“I can’t. He’ll come after you again.” He saw it every night in his nightmares. Evans would come after her, and she would be alone and vulnerable.
“No. He won’t,” Eve replied, her voice tight. “He has no reason to. He’s moved on to bigger and better things. You’re the one who’s still playing the game. Give the information to Warren.”
“No.” He couldn’t trust anyone else to handle it. Kristen was right. This required a small, very quiet team on the inside. Warren couldn’t put that together in time.
“Then we’re done, Alex. Drop this or we’re done completely.”
His stomach turned over. “We’ve been done for a long time, Eve.”
She went silent. The only sound in the truck was the smooth running of wheels on concrete and the muted sound of traffic beyond the closed up windows. And it struck Alex that this might be the last time they were alone together.
“What did you really want to talk to me about tonight?” Alex asked. The office was straight ahead. He only had another few minutes with her, and he thought seriously about just taking off. Just driving away, away from the office and the case and Evans and both of their lonely apartments.
But he couldn’t drive away from their problems. They were always with them, an anchor dragging them down.
“I wanted to discuss the dissolution of our contract. It’s cruel for me to keep using you like I have been.” She was stiff in her seat, her eyes on the office, her hands folded together.
“That wasn’t what Liam made it sound like.” Liam had sounded hopeful.
“Would it change your mind if I said I wanted to try again?”
She was trying to keep him out of harm’s way. That was all. “No. If you want to try again, you’ll wait for me.”
“And if you want to try again, you’ll let this lie.”
They were at an impasse, but that had been the way they’d lived for years now. Neither one of them had been able to give up or give in. They had wasted years. “Eve, I don’t want to lose you.”
She sighed. “Then don’t.”
The car behind him honked, and he had no choice except to turn into the parking garage. The first car he saw was Eve’s immaculate white Mercedes. He stopped in front of it and prayed for just a little more time.
She was out of the truck the minute it stopped rolling. She looked up at him, her brown eyes weary. “You’re going to go, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” He had to.
She nodded. “You’re not doing this for me, you know.”
“Of course I am. I’m doing it for us.” So they could feel safe again.
“Of course you are,” she murmured. “Because you always make the right decisions, don’t you, Alex? You always know best.”
Except the time that he’d ignored her warning and ruined their lives. “Can’t you see I’m trying to make this right?”
She slammed the door, but not before Alex heard Adam yelling.
“Eve!”
She turned and walked toward Adam, a smile on her face. For years she hadn’t smiled at her own husband. Hadn’t let him kiss her or hug her. She had kept him at arm’s length because he’d screwed up, and now she was trying to keep him from correcting the mistake.
Adam opened his arms, and Eve walked in for a hug.
She gave so much to the other men in her life but nothing for the man who had loved her, who had waited for her.
But he would do one last thing for her. He would take Michael Evans down and then she would be safe.
Then the game would be over, but Alex already knew he’d lost.
* * * *
Eve glanced up at the clock. How many hours had gone by since she’d told Alex they were through? Eighteen? Nineteen? It seemed like forever and yet she could still see the look on his face.
She leaned back in her chair. The conference room was full, and she was the only woman there. Grace was working half days for the time being, and Eve felt her loss.
Ian walked in, dropped the folder he was carrying, and slung his massive body into the chair at the head of the table. “Who’s presenting today?”
“Just me,” Alex said.
“Fine. Give me updates before Alex goes.” Ian glanced around the table. Alex had been right. If she hadn’t known to look for the slight reddish tint to his eyes, she wouldn’t be able to tell anything had been wrong with Ian.
Jake passed him another file, this one thick with paper. “We cleared up the McConnell Systems case. Adam nabbed one of the vice presidents for selling the latest software upgrades to a rival. So the good news is, we’re free for a few weeks. We’re evaluating security for a firm in Houston, but that job doesn’t start right away.”
“Weston?” Ian asked, never looking up.
Simon looked absolutely perfect in his Brooks Brothers suit. “I’ve got two cases running, and I’m working security for Lyle Benson’s trip through Dallas. I’m just coordinating, of course. He has his own small army of bodyguards, but I’m checking his routes and the places he’s planning on staying.”
Ian frowned. “Yeah, well, keep the billionaire happy. He keeps us on retainer, and we train that small army of his. So, let’s get on to the non-moneymaking portion of my day.”
“I told you, I’ll handle every bit of this.” Alex stood, his eyes not quite meeting hers as they moved past her and focused on Ian. “I just need a short leave of absence. As I’ve never actually used a vacation day in the last five years, I think I’m due.”
“Oh, and if I thought for a second you would go and hang out on a sunny beach, I would happily send your ass on its way,” Ian grumbled. “But you’re not going to do that, so I’m left with helping out. What’s the setup?”
She’d done nothing all night long but worry about the setup. What exactly had Alex found out and what was he planning on doing about it? And why the hell should she care? He was picking his own revenge over her again.
When would she learn that she would always come second? That what had happened to her mattered more than who she was?
She just prayed this was a distance job. Maybe he would just watch the club from a distance and wait to tag Evans. She could handle it if he was out of harm’s way.
“I’m going to work for a club that we suspect is a front for Evans’s business. It’s all in the packets.” Alex looked tired, like he’d stayed up all night working. She suspected that if she looked in his office, she would find his clothes from yesterday. He always kept a spare set in his desk in case he pulled an all-nighter.