Wingless Book Series (book 1) (12 page)

Evan took my hand as we started
walking up to the house. My knees felt wobbly and I suddenly was
not sure if I could go through with this. I squeezed his hand
tightly as we made our way to the entrance of the yard, my heart
was racing. I searched for someone who could be his
father.

There were a few groups of men in
various parts of the yard chatting with fancy looking drinks in
their hands. They were well-dressed and very stern. Lawn furniture
was in various parts of the yard, but no one seemed to notice or
sit in them.

“
Are you alright?” Evan said low,
coming up to the patio before we went inside.

“
I don’t know. I’m really nervous.
I didn’t know it was going to be this nice,” I said as he smoothed
my hair.

“
Don’t even worry about it. My
family is not stuffy or about money. They’re just like anyone
else.” He gave me a second glance, probably to make sure I wasn’t
passed out, and opened up the big glass doors.

Everything inside was just as
lovely as the outside: beautiful oil paintings, museum-like
sculptures, which probably had been in a museum at one time, the
most elegant furniture, and tons of family portraits on the wall.
Evan pulled me by so fast I didn’t have time to figure out where or
if he was in any of them.

He started up the stairs to about
a million doors lining the hallway, but he knew right where he was
going. Opening what seemed to be about the sixth wooden door, we
entered an office-like lounge room, wooden bookshelves from one
wall to the next. Dark maroon curtains from the ceiling to the
floor, dark red wood furnishings and a huge desk with a very
intimidating looking man sitting with his arms crossed smoking a
cigar.

He was an older man, but
not
old
. I would
have guessed early fifties, dark hair with hints of gray
throughout. His skin almost dark brown. He had the darkest eyes and
his brows seemed furrowed at all times. I could tell he had been
handsome when he was younger, but now you could see the age in
every part of him. He stood up, coming over to both of us, cigar
smoke trailing behind him.

“
What do we have
here?” he asked, breaking into a hearty smile, patting Evan hard on
the back and
embracing him as if he hadn’t
seen him in years. He held onto the back of Evan’s head looking
into his face. Evan stared right back with a small smile on his
face. He kissed Evan’s cheek, holding the cigar in his hand as he
did so. Then he finally backed off and let him
breathe.

“
Dad, this is Eve. Eve, this is
the old man I was telling you about.”

I smiled, giving a little wave. He
chuckled, pulling me by the arm to almost crush me in a bear hug,
and then he kissed each of my cheeks, touching my face and staring
at me with so much enthusiasm it made me feel like I was
suffocating.

He touched my hair, took my hand
in his, and turned to Evan. “Amazing son. She is truly amazing. She
is everything you said she would be.” He kissed my hand.

I pulled away from his grasp,
moving closer to Evan while keeping a smile on my face so not to
upset this powerful looking man.

“
Thanks, I think so too. I’m
really glad you’re getting to meet her.” He motioned us to sit
down. Evan nudged me to get me moving. I gave him a confused look
and he laughed.

“
So, Eve is there anything I can
get you?” he asked, overtly staring at me.

“
No, thank you, um, sir,” I
stumbled, staring at the tons of books that lined the
walls.

“
I’m Tony. You don’t have to call
me sir.”

“
Oh, okay, Tony.” I nodded my
head, feeling skittish and not sure what to say to the man. Evan
and Tony chatted easily back and forth.

“
So, how do you like my boy?” he
asked, leaving the original topic and looking at me
again.

“
I like him a lot,” I said,
looking at Evan for help. He gave none, just grinned.

“
Is he treating you well?” he
asked me.

“
He treats me fine.” I shifted in
my seat, playing with my dress nervously.

“
Hey, Evan, go check on that call
and bring back some drinks, whatever she likes.” I started to get
up, but Tony raised his hand at me telling me to sit. Evan touched
my shoulder lightly and headed out. I swallowed hard. I hoped today
wasn’t the day I was going to be offed or tortured.

“
I can tell you’re nervous,” Tony
laughed, lighting his cigar again.

“
I don’t normally meet parents.” I
blushed as I said this. I probably sounded like an
idiot.

“
I can tell you think of it as an
honor when a man wants to bring you home. That speaks volumes. Men
aren’t wired to seek approval from their parents unless they
honestly, truly care for a woman.” He raised his eyebrows, blowing
smoke and nodding at me. My body was less tense now. That was a
nice thing to say and, as I thought about it, he was
right.

“
What is it your parents do?” he
asked.

“
My father owns a chain of
restaurants and my mom is a lawyer,” I said.

“
What sort of lawyer is she? I may
have heard of her.”

“
Civil law. She used to be a
criminal lawyer, but went to civil.”

He nodded. “Why is
that?”

“
Um, my brother died and she just
wanted something different she said.” I started to feel tense all
over again.

“
That’s too bad. I’m sure it’s not
something you would like to talk about. But on to something else, I
have a few things to discuss with you myself. I am glad you came
today.” He leaned back in his chair, swiveling from side to side.
He had a way to make you sweat.

“
I’m glad to meet you too.” I
smiled pleadingly that this would end. He was unaware, but I
wasn’t.

“
I really like you with Evan; I
think you’re a good fit. You’re beautiful, you seem smart, and you
keep him on his toes from what I hear. I think it’s a good thing he
found you.” He looked at me, waiting for my response.

“
I don’t know what you mean,” I
stumbled, choosing my words wisely before they left my lips. “I do
like him a lot; it’s been really good so far.”

“
I don’t get to do a lot for my
sons, but this is one thing I pride myself in-knowing who is right
and not right for my boys. And I think you’re the one for him. So,
I guess what I am asking of you is just to keep my son happy and be
the girl for him.”

