Chapter Sixteen
Eva
“I’ve hated my daughter since the day she was born, but she’s finally going to pay for keeping me away from all of the things I should have had. I was born rich, and I should have always been rich. It was my birthright. She’s going to jail to pay the price for taking everything away from me. I’m happy. She’ll finally be exactly where she should be—which is rotting in prison. It doesn’t matter that I committed the crime she’s going to be doing time for. So what if I stole the jewelry? It belonged to my mother. It was mine to steal. The important thing is that Eva pays, and I’m pretty sure she’ll be convicted. I’m getting back what I deserve by marrying a rich man. I shouldn’t have had to marry him to get what I’m entitled to have, but I’ll take what I can get now. I wonder if it’s wrong to hope that my dead husband’s brat dies while she’s in prison. I don’t think it is, and I hope she never gets out of there alive after they find her guilty.”
I slammed my mother’s journal closed, unable to read another word of her crazy ramblings. It had been her last entry in her journal, a passage written right before her death. I swiped at my tears, wishing I’d never opened the notebook. My heart clenched in my chest, and I let the pain of my mother’s betrayal wash over me, wishing the book had stayed out of my sight.
What had I been hoping for when I opened it to the last entry? That she’d confessed that she really loved me, and that she felt guilty for what she’d done? No possibility of that after what I’d read.
The book had been out on Trace’s bed when I’d come upstairs to wrap his gift. I could only assume the cleaning crew had found it under the bed and left it on top of the quilt.
Curiously, I’d opened it and read several passages, including the one I’d just stopped reading. It wasn’t like Nora hadn’t warned me, but I hadn’t been ready for the complete and utter evil that had been my mother, the bitter hatred she’d harbored for me all of those years.
“I’m surprised she let me live,” I muttered softly, my voice still tearful.
Why she hadn’t killed me when I was young I’d never understand. Did she draw the line at murder? Or had she known that she’d never get away with it? She’d certainly wished I was dead. But apparently she’d never had the guts to off me herself. It wasn’t out of any sense of mercy. That was clear from her journal entries. More than likely, she was afraid she’d end up in jail for murder.
She’s not worth my tears.
In my rational mind, I knew she’d been crazy and I wasn’t responsible for her feelings. But the child that still lived inside of me wondered why she could never love me. I’d twisted myself inside out to gain even a tiny crumb of affection from her. When I was a kid, I hadn’t understood why she hated me, and I thought it had been my fault. As an adult, I knew better, but for some reason, her hatred for me still hurt.
“It was interesting reading…that little book.” The female voice sounded from the doorway.
Britney.
I tried not to gag at her saccharine sweet tone. I knew underneath her gorgeous, blonde supermodel appearance, there was a heart of a viper.
I turned to see her staring at the book in my hand. “What?”
She glided into the room with a conniving smile on her face that I instantly wanted to bitch slap off her face.
I’d avoided being near her when I could, and ignored her nasty jabs at me when I had to be in her company. I like Trace’s brothers, and my heart bled for Dane. They might be together, but Britney didn’t deserve Dane. Yes, he was scarred, but he didn’t deserve another thorn in his side or a pain in the ass like this woman. She was as cold as Antarctica.
“Oh, I hope you don’t mind, but I went in search of something to read, and I found that little book in your hands. It was very interesting reading. I think people would be fascinated to learn that Trace Walker is marrying a criminal, and that his father had been duped into marrying a psycho. The whole family story would be a total turnoff, I think. After all, he’s marrying his stepsister.” Britney’s expression turned into an evil smile.
Bitch!
She deliberately snooped and found my mother’s journal. I hadn’t read it all, but apparently Britney had. “You stole my personal things?” I asked angrily.
I glared at her heavily made-up face, and the long blonde tresses that always looked perfect. Even when we were casually at home, she was dressed like she was going to a party. Today she was dressed in heels and a green mini dress that bared most of her thighs, even though it was probably below freezing outside.
Britney shrugged. “I was looking for reading material. I came across the information by coincidence. You have to admit that it won’t be a pretty story. Trace engaged to his criminal stepsister, and his dad fooled into marrying a woman who was certifiable. Trace would have been so much better off with me,” Britney mused.
“He’d never be better off with a bitch like you,” I growled.
Britney let out a fake gasp. “The kitten’s claws are beginning to show. I guess you get rather violent after being in prison. Even you have to admit that it’s a little sick to be engaged to your stepsister.”
“We. Aren’t. Related.” I wasn’t about to explain my relationship with Trace. It was none of her business.
“Let’s just get down to business, shall we?” All traces of innocence were gone from Britney’s voice, and she was shedding her superficial snake skin. “Trace belongs with me. I can’t screw that freak of a brother of his anymore. I can’t even let him touch me. He’s hideous. I can’t even do it for his money. He makes my skin crawl.”
“You make my skin crawl,” I rasped, so angry that I could barely contain myself.
“You’re just jealous,” Britney rationalized. “I’m beautiful and you know it.”
You’re ugly on the inside where it counts.
I didn’t answer. I simply glared at her.
“Leave Trace to me, and I’ll never mention a single thing I read in the journal. Stay with him any longer and I’ll break the news tomorrow on Christmas day. Two choices. Which one will it be?” Britney held up two fingers mockingly.
