Falling In (17 page)

Chapter 20

Cold

The shrill ring of the phone awoke Scout from her nap. Lucian's hand rested over her hip and her head was using his thigh as a pillow.

“Patras,” he said quietly, answering the phone.

Scout remained quiet and listened as the room came into focus.

He sighed. “Who is it? And what did he say?” He was quiet a moment. “She's resting.” The sound of papers being rustled and placed aside was followed by a sigh. “Put him at my table at the restaurant. On my tab. We'll be down shortly.”

The call ended and he brushed her hair away from her face. “Evelyn, we have to go somewhere.”

Scout slowly sat up and swept her hair out of her eyes. “Okay. What should I wear?”

“Just something casual. Can you be ready soon?”

In the guest room she selected a pair of slim boot-cut corduroys, a brown camisole, and a tweed burgundy jacket. After slipping on a pair of beige death heels, she shrugged on her coat.

Lucian came into the room, dressed in a power suit and looking fiercely intimidating. She took in his outfit.

“You said casual.”

“This is as casual as I get for things like this. You won't need your coat. We aren't leaving the hotel.”

They took the elevator down to the lobby and Lucian kept his hand at her back as they walked toward Vogue, the hotel bar and restaurant. A hostess greeted them and announced that Lucian's party was waiting.

They followed the hostess's serpentine route and arrived at a secluded back corner of the restaurant reserved for private affairs.

Scout gasped, “Parker!”

Parker stood against the wall in his scarf and tattered sweater, looking like a rakish model. His soft jade eyes appeared worried and relief was clear on his face the moment he spotted them. He narrowed his eyes at Lucian, and Lucian's protective hand at her back slid to her hip possessively.

“Mr. Hughes,” Lucian greeted, and she wondered how he knew Parker's last name.

Parker ignored the greeting and took her hands. “Scout, are you okay?” He shot Lucian an accusing glare.

“Let's sit. I'm afraid Evelyn slept through lunch so we'll call this an early dinner. Evelyn.” Lucian held out a chair, nodding for her to sit.

They sat and Parker reluctantly followed suit.

“To what do we owe this pleasure, Mr. Hughes?”

A waitress silently handed each of them menus. Parker pushed his aside and eyed Lucian skeptically. “I wanted to make sure she's okay.”

“Evelyn is quite well as you can see for yourself.” She frowned as they talked over her as if she were incapable of answering for herself.

“What do you want with her?”

“That's none of your business,” Lucian said as he put aside his menu.

“Uh, hello? I'm right here.” Being the subject up for discussion, it would be nice if someone acknowledged her presence.

“You can't buy her or whatever you think you're doing,” Parker hissed.

Lucian chuckled. “True, but only because I can't afford her. She's priceless and in case she hasn't told you, she's not for sale.”

“Is this a joke?” Parker asked. “I'm serious. She won't let you take advantage of her.”

“How charming, Evelyn, you have yourself quite a little champion here.”

Parker's eyes narrowed. Muscles in his strong jaw twitched. “You think you're untouchable. You think you intimidate me with your nice clothes and fancy hotel? You don't. That crap won't impress Scout either. She's too smart to fall for all your glitz and arrogance.”

The waitress returned. Parker sat back, apparently intending to order nothing and Lucian said, “The three of us will have the sirloin, prepared medium rare, the arugula salad with pecans, and the sautéed asparagus.”

The waitress took the menus. “Very good, Mr. Patras.”

“I'm not eating,” Parker announced with stubborn pride.

“Don't be a fool, Mr. Hughes. You're starving. I suspect you haven't had a meal like this in years. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.”

“You're an arrogant bastard, Patras.”

Scout had heard enough. “Will you two stop it? Parker's my friend, Lucian. If you can't be polite, I'm going back to the room. Parker, I'm perfectly fine and here of my own free will.”

The hurt that filled Parker's eyes made her look away.

“I see.” He stood and the way his body turned, she noticed how slender his hips were. She imagined Lucian's body and noted several differences. “I'll let you two enjoy your dinner.”