I was confused, I was
stunned. My face, I’m sure, matched what my thoughts. I balled my
hand, tucking it under my leg to avoid showing all my hostility.
Pursing my lips, trying to breathe slowly. Who was this man? Well,
I knew the answer to that, but he was not Cupid. He had no right to
tell me what to do with his son. Maybe he was looking out for his
happiness, but I didn’t believe
that was
his call or anyone’s besides Evan’s or mine. I didn’t know what to
say. Tony sensed this after several minutes.

“
I think it’s in his best interest
is all,” he said, raising one eyebrow at me. “For the sake of
Evan’s happiness, let’s use those words, shall we?”

I stood up quickly, feeling hot
and too contained in the room all of a sudden. I was afraid I was
going to hyperventilate or something.

“
Look, I understand you care about
your son, and I do too. I need some air. Will you excuse me?” I
didn’t wait for a reply. I bolted out as fast as I could. There was
no one in the hallway. I made my to the spiral staircase and
noticed a balcony across the way from it, so I went out the doors
to get some air.

It was getting dark, the wind was
so soothing on my face, and I could finally breathe. And I was sure
Evan would find me somehow, or I would just return. I liked Evan, I
did, but the tactics that were going on in there were a little
ridiculous. I wasn’t sure Evan would be for anything like this, and
I was not going to throw up a flag and give up because I highly
doubted he thought he needed his father to help him in the love
department. And I think he had enough faith in me to know he didn’t
need to force me. Well, I hoped he knew that anyway.

Below me walked a young girl
with a chin length bob hairstyle, in a red slip-like dress and huge
high heels. She tripped, but caught herself walking out by the
pool, lighting up a cigarette to smoke. Her body seemed to relax as
she exhaled. I watched her intently; she looked almost as bad off
as I was. I leaned closer over the railing to watch. Suddenly,
Kenny, someone I recognized, came out, heading over to her. Her
back turned away from him as he approached. He moves swiftly,
coming to a stop behind her and hit her in the head with his fist.
She stumbled forward, almost landing in the pool, but caught
herself, letting out a loud scream. She stayed on the ground
looking up at Kenny. He
grabbed her by the
arm, lifting her up off the ground.

“
What the hell did I tell you?!”
he yelled, enraged at her. She started babbling something that made
no sense from where I was. He grabbed her face with one hand,
squeezing her cheeks tightly so she couldn’t speak anymore. As he
made his way to the door with her she cried, pulling at his grasp.
He stopped right at the door and smacked her in the face, not once,
but twice. I gripped the railing in shock, ready to leap over the
railing after him. But I didn’t think that was something I should
do here where I was. The girl scratched his face, screaming again.
Kenny didn’t seem to be bothered at all by this and rammed her face
into the wall. I winced. She just stopped making noise and seemed
to almost give in to him.

He let go of her, pointing his
finger in her face. “You want to make yourself look like a fool,
that’s one thing, but don’t bring my family into this or it will be
the last thing you do! Do you hear me?” He raised his arm up; she
nodded her head, stomping off through the doors.

I couldn’t believe what I had just
seen; I was beyond shocked at the brutality of Kenny. And he was
Evan’s brother.

The door opened behind me. I
turned quickly, startled. It was Evan. His face looked upset, his
eyes not the usual caring sweet eyes I always saw on
him.

“
What? What’s the matter?” I
asked, coming over to him.

“
My dad wants me to move. He said
it’s not working out here.”

“
What?” I asked, stunned. I felt
like I just had been socked in the stomach. Evan kneeled down,
resting his arms on his knees.

“
With everything going on, he says
me being alone here is not a good idea. Says it looks too
suspicious. I don’t know what to do.” He stared at the
ground.

“
Evan, what does that have to do
with anything? You live with Kenny. You’re not alone.”

“
I’m too easy to figure out, he
says. Running around single. He said he isn’t risking
anything.”

“
I still don’t get why that
matters.”

“
It matters to him. He likes every
aspect kept up on and for some reason I’m not doing my part well
enough anymore. Maybe it’s age, I don’t know.” He got
up.

“
Would you really leave?” My heart
sunk.

“
If I have to, I have to. You
don’t argue with him. It’s easier to just go with it.” He shrugged,
looking at me in misery. “I’m so sorry, Eve. This is the last thing
I would ever want to do.”

“
I know that,” I said, looking up
to see his father coming out on the balcony.

“
Help him out,” he said quickly.
It was simple and easy sounding.

Evan got in front of me,
looking his dad
in the face. “Dad, stop
this. I’ll do what you want. I understand what you mean. Just don’t
talk to her like this.”

Tony looked past Evan at me again,
without a smile this time. “Help him out. If you do that, he can
stay.” He headed inside, seemingly pleased with his
order.

I stood still, unsure of what to
say. Evan stood where he was, his hand on his head, his back turned
away from me. I finally felt my feet moving toward him. Touching
his back, he turned looking at me. I held onto him
tight.

“
All you have to do is
ask.”

He pulled back to stare at me in
awe. “What? You can’t be serious?”

“
All you have to do is
ask.”

Chapter 13

You need to understand

We decided the best thing to do
was to leave. Evan told his father goodbye, and we headed out of
the huge house back into the night. I held his hand just the same
as when we arrived. He got my door and we hurried out of there as
if we were on the run. At first, it was quiet, neither one of us
spoke. Evan hugged the steering wheel, practically in the
windshield, his whole body tense. I traced my finger along the
window.

“
I think I should call my parents
when we get back, let them know I’m with you still,” I said,
breaking the silence.

“
Yeah, I was going to suggest that
as well.” He cleared his throat, leaning back finally. I guess he
was hoping I wasn’t mad.