We?
33
EVA
The Devil
Your silence is unacceptable.
Aleksandr Novikov is throwing games.
And I want evidence of it.
Tristan was so fucking kind,he didn’t say a word as I stared out the window on my way home from the gala. He parked his Jeep outside my house—he’d put the cover on it, finally, teasing me it was only to protect my curls, even if it still wasn’t heated.
I swallowed hard. “I need you to do something for me,” I rasped, hating what I was about to ask of him, hating that I was turning our relationship transactional.
“Anything,” he said, squeezing my hand.
“I’m going to take down Jed Carter,” I said finally.
He looked at me sharply. “Absolutely fucking not.”
“It’s not your choice.”
He brought my hand to his lips. “What if?—”
“What if what?” I snorted. “What if he threatens myfather’s life? What if he threatens to kill me? Tristan, he wants me to give him blackmail material against Alek now, not just information on Cole’s rehab. He says Alek’s throwing games!”
Tristan’s eyes widened. “You can’t?—”
“I fucking know I can’t!” I shouted then clasped a hand over my mouth, embarrassed at my loss of control. “But if I don’t get him something soon…” I pleaded with Tristan for understanding.
“We’ll figure this out,” he reassured me as he stroked his thumb over my knuckles. He hopped out of the car to open my door, lifting me down from the car. I marveled at how easily he manhandled me, how good it felt for him to hold me in his arms.
I was so fucking tired of being strong.
Of holding my shit together.
But Tristan shouldn’t have to hold me together either.
He brushed his lips over mine when we reached my door. “See you tomorrow?”
I nodded, exhausted, barely holding back tears.
“Tomorrow.”
The minutethe door to my bedroom closed behind me, I burst into tears, sinking to the floor with my back against the door, sobbing my heart out. It was too fucking much—the hurt from watching Cole with his fiancée, the pain of pretending everything was okay in front of the team—and I was still beholden to a rich asshole who thought he could blackmail me to pay off my father’s debt.
I can’t do this.
But I didn’t have a choice, did I?
After long minutes of feeling sorry for myself, I forced myself to stand, still sniffling.
I wanted a goddamned minute without the weight of the world on my shoulders.
So, I made a decision and dialed.