Page 100 of Stolen Fate

“You like spending the day with us, no? We could always be like this.”

“What are you saying, Jace? That we could turn into some happy family, and all of our problems would just disappear?”

“We don’t have any problems.”

“Yes, we do. Camila—”

“Camila is no longer a problem you need to be concerned about. I’ll never let her get close to either one of you again. I promise.”

“You can’t make that promise.”

“Oh, yeah? Watch me. I’ll hire more security details for both you and Elliot. I’ll make sure this house will be more secure than Fort Knox.”

“Just to keep one ordinary woman away from us?”

“No, to protect my most precious treasures.”

“Treasures? As in more than one?”

I smiled. “Yes. I have more than one treasure I need to protect. And besides, Camila is a lot of things, but ordinary isn’t one of them. I doubt she’s done with me or Elliot. We are her ticket out of poverty.”

Her eyes scrunched up a little in confusion.

“Her family was on the verge of financial ruin when I married her. That was the only reason she had her sights set on me in the first place. They came from old money, like my family, but some bad financial decisions, drug and gambling habits, and the compulsion of living beyond their means finally caught up to them. I helped them out when I married her, but only enough so they still had to go out and get jobs to support themselves. Now, all they have left is a bad reputation to the Irvine name.”

“That’s… terrible. She’s terrible. And to use Elliot like that… her own son.”

I looked away from Evelyn so she couldn’t meet my eyes. I knew eventually I would have to tell her the truth, but I didn’t know how.

I had let this secret go on far too long, but it was about protecting Elliot from any potential hurt he could experience if Evelyn had turned out to be a different kind of woman. And I didn’t regret that. I would do whatever it took to protect my son. But now, when I knew Evelyn wouldn’t do anything to hurt Elliot, how could I go about telling her truth without making me look like a bastard?

I didn’t want to be a bastard in her eyes.

I didn’t think I could handle it if those soft brown eyes of hers turned hard on me.

“We should probably get to the kitchen, yeah?” I asked.

I pretended not to see the disappointment in her eyes when she got off my lap and stood up. Then she held her hand out to me. I couldn’t help the amused chuckle that came out of me. “Are you going to help me stand up, baby?”

“What? Oh, never mind. You can get yourself up.”

She stomped her foot a little and turned around. She might be hanging out with Elliot a little too much, and yet, I found the whole thing fucking adorable. I stood up and pulled her to me before she could get any further.

And despite her temper, she practically melted into my arms. She turned her head to the side and tilted it up so she could meet my eyes. Her lips were in a slight pout and there was a small indent forming between her brows from the frown she was sporting. Like I said, fucking adorable.

Unable to stop myself, I moved down and kissed that pout away.

What had started off slow and gentle quickly turned rough and passionate, and when she turned herself fully to me, I wrapped my arms around her waist and deepened the kiss.

A cough by the hallway startled us out of the kiss. We looked over to the sound at the same time and found Ms. Bennett standing there, the expression on her face unreadable.

Evelyn cleared her throat awkwardly and pushed me away.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Mr. Reed, but Elliot was wondering if you and Evelyn would join him in the kitchen.”

I smiled sheepishly at the woman who had been with me for over a decade—and only ten years my senior—and nodded.

Just as I walked past her, I caught sight of the small glint in her eyes that told me she found the whole thing amusing. Good thing Evelyn didn’t catch that, or her blush would turn from a soft pink to a tomato red, which, that like the depraved bastard that I was, fucking turned me on.

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