The next few weeks were a nightmare. Eve could not move a step on her own; someone from the Diamondbacks was always with her. It was very rarely Lind. She wasn’t seeing much of him, and when she did, they usually ended up fighting. His anxiety was palpable and getting worse by the minute, leading him to make life downright impossible for Eve. She refused to “report to him” (as he had put it) when it came to her comings and goings, but he was always up to speed thanks to her bodyguards, who told him about every little thing Eve did—the places she went, the people she saw. It was disconcerting.
As the days progressed without the Diamondbacks having found the man who was behind all this—because by now Eve had been able to at least gather that the person was a “he”—Lind’s frustration grew, and he became more and more impossible. Eve could hardly remember the last time they had sex or managed to have a conversation without being at each other’s throat in two seconds flat. It was getting to be unbearable, but she really had nowhere to run.
Her only consolation in all this was that, amongst the Diamondbacks members appointed to guard her, the one who spent the most time on the job was Lucas. One had to be crazy not to grow fond of him at record speed—twenty-four years old, tall, slightly socially awkward but with nerves of steel, witty and a brain that could put anyone to shame. He was adorable and scary all at the same time. At thirty-two years of age, Eve had secretly begun to look at him like a protective little brother. She didn’t think Lucas would be very happy about it if he knew, but she couldn’t help it; he was the first person who showed her signs of real friendship. The other Diamondbacks clearly trusted her as much as she did them—that is to say, not at all—and looked very much like they had been forced to be there whenever their “shift” would come—which they had.
The more time passed, the more Eve felt like an imposition, a burden. Even to Lind. He was so obsessed with protecting her at all costs that it had really begun to feel like he was doing to keep his conscience clean rather than out of any actual love for her. She felt like she was no different than any other innocent person he might end up protecting from circumstances, which was ironic, considering that was exactly how they had met.
Eve let the shower spray hit her back until the water ran cold, then she finally turned the tap off and stepped out. It wasn’t like the shower was helping to clear her head anyway. She wrapped herself snug and tight in a large towel and walked out of the bathroom, toweling her hair as she went.
She found Lucas sitting on the couch in the living room, enjoying a cold beer and reruns of Supernatural, which Eve had found out was his favorite show.
“Is it a good one?” she asked as she went to sit on the armchair.
“Oh yes, it’s one of my favorites,” Lucas announced. “Dean gets sucked back to the year 1944 and teams up with Eliot Ness. It would’ve been cool to see some actual gangster action, but it’s still a great episode.”
He finally tore his gaze away from the screen and seemed to only then notice that Eve was sitting in close proximity wearing nothing but a towel, her blonde hair cascading down her naked shoulders in a wet, golden waterfall. He swallowed visibly and took a long swig of his beer.
Eve smirked to herself. She had not meant to make him uncomfortable, but it was still nice to be noticed by a man. Lind simply didn’t seem to notice her anymore, and as vain as it may sound, she missed having his intense gaze run appraisingly all over her figure.
“Anyway, yeah,” Lucas muttered, purposefully returning his eyes’ focus to the TV screen, “I like gangster stories, so this episode was appealing to me.”
He was rambling, but his words still caught Eve’s attention.
“Is that why you joined a gang?” she asked, as delicately as she could. “You wanted to be a gangster?”
Lucas went back to look at her, and this time he didn’t seem fazed by her sexual appeal at all. He watched her in confusion, like he couldn’t understand where the question had come from. “No,” he said, frowning. “I’m not twelve, you know. I didn’t have any glorified image of what being in a motorcycle gang is. I’m too smart to be that naïve.” He wasn’t bragging, he was just stating a fact.
Eve cringed. “I’m sorry,” she said sincerely. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
Lucas nodded curtly.
“How about I make us some popcorn so we can really enjoy this favorite episode of yours?” she offered. It was her way of apologizing, and Lucas got it right away.
He smiled gratefully over at her. “I’d like that, thanks.”
Eve patted his knee and stood. His eyes did follow her every movement then. He cleared his throat, uneasy.
“Uh…could you…would you mind…?”
Eve grinned. “Getting dressed?”
Lucas flushed scarlet. “It’s just you’re very beautiful, and Lind would have my hide if he knew where my thoughts were headed right now.”
Eve laughed. The guy was too adorable to be real. “I’ll go put something on.”
