Page 47 of Unresolved

Evander’s face paled, a muscle in his jaw ticking as his cold eyes gave way to endless questions.I could see the answers falling into place behind his stare even as he said, “Your father is why you left me.”

I nodded, then conceded weakly, “Yes.If any of your enemies or your family had put two-and-two together, my dad would have come after me.Then he would have gone after my mother for not telling him about me.”

“It seems the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree,” he bit out.

I deserved that.“I guess not.”

What were the odds for both my mother and I resorting to hiding our conditions from the men who’d impregnated us.The only difference was that I hadn’t known I was pregnant until after I’d escaped from Evander and his mafia family.

I held his stare and added, “We were trying to protect ourselves...protect each other along with our freedom.”

“We were so happy,” he said starkly, “until the moment you learned who I really was.”He stared down at his revolver for a moment before he lifted his eyes and asked, “How do you feel about me being the underboss now?”

“How do I feel?”I echoed, before I laughed drily.“Honestly, my feelings haven’t changed.I-I was already in love with you before I left.”

An expletive burst from his mouth, his emotions caught somewhere between delight and despair.“You crushed my heart when you fled.Damn it, Gemma, you should have told me the truth!We could have worked something out.”He shook his head.“All this time wasted for what?”

“We were scared,” I said shakily.

“I think it’s time for an intervention,” Enzo said, his eyes gleaming.He turned to Evander, then lifted his hand.“Aside from the fact your chained my sister to your bed, you’re obviously deeply in love with her—tick.”He tapped one of his fingers.“You’re both still alive.Tick.”He tapped another finger.“We’re all family now, which means I don’t want to kill anyone here.Double.Fucking.Tick.”

Evander’s face stayed set, distant and cold as he looked at Enzo.“You expect me to trust a man who came here to murder me.”

Enzo shrugged.“Hey man, from where I’m standing you’re still alive and all my men are dead.”

“Your men also killed three of Ethan’s soldiers.”

“In my defense, that was the O’Malley mafia.”

“The Accardi and O’Malleys are one big happy mafia family now, and therefor guilty by association.”

Enzo nodded.“Yeah, to be honest, that’s not working out so great for us.Besides which, if I’d known I had a sister who you clearly adore, I would have protected your family, not attacked them.”He snorted.“She even has my eyes and my exact same fucking dimple!”He slapped his thigh.“How didn’t I see it sooner?”

I ignored my lunatic of a brother to focus on Evander.“I’m sorry for leaving you how I did.”Tears filled my eyes, my voice breaking as I added, “And I’m sorry for the loss of our baby.”

“Did you name him?”Evander croaked.

I nodded.“Elijah.”

“My middle name,” he breathed.

“Wait—what?You had a baby?”Enzo interjected.

Was my brotherthatsocially inept?

Evander’s eyes softened as he looked down at me.“Sweetheart, I’m sorry too.But mostly I’m sorry for what you must have endured alone.I wished I could have been there for you, wished I could have shared the burden.”

“Me too,” I whispered.We stepped into each other, his strong arms surrounding me before I looked up and added brokenly, “I’m never leaving you again.”His eyes were as wet as mine when I said, “I love you, Evander.”

“I love you too, la mia Gemma.Just...pleasedon’tever leave me.I-I couldn’t lose you a second time.It’d break me.”

“It’d break me too,” I admitted.“And I’m not going anywhere.”I managed a trembling smile.”You’re stuck with me now.”

A slow clap sounded from behind us, my brother in full force again now.He followed it up with a long, slow whistle.“I hope that means I’ll be the best man at the wedding—yes?”

At the sudden rumbling of approaching vehicles, Evander drew back from me, his attention momentarily diverted.He sighed heavily, then reached into his pants pocket and dug out a key.He threw it Enzo’s way, my brother easily catching it one-handed.

Evander nodded at the other man.“If you want to live, take my Harley.Go north.You’ll find a wooden bridge over the stream, cross it and follow the fence line back toward the highway.You’ll find an opening along the way.”

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