“Parker, wait.” She stood, and Lucian placed a staying hand on her knee.

“Goodbye, Scout. I'll keep an eye on Pearl for you.”

He turned and left, quickly moving through the maze of tables and disappearing through the door. The tears that blurred her vision startled her.

Turning her scowl on Lucian, she hissed, “I'm sure you're pleased with yourself.” With a flick of her wrist, her napkin was tossed onto the table and she stood, heading toward the lobby. Following the same maze Parker had taken, she left.

Her feet walked as quickly as she could manage without causing a scene or breaking her neck. Her tiny shoes ticked across the polished lobby floor like a tattoo needle. As a doorman held the door for her, she saw Parker cutting through a cluster of cabs and crossing the street.

The wind sliced through her clothing and sent her hair swirling and knotting around her face. “Parker, wait!”

He stopped and turned. The cold blustery weather flapped her light tweed jacket that was more of an accessory that anything else. His hands were rooted deep in his pockets and his shoulders were hunched. She twisted and noticed Lucian standing by the glass doors, watching them. Why did there have to be sides? With a frustrated huff, she crossed the street to Parker.

“Don't leave angry,” she said as she stepped onto the sidewalk slightly out of breath.

“What're you doing, Scout?”

“I'm stopping you.”

“Not now, with him? What the hell's going on? What does he have on you?”

Scout shook her head. “N-nothing. We're just friends.”

He shot her a disbelieving look. Tentatively he reached up and tucked a long strand of hair behind her ear that kept catching in the wind.

“It doesn't have to be like this, Scout.”

“Like what, Parker?”

“I see the way he looks at you. He watches you like he wants to devour you and treats you like a possession.”

She flinched. True, their original agreement lacked any form of intimate knowledge, but sometime over the past few days that changed. She had to believe Lucian saw her as more than a possession. She certainly saw more to him than she originally assumed. If it were materialistic, things never would have gotten this complicated. Hurt pride and trust never would have come into play.

“Is that what you think? That he bought me?”

He fingered the lapel of her new jacket. “Didn't he?”

Her shoulders trembled, but not from the cold. She pressed her lips together and took a deep breath as hurt and rage chilled her bones.

“You're a jerk, Parker Hughes. He didn't buy me. He earned me. Unlike you, he knows I'm not for sale.” She wished she had something better to say, but her shock made her dense.

“He doesn't love you.”

“I don't want him to!”

Eyes searching, he looked at her. “Money isn't everything, Scout. You think it's power and what runs the world, but you're wrong. It owns a person. Don't let it own you.”

Her jaw locked. Impatiently she stomped her foot. “Money is freedom, Parker. I've been homeless for twenty-two years. I won't make it twenty more. I refuse to be another Jane Doe.”

“And does he see you as something more? Does he get the real you that I know or just some dressed-up imitation of what he wants you to be? How could you . . . how could you give yourself to someone who knows nothing about you? Don't do it, Scout.”

Too late. Her fingers twitched with the urge to slap him. She was not a violent person, but fuck him. The quietly fierce whisper that slipped out was inconsistent with the rage building inside of her.

“Screw you, Parker Hughes. You don't know me any better than he does.” Her throat constricted and her shoulders jerked with chills. There was such extreme judgment in his stare, she felt naked and resented him for pressing such shame upon her. He could accuse Lucian of buying her favors all he wanted, but Parker was the one claiming she came with a price tag, and by the way he was looking at her, it was a cheap one at that.

“Evelyn.” Lucian, no longer across the street, now stood a few feet away. His expression was unreadable. “Dugan's going to take your friend home. His meal's waiting for him in the limo.”

Scout glanced back at Parker, who scornfully watched Lucian. She couldn't do this. She turned and Lucian wrapped his suit jacket over her shoulders and escorted her back into Patras.

Chapter 21

Coward

When they returned to the penthouse, their meal had been delivered there. They ate in silence. Well, Lucian ate. She picked.

“You need to eat, Evelyn.”

“How could he say those things about me? I am not a whore!” she whispered to herself.

