Wingless Book Series (book 1) (9 page)

He didn’t show relief.
Instead,
he shook his head, looking up at
the sky, sighing again.

“
You’re not getting what I am
saying. I am part of that family and I do work for Carlo along with
my brothers. I don’t think you get that.”

“
Okay. So you’re employed by your
father.” I shrugged.

“
Eve, listen to me”

“
I am listening. I don’t know why
you want me to be so disturbed. It’s not that big of a deal. I know
you enough to not feel threatened.”

“
Because what I
do for him
is
disturbing. I don’t steal cars or go rough someone up. I kill
them.”

It was as if someone hit me
in the head with a brick, my heart bashed my chest. He watched me
closely. ”If
you kill them, would you ever
hurt me?”

“
No.”

“
Okay. Are they bad
people?”

“
It’s not something I want to
discuss with anyone,” he trailed off.

I kept looking at him, trying to
see a killer. He didn’t seem any different from when I first met
him.

“
You don’t seem different to me,”
I said, touching his arm. His hands were nervously balled up. He
relaxed at my touch, taking my hand in his.

“
I thought that you would say
that. But I don’t ever want to scare you or make you fear me. If I
do, you just say the word and I will leave you alone.” He squeezed
my hand.

“
You don’t scare me, you make me
feel safe. You know what would scare me though?”

“
What’s that?”

“
You getting caught or getting
yourself in trouble and me never seeing you again because you’re in
jail or something,” I said, feeling the pains in my chest from the
thought of it.

“
That is not going to happen,
believe me. Don’t think twice about that.”

“
How do you know something like
that?”

“
Because, you
don’t know my family or what all this involves like I do.” He stood
up. The alley was even darker, but now knowing what I knew I didn’t
care if a gang of fifty
came out of
anywhere. It wouldn’t have mattered to me.

“
So why did you tell me your name
was Ace?” I asked, taking his hand as we walked back onto the
street.

“
That’s what Carlo has always
called me, so it just came out I guess. You can call me Evan or
Ace, I don’t care.”

“
I like Evan. You look like an
Evan,” I laughed. “What does it feel like to… you know?”

“
I don’t think
about it. It’s very numbing. I don’t even feel like I’m there. Sort
of like a blackout or something, I don’t know.” He put his arm
around my shoulders holding tight to me as we walked. A million
words could not describe how I felt knowing that this guy that I
liked more and
more each time I talked to
him was basically
a hired
assassin.

I didn’t care that he
probably could end my life in seconds and probably not think twice
about it. And I didn’t care that he had ended other people’s
lives
either. All that I cared about was
that he was a good person to me.

Chapter 9

Timing

“
Eve, I can’t concentrate with the
music this loud,” my mother griped as she drove down the
highway.

We were on our way back from the
mall- she had begged me to go. I accepted just to get her off my
case so that when Evan came over she wasn’t going to say that I
spent all my time with him as she always did.

I hit the off button,
leaning my head against the window. She had insisted on me picking
out new clothes
so I bought some jeans and
a few tops that caught my eye. She bought herself some new high
heels that she said were made for her feet. I thought anything with
an expensive price tag seemed to be made for her.

“
Is Ace coming over before
dinner?”

“
Evan.”

“
Honey, I just don’t understand
how we met him as Ace and now I am supposed to be okay with calling
him Evan.”

I gave my mother a dirty look. She
just never understood anything out of the norm.

“
It’s called a nickname. His
father calls him Ace. I like Evan better.”

She pulled into the
driveway. Gray and my dad
were both
outside working on my dad’s old mustang he was restoring- it was
something they had been doing for years. They would remake an old
classic and then sell it or take it to a show a few times, then
sell it.

“
Hey hon, I’ll
start dinner. I think Ace, or I mean Evan, may be joining us
tonight.” She kissed my dad
and
practically floated into the house on all her pleasantness. My
dad
grunted as he slid underneath the
mustang.

Gray handed him a tool
looking over at me. “Sounds like a great dinner,” he said to
no
one in particular.

“
What’s that
mean Gray?” my dad
asked from
below.

“
Oh, nothing. I was kidding.” He
leaned into the car, staring away from me.

Ever since he and Evan fought,
Gray didn’t have a whole lot to say to me anymore. He never told my
parents what happened, just that he was messing around and tripped
and hit a door handle. And of course they bought it, because it was
coming from Gray.

I truly believed that Gray was not
into messing with my boyfriend or me anymore. For once, I think he
knew when to shut up, and I was pleased.

Evan pulled up, coming to a
stop at behind Gray’s jeep. Gray barely lifted his head before
going back to what he was doing. Evan came walking up, a smile
spreading
from ear to
ear.

“
Hey, sup,” he said to me, tugging
on my shirt sleeve playfully.

“
Just got back from the mall. How
are you?”

“
Good,
everything is good. And you, Mr. Cardwell?” he asked my dad,
bending down a little to see
him.

“
I’m great Evan, thanks for
asking. Are you staying for supper?”

Evan looked at me for approval. I
rolled my eyes.

“
Actually, I was thinking about
taking Eve out for dinner,” he said, totally understanding
me.

“
Too bad,” Gray said, walking to
the other side of the car.

