Page 63 of Hush Money
I nod. She’s right.
She turns back to Julian.
“I’ll submit my application tonight. Maybe we can catch up next week? Figure out some tips for getting your father to pick me.”
Julian nods.
“Good call. I’ll give you a call,” he says. She nods and walks out of the room, then Todd escorts them out of the apartment. Once we know they are safely gone, I sink back into the chair and cover my face with my hands.
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter. I hear the leather of the chair across from me scrunching when my brother does the same.
“That was heavy,” Julian says. I scoff.
“You’re fuckin’ telling me,” I say. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
Julian nods.
“I know. But I am out of ideas. You guys want another drink?” Julian offers, but I shake my head. I stand back up and reach for my girl.
“Nah,” I say. “I just want to go home and lie down with my woman.”
Julian smiles.
“Fair enough,” he says. “That doesn’t sound too shabby.” Sawyer smiles at him and makes her way across the room. His demeanor immediately lightens, and I can’t help but smile too. I love what she’s done to my big brother. She’s softened him in the best ways. We say our goodbyes, and Julian promises to call me when he hears from Wren. And then Todd leads us back downstairs, and we make our way home.
Before I even fully undress,Evie has a bowl of popcorn made and a cup of tea for me waiting on the nightstand. She takes off her clothes, puts on one of my t-shirts, then climbs into bed, patting the spot next to her. I smile as I pull the comforter backfarther and slide in. We finish off the bowl, and I sip my tea while she curls up on my chest. And as I stroke her orangish-reddish locks, all I can think about is her.
Not the atrocities I spent all night learning about.
Not about the predator that raised me.
Not about the women he degraded and used like he was a pimp.
Instead, I get lost in Evie’s hair. It feels like our heartbeats are in sync. Our bodies mesh together so well, even when we’re not having sex. She justfits.
After another hour or so, I hear her breathing shallow out, and I realize she’s fallen asleep. She rolls slightly so that she’s on her own pillow, her hands tucked under her cheek like a child, and I just stare at her.
This week, we will meet with more of my father’s ex-employees whom he put through hell. And then we will start really working with our legal team to take down our father. We will figure out how to find out more information. We will build a case against him. And we will make a plan to dismantle Everett Enterprises as it stands and rebuild it from the ground up.
It might not work.
People might think we knew about it—or worse, that we were fucking in on it.
But we have to try.
I might lose everything. We might become the most hated family in the country—in the fuckingworld.
But if I have her right here on my pillow, our noses practically touching, then I can handle the rest.
I stroke her cheek with my thumb, but I freeze when her eyelashes flutter.
“What’s wrong?” she mutters, her eyes closing again. I don’t answer her, waiting to see if she falls back to sleep. But those green eyes flash open. “Hmm?” she asks again. “What’s wrong?”
“Go back to sleep,” I whisper, leaning forward to kiss her forehead, but her eyes stay trained on me.
“Not until you tell me what’s on your mind,” she says. I sigh. She’s relentless.
“You are,” I tell her. She blinks a few times, clearing the sleep from her eyes.
