morning? First Finn and now Eve. Why the fuck are they both trying to kiss my ass?
“I see that you really care about Layla, and I just want to make sure you understand that as great of a man as you are, the two of you come from different worlds.”
I laugh and roll my eyes at her.
“And here we go. The real reason why you showed up on my doorstep trying to blow smoke up my ass. She’s a star and I’m nobody and it would never work between us. Did I get the gist of it?” I ask sarcastically, pulling my hands out of my pockets to cross them over my chest and leaning my shoulder casually against the wall.
“I see I’m not telling you something you don’t already realize. I’m not trying to be cruel, Mr. Marshall, but it’s the truth. You live two completely different lives. Everyone in the world knows who Layla is. She has enough money to buy a hundred of these little homes and then some,” she explains, looking around the small room once again and pulling her purse tighter to her side like I might try to steal it. “I’m doing this for your own good. She’s a big deal. She’s recognized wherever she goes, and if someone is linked to her, the media will dig and dig and dig into that person’s life until they know every single intimate detail about them and their family members. You’re lucky that little stunt she pulled at The Red Door Saloon wasn’t splashed across the front of every newspaper because right now, the media would know all about you since I heard she dragged you out of there in front of everyone. They’d know about the mistakes you’ve made, and they’d know about the secrets your sister is hiding. They would know it all.”
My arms fall limply to my sides during Eve’s little enlightenment, and now I can’t stop opening and closing my hands into fists, the muscles in my arms clenching in fury. I want to argue with Eve. I want to tell her that no one will give a rat’s ass about me or my family because she’s right, I’m nobody. But I can’t make the words come out because I know everything she says is true. The first time the media sees me with Layla, they are going to want to know everything about me. They’ll find out about every single time I’ve screwed up in my life and people have gotten hurt. And they’ll find out about Gwen. That asshole husband of hers will find out where she is and how he can get to her. If it was just me, I could deal. I could push through that shit until they find another bone to chew on and get bored with me. But I can never let that happen to Gwen. Her and Emma’s safety depend on her ex never knowing where she is.
“You’re a good man, Mr. Marshall, and I just don’t want to see you or your lovely family get hurt,” Eve finishes as she walks my way and goes to the front door, pausing next to Layla’s suitcase and the guitar case Finn brought with him.
“Where the hell did you get that?” Eve asks with an anxious whisper, pointing at the guitar case.
“Finn dropped it off. Why?”
I step close to Eve and see that she is shaking from head to toe, like she’s seen a ghost.
“That’s impossible. That thing was destroyed years ago,” she mutters softly to herself, still staring at the case.
She reaches her hand out towards it in a daze but snatches it back when Finn and Layla enter the room.
“Mother, what are you doing here?” Layla asks as Eve whips her head around and stares at her daughter in horror.
“What the hell have you done to your hair?” Eve shouts angrily across the room.
I move forward and place myself directly in front of Eve so she can’t see Layla without bending to the side.
“I think it’s time for you to go now, Eve. I’ll make sure to keep you updated on what’s going on here, so you can adjust Layla’s schedule as needed,” I tell her, taking a few steps in her direction and forcing her to move backward towards the door.
She reaches behind her and fumbles for the knob before finally getting it open. “Thank you, Mr. Marshall, for all of your help.”
Eve isn’t looking at me when she says it. She’s staring