“Thank you,” he said sincerely.
Eve got dressed quickly in just a simple pair of light-blue jeans and a plain white tank top. She allowed herself the luxury of going barefooted. At first, when this whole “special surveillance” affair had just started, she had worn shoes in her own home at all times, in case she needed to run—either from whoever was after her or from the men who had been put there to guard her. But lately, she had decided that she wouldn’t live in fear and deny herself the comforts of her own house. If she ever needed to run, she would do so without shoes.
She made the popcorn, grabbed herself a beer from the fridge, and joined Lucas on the couch. Soon enough, she found herself swept away into a fictional world that she had come to appreciate. She had to give it to Lucas…Supernatural was a damn good show. Over the past few weeks, they had shared the viewing of more than one episode together, and Eve found herself hooked pretty much right away. The fact that the two main actors were very easy on the eyes also didn’t hurt. Presently, Eve lost herself in the beauty that was Dean Winchester and forgot all about her problems for forty-five blessed minutes.
Once the end credits rolled in, Eve stretched, waking herself up from the spell and reluctantly allowing reality to swallow her up again. She switched off the TV and then she just sat there, all her doubts and fears coming back in a dizzying rush.
“Aren’t you going to bed?” Lucas asked.
“Eventually. I’m not too eager,” she admitted, “I’ve been having some trouble sleeping.”
Lucas gave her a sympathetic smile. “It’s going to be okay,” he offered. “We’ll get him, you’ll see.”
“Who’s ‘he’, Lucas?”
Luca cringed. “Come on, don’t do this to me. You know I can’t tell you any more than what you already know.”
“You don’t think I’ve got a right to know who’s after me?”
“It’s not for me to say,” he replied, shifting uncomfortably on the couch’s pristine cushions.
“But you agree that this isn’t fair to me.”
Eve wasn’t proud of herself at that time. She knew her growing friendship with Lucas made him a weak link, and she was exploiting that fact. At this point, however, she was desperate. Lind wasn’t going to tell her anything and was in fact growing more and more distant. Lucas was her only link to the outside world.
Lucas sighed heavily. “Yes,” he finally admitted. “It’s not fair, I agree. If I were in your position, I would want to know, too. But I don’t call the shots here.”
Eve watched him curiously. “Are you afraid of Lind?”
Lucas snorted out a laugh. “Fuck, yeah. Anyone in their right mind would be.”
Eve suppressed a wince. She had never given much thought to Lind’s past and dark side, but lately she found herself reflecting upon it more and more—possibly due to the fact that he wasn’t showing her much of his good side anymore.
“He doesn’t have to know,” she said. “But I do. I need to know what’s going on, Lucas. I can’t take this anymore. If you don’t tell me, I’ll find out on my own, and that might not be pretty. I might inadvertently step on someone’s toes.”
It was, admittedly, a very likely possibility. Eve would pursue the truth no matter what, but she knew almost nothing about the MC’s dynamics, and her quest might create unnecessary drama. And when it came to gangs, drama had a tendency to turn bloody.
Lucas groaned and ran both hands over his face. “You’ll be the death of me,” he muttered, and that’s when Eve knew he had him.
“Lind will never know,” she said. “I promise.”
Lucas emerged from behind his palms and stared at her. “You mean to tell me that you’re not going to confront him afterwards?”
“I promise,” Eve said again. “I just want to know what I’m up against. Lind doesn’t have to know that I know.”
Lucas watched her distrustfully.
“Really, Lucas,” Eve insisted, “it’s not my intention to get you into trouble. I just want to be prepared, that’s all.”
“Ok,” Lucas finally conceded, reluctantly. “But you better be sure about this because—trust me—you’re not going to like what you’ll hear.”
That much I’d figured, Eve thought bitterly. She nodded. “I’m sure. It can’t be worse than some of the scenarios I’ve come up with in my head.”
“Fair enough,” Lucas conceded. “I’m gonna need more alcohol if we’re going to do this.”
Eve arched an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you stay sharp so you can protect me?” she teased.
Lucas snorted. “Sweetheart, two beers aren’t going to knock me out.”
Eve shook her head fondly and went to the kitchen to fetch her storyteller one more beer. A moment later, she was back on the couch and ready to drink up every single one of Lucas’ words.