Betrayal of the Dove - By Capri Montgomery Page 0,28

she was still finding her own way. There was something refreshing and inspiring about her quest. A lot of people would have given up by now, but not her. She was a fighter, determined to make her passion her career and she wasn’t going to give up.

He smiled, taking the check from her hand and looking at it. “Nice,” he said and then he ripped it up.

“What are you doing?”

“I took this assignment as a favor to a friend,” he said and he saw the look of…almost like pain, in her eyes. Just because he took it for a friend didn’t mean he wasn’t there now because of her. “And you seem like good people, Alyssa. I don’t mind helping out for a little while. Just consider the last two weeks, three days and five hours on the house—my house, not yours.”

She laughed. “I would protest, but I really could use this money. I have to pay my lawyer now. I’ve used him before and I pay him when I need him. I think I need him for this. I don’t think it would be a good idea to show up without legal counsel. Do you?”

“No. I don’t.” He resisted the urge to caress her shoulder. Instead, he leaned forward on the counter, bringing him to perfect eye level with her. “It’s going to be all right.” She gave him a smile that made him want to kiss those sexy lips of hers, but he wouldn’t do it, not yet.

Chapter Five

“Eve, I tell you I am so nervous. It’s not just that I have to go in that judge’s chamber and defend my hiring choice, but I have to close the shop again, and I’m not sure how this is going to affect business. And what if I lose? Am I going to have to pay this guy money I don’t even have? I know I didn’t hire him because there was somebody more qualified, but what if he convinces the judge it was something else.” She sighed. “And why am I asking you all of this. I am so freaking out here and I think I’m stressing you out with me.” She laughed. “Okay, since I’m talking to your voice mail and not you I should probably stop now. When you get back to the states, call me again; please?” Eve was still in London the last time she talked with her. She couldn’t imagine that was a cheap phone call to make. She just really needed to speak with her. She would help her pay the bill if need be, just so long as she called.

She wished Eve was back in the Sates, but ultimately, she was just grateful that she had made it out of Ireland alive. Thomas had called and told her what Blaine had told him. He was not happy about the situation by any means, but they all knew there wasn’t much they could do about it. Eve was her own woman and she seemed determined to put herself in the path of hell at any chance she got. London was safe—relatively anyway. While she didn’t want her to move there, she knew there was a chance she would.

The store phone rung and this time she answered it in the professional way she should answer it, even if she was getting increasingly frustrated over present circumstances that was no excuse to answer the phone with a one word irritable “what,” thrown out there.

“Hey big sis,” Eve said so sweetly and with an English accent on top of that. She imagined her sister was prepping for the big move—or trying to prep her for it. They were close. As the only girls in the family they had to be. Although, Eve had been blessed with her connection to Thomas. She was closer to him than she was anybody. She was always so cute hanging on to him too. Alyssa hadn’t really had that connection. She loved her brothers, but she never had what Eve and Thomas had with each other—that deep blood bond that seemed unbreakable. Eve was family all the way, while Alyssa was the independent rider. She loved her family, but she had no problem moving west after high school. She didn’t want to stick around in a city that she practically hated living in. So, family or not, she packed her car and hit the road. She kept in touch with everybody, but it wasn’t the same as Eve and Thomas’ relationship.

“I