Evan nodded at him, staring
him down. I knew so much more now than I did then, and it amused me
even more to know that I knew Evan was capable of way more than
Gray could imagine or stand up against.

Evan leaned into the hood to
look it over as well, his hands running along the mustang. He
always tried his hardest to get along with my dad. He said the more
my dad
trusted him, the more he would be
able to see me with no problem. It was more of a tactic
though because I think even he was growing bored
with my family.

His hair was messy as usual,
his clothes tidy. He always was so nice looking even with
that
casual way he had
about himself. He didn’t have to try hard to look good, his
looks were just gorgeous. And every time I seen him I grew
more
enthralled with everything about
him.

I came up behind him, tugging at
his back pocket, his wallet there as usual. I fiddled with it,
pulling it almost out. He swatted at me. I waited about two seconds
before he was following behind me up the porch and into the
kitchen- he had to say hello to my mother or she would be
offended.

“
Hello Kay,” Evan said, hugging
her briefly. My mother’s small frame seemed to disappear beneath
his massive body. She patted him hard on the back, and then went
right back to chopping.

“
It’s always nice to see you
Evan.” She glanced at me as she said this to let me know that she
had used the proper name.

“
I’m making salad with dinner. Is
there anything you don’t like in yours?”

“
Oh, thanks, but I was wondering
if you cared if me and Eve went out to eat. I sort of wanted to
take her out tonight,” he said so sweetly that I don’t think
anyone’s mother would have objected. He shot me a smirk from behind
her. I blew him a kiss. He was my hero.

“
Oh, for any particular reason?”
my mother asked in awe.

“
A little celebration. Got a
promotion at work.”

She nodded, smiling at the both of
us. “Alright, you have fun. And congratulations.”

We headed out to his truck. I was
pleased I had gotten out of there so easily.

“
Are we really going out to eat?”
I asked him, looking in his visor mirror.

“
Anything you want to do,” he
said, speeding down the main road into town.

“
I don’t want
to
eat
.
Let’s just go somewhere quiet.”

“
My house?” He
rumbled over the road, the road bumping us as we barreled past
people standing on the street. They were blurs, nothing
but meaningless people to me. All that mattered
at that moment was us.

“
That’s fine with me. I just want
to relax.”

“
For such a young person you sure
want to relax a lot. Why is that?” he asked me, taking my hand in
his, his fingers interlocked mine and he squeezed them
gently.

“
I don’t know. I got so used to
the chaos that I think it just made me want to remain slow. My
parents have always been constantly going my whole
life.”

“
Remain slow.” He always repeated
my words. It was sort of funny, like I was a foreigner or something
and my English was off to him.

“
Yeah, as kids
we had a nanny, like, almost all day long. My parents were
hardly ever home.”

“
How did that make you
feel?”

“
Honestly? Severely emotional. I
was always miserable and crying when I was a kid. Then I figured
out, no matter what I acted like, it didn’t matter. So I gave up on
hoping they would change. And the greatest surprise….”

“
What’s that?” he asked, dropping
my hand as he pulled into his driveway.

“
They never
did.” I opened my door, giving him a glance before hopping out.
Evan’s face was puzzled. My mood was starting to become a little
dark- I never liked to discuss
my family.
I barely did that with Vanessa. It was a great deal to wrap your
head around.

Inside his maintained and orderly
house, he tossed his keys on the table in the foyer as usual and
headed in the kitchen. I set my jacket on the arm of the
couch.

“
So, now that we are alone, are
you thirsty? Hungry?” He opened his fridge, staring in at an array
of things.

“
Not really,” I said, heading to
the living room.

“
What?”

“
Nothing, I’m fine.” I plopped
down on his couch bringing my bare feet up on the cushion. Evan sat
down as well. He took a sip of his bottled water then set it on the
glass table.

“
Okay, good. What’s the greatest
or biggest thing that ever happened to you? I know it seems strange
to ask something like that out of the blue, but sometimes you get
the best stories.”

I rubbed my forehead, feeling
horribly flustered. I bit my lip staring at him. Was there anything
he wasn’t afraid to ask me?

“
What is it you want me to tell
you?”

“
Whatever you want.” He leaned
back on the couch, hands behind his head, staring at me with an
amused grin. I wasn’t feeling too amused.

“
I had another brother,” I said,
staring down at my toes. This wasn’t something I liked to share
with just anyone, but I thought by chance it would make him shut
up.

“
Older or younger?”

“
Older than me, younger then Gray.
His name was Marcus. He was a lot like me, hardheaded and didn’t
want to be anything like our family. He had it all mapped out for
himself. But I guess you can’t always be sure you will get to that
place you’re striving to get to.”

“
What do you mean? What did he
want to do?”

“
He planned on just taking off
after he graduated, traveling all over the place. Like a rolling
stone or something. He wanted to be free, do what he
wanted.”

“
That’s a great attitude to have.
Sounds like an awesome person.” He stared at me. I could tell from
his face that he was getting a little nervous. He wasn’t sure what
was coming next.

“
He was the best. He, out of
anyone, could have done it, too.” I laughed, remembering my
brother, Marcus, with his toothy grin, wavy hair… those green
eyes.