Lucian's knife clanked to the table. “Friend or not, if I ever hear Mr. Hughes speak such words to you, he'll find himself without a tongue.”

Scout looked up at Lucian, who was gazing back at her, his eyes intense pools of unfathomable black. She realized this was not a topic to discuss with him. They stared at each other for a long moment, neither of them saying a word, but understanding that certain truths of their association were too painful to hear.

Finally, needing to break the solemn spell blanketing the suite, she said, “Let's play chess.”

Once deep in the match, Lucian was distracted. Either that or her skill was improving. She highly doubted the latter.

The match was quiet and lacking the usual cheer that accompanied their games. They had each removed their shoes, jackets, accessories, and Lucian had sacrificed his tie. She frowned over the board, recognizing several moves he could make that would rapidly end the game. If she was noticing these opportunities that meant Lucian had definitely spotted them and purposefully avoided them.

Scout didn't like playing with mock ambition. His moves felt charitable and she bristled at the sense of being pitied or coddled. Deliberately, she moved her queen before his rook, sacrificing her most powerful player. He looked at her.

“Evelyn . . .”

“What? I thought we were trying to see who could make the stupidest move. Go ahead. Take her.”

“What're you doing?” he grumbled as she began to unbutton her pants. “Evelyn, stop. We don't have to play by those rules anymore.”

She slid her pants over her legs. “Why not? Good company and competition, right?” She tossed her pants on the floor and knocked her queen off the board since he refused to take it. “Your turn.”

He made an imbecilic move that left his king incredibly vulnerable. It was too rare an opportunity to ignore. She took his knight. He moved his bishop and exposed his queen. She took her. The game moved like this for several plays, leaving Lucian in only his pants, but looking no less in control. Then she finally saw what he was doing.

Checkmate.

One move left and she'd put his king in check. The only option he'd have to escape would lead her to capture his other bishop, her move inevitably ending the game, her calling checkmate.

He was sabotaging them. Why? She looked at him, hurt clogging her throat. How could he do that?

He stared back at her with, not challenge, but quiet defeat.

“Make the move, Evelyn.”

With shaky hands she took his bishop and put him in check.

“Say it,” he gritted, gaze focused on the board.

Her chin quivered as she stared back into his hard face. He was doing it again, pushing her into corners and pulling away. It always hurt. She didn't want to let him go. She didn't want to say those words. He was offering her mercy in his mind, but to her it only felt like rejection. She swept her hand across the board angrily, the heavy pieces clattering to the floor, and stood.

“If you want to hear those words so bad, say them yourself!”

She stormed into the bedroom and slammed the door.

How could he try to force her into a corner like that? He was the one who begged for her to come back, and in doing so, something frightening had been unleashed inside of her, something that said this was less about taking shoes with her when she left and more about experiencing
him
while she was here.

She wasn't ready to go. All his talk about trust and surrender, he'd tapped into a part of her she hadn't realized existed, a curious and eager part that wanted him, not because he'd coerced her or named her price, but because she really believed he wanted her too.

She'd been naïve to assume the physical act of sex could exist apart from emotional entanglement. For days she'd battled her emotions, unsure where this deluge of feelings had come from. Her life experience was limited. It didn't compute with Lucian's depth and understanding.

They'd just started to find their rhythm and now he seemed to be pushing her away. Why? Had he changed his mind?

After having Parker lay her bare and accuse her of being the one thing she wanted to avoid being, she was beginning to worry that was exactly what she had become.

No. Part of her couldn't accept that. There was something deeper here between Lucian and her. Something emotional others couldn't see and she didn't fully understand. Maybe Lucian didn't understand it either.

He tried to manipulate her, which he had done before, but this time was different. He was aiming at something final, something she wasn't ready to give now that he'd convinced her to stay.

His emotions ran about as calm as rapids breaking over the shore. She never knew if an encounter would run smooth or turn into a choppy mess. He hurt her. What he'd just tried to do was unexpected and surprisingly upsetting. It was the action of a coward.