly on Alex's part since Elizabeth had been so glad about her son's return that she hadn't cared about his reasons for leaving. It only mattered that he was home.

Neither Alex nor Honor had told Elizabeth about Conrad South. Just as they hadn't told her that her first husband had been murdered.

“Then I'll be there,” Alex said.

Honor glanced at the woman standing beside Alex's abandoned armchair, her golden hair in a braid down her back, her black suit only slightly rumpled from sitting in Alex's arms only five minutes earlier. “She wants you there too, Katya.”

The Russian woman looked startled. “Well, of course.”

Honor let out a breath. “I don't want to get anyone's hopes up. The doctor mentioned that there might be some brain damage, so I wouldn't count on Dad remembering anything. He might not even be able to speak.”

Beside her, Gabriel shifted again. “Then we carry on with our plans. I'll see if I can get an invite to this fundraising thing. Hell, maybe Woolf Construction already got one since we do build fucking houses after all.”

“I'll see if I can get one too,” Alex said. He'd begun to pace in front of the fireplace. “Jesus, we need Zac and Eva. I want to know whether Zac made any progress finding out about the Apocalypse players. And what kind of stuff Eva's managed to turn up about trafficking.”

“Yeah, but they looked like they had other stuff on their plate to deal with.” Gabriel straightened. “Now we have a name, we can do this without Eva.”

Alex shook his head. “Running away won't help. And yeah, I know, that's ironic coming from me.”

Gabriel held up a hand. “Hey, I didn't say a word.”

“So the plan,” Katya said impatiently. “You are going to interrogate him? That could be dangerous if he knows you are all going to be there. What if he's connected to Elijah? To whoever issued those threats in the first place?”

Worry twisted in Honor's gut. “Katya has a point. You all going in there guns blazing is probably not a good idea. My father was murdered, and they shot Guy. They're dangerous. If Fitzgerald is actually connected in any way to all of this, then lives could be at risk.” She paused, staring at both her brother and Gabriel. “I've only just found you both. I couldn't bear to lose either of you.”

Katya moved, going over to where Alex stood. She put a hand on his arm. “Alexei … Honor has a point. I will protect you, you know that. But what if it gets out of hand? We need more—”

“Information?” Alex lifted a hand, cupping her cheek. “Don't fret, Katya mine. I agree that we need to take this slowly.”

The tenderness in her brother's face caught at Honor's heart. Despite the awkwardness between them, it had been wonderful to see all these unexpected sides to Alex that she hadn't known were there. Or maybe she had. He'd been a protective, loving big brother once and it was lovely to see that those aspects of him hadn't been completely buried by his experiences.

“Good point.” Gabriel's arm once more slid around her waist, pulling her close. “But we can look after ourselves, baby. You know that. We've gotten very good at it over the years.”

Honor turned to look up at the man she loved. “I know. But this is turning out to be far more dangerous than any of us could have predicted. And we don't know what else is going to come out of the woodwork. I just … we need to keep our risks as small as we can make them.”

A rare smile flickered over Gabriel's face. “Typical financial advisor.” The warmth in his voice made her want to arch her back like a cat being stroked.

She raised a brow at him. “You're investing your lives, Gabe. And I would be severely unhappy with you if you were to lose your investment.”

He bent and kissed her, a swift, hard kiss that promised all kinds of exciting things. “Katya's right. And you do have a point,” he said as he straightened up. “We're going to have to rethink this. Perhaps only one of us needs to attend then?”

“It has to be Eva,” Alex said. “At least, from what Zac said it sounded like she might have more information about this than the rest of us do.”

“Yes, but it doesn't look like she wanted to go.” Honor let herself lean into the man holding her. “What about me? I could—”

“No,” Gabriel interrupted flatly. “Not you. Not after Tremain ended up in the hospital.”

It wasn't a battle she was going to win, so Honor only shrugged. “Okay, not me. Alex?”

But it was Katya who answered. “If Fitzgerald is involved with this, Alex's attendance will possibly do the same thing.”

“Yes,” Alex slowly agreed. “He knows I was at the Lucky Seven, and it's looking like he was in with Conrad when it came to what happened to me. Perhaps me turning up at this party isn't such a good idea if we want the element of surprise.”