I was seething with an anger I’d never felt before, even when my mother had betrayed me. “He won’t go back to you.”
I knew Trace had seen behind Britney’s weak façade.
“He will,” she said adamantly.
“You’re going to blackmail him, too? With what?”
“I can release Dane easily, or I can break his heart. Honestly, I don’t care which way it goes. I can tell him he’s a freak and I can’t ever let him lay a hand on me again.”
“Skank!” I spat out at her, wishing I had the ammunition to tell her to go fuck herself. Unfortunately, I didn’t know what to do.
Every detail of our lives would be dissected, and I couldn’t watch Trace go through that. The thing I didn’t want was to see his father dragged through the mud after his death. It would kill all of the Walker sons. We’d known this was going to end. It was just going to have to be wrapped up sooner than we’d planned.
Britney eyes narrowed. “Decide,” she demanded.
“I’ll go. But know this…you’ll never get Trace back. He already knows you’re a whore, and he isn’t going to be with you again. Ever.”
“He loves his brothers. I was with him long enough to know his weaknesses.”
Just the fact that he she’d use his love for his brothers against Trace made me nauseous. “Get. Out.”
I didn’t want her in Trace’s bedroom ever again.
“I’ll expect you gone by morning. And leave the ring.” Britney looked at the vintage engagement ring. “He’ll be giving that to me. I always wanted a Christmas engagement.”
Over my dead body!
I wasn’t going to keep anything that belonged to Trace, but she sure as hell would never wear it.
My fury finally reached the surface so it wouldn’t be contained, and I walked over to Britney, lifted my hand, and bitch slapped her hard enough that her head turned to the side as I heard the satisfying crack of my hand connecting with her face.
“I said get out,” I repeated between gritted teeth.
“You hit me, you lowlife piece of crap,” she said furiously.
“Leave or I’ll do it again,” I threatened ominously, more than ready to break into a full-fledged cat fight. I was angry now, and I didn’t know what to do with the burning rage. Britney might be a lot taller than I was, but she was skinny and I doubted she had much fight.
Her hand to her swollen cheek, she warned, “Be gone in the morning.” Turning around, she flounced out the door.
Closing the door, I quickly locked it, knowing if I saw her again I might not be able to contain myself.
I flopped onto the bed, landing on my back. What in the hell was I going to do?
I have to leave.
All I really wanted was to talk to Trace, but I knew he’d tell me not to run away and he’d deal with the fallout. I couldn’t let that happen. He’d looked so happy with his brothers around. I didn’t want trouble because of my past, not when it affected Trace and his family.
The pain in my chest was excruciating as I thought of separating from him. Over the last several weeks, we’d grown closer and closer. I had no doubt that I was in love with him, and leaving him would leave a wound that would probably never heal.
I have to love him enough to let go.
And I did love him that much, and more. There had never been any real future for me and Trace. I needed to rip off the Band-Aid and deal with all of my pain so I could eventually move on.
I wouldn’t have the promised job, but now that my record was clear, I could get something else.
I’ll be okay. I’ll be okay.
“Eva! The door is locked!” Trace’s voice sounded from the other side of the door.
I jumped up, trying to stamp down my panic at the thought of being without him.
I flipped the lock on the door, let him enter, then closed and locked the entrance again.
“Are you okay?”
Wanting to break down in tears as I saw the tender compassion in his eyes as he looked at me, I hugged him, trying to memorize his scent.
His arms wrapped around my waist immediately and he just held me. “Hey, something is wrong.”
“No.” I denied it. “I just missed you.”
“I think I’m glad,” he said devilishly.
“Everything okay with your brothers?”
“It’s good. I think Sebastian is moving to Denver to work with me.”
He sounded relieved…and happy. My heart lightened slightly. I knew he wanted to be close to his brothers again, and it was happening. Little by little, pretty soon the broken Walker family would be put together again. “You sound happy.”
“I am,” he replied, sliding a hand down my back to squeeze my jean-clad butt. “There’s only one more thing that I want this Christmas.”
“What?”
“You,” he answered huskily.
“You’ve already had me,” I teased. God, I had to keep this conversation light.
He pulled back and I was mesmerized by the light in his molten green eyes. “I want you forever, Eva.”
My heart skittered as I looked into his eyes. It was what I wanted, too, but it wasn’t going to happen. But I wanted him to know something. “Look, I have to say something, and I don’t want you to react, okay? I just have something I want you to know.”
He nodded, but his expression was confused.
I took a deep breath. “Somewhere along the way in this fake engagement, it became so much more than just an act. I care about you, Trace. I don’t know when, and I don’t know how it happened. I just know it’s true.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but I covered his lips with my fingers as I continued. “You don’t need to say anything. There are no expectations. I just wanted you to know, these have been the best weeks of my life.”
“Don’t act like you’re saying goodbye, Eva,” he said huskily, his eyes burning into mine.
He bent his head down and captured my lips before I could respond. His tongue penetrated my mouth with a determined purpose, and I opened to him. I needed him right now, had to be with him one last time.
“Fuck me,” I demanded urgently the moment he released my mouth.
“I plan on it,” he agreed, already stepping back to fumble with the zipper of my jeans.