Crazy Eights (Stacked Deck #8) - Emilia Finn Page 0,143

tried living my life without her. For four years, I tried to find a new normal, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t dig my way out of that hole. Now she’s here, and holy-cliché-Batman, but the sun is shining again. The world doesn’t suck so much anymore.” I meet his gaze and shake my head. “I have never once hidden my attraction to your sister, so it was inevitable that if you put us in the same room for five minutes without anyone else to chaperone, we were going to be drawn together. You had to know what would happen.”

“My sister is an angel,” he chokes out. “She’s a good girl.”

“She’s still your angel, Will. Having another man love her isn’t a bad thing. Having another man be willing to go to war and die for her isn’t a bad thing.”

“I can’t be your houseguest forever,” he rasps out. “We’re fooling ourselves into thinking that would work.”

“No,” I admit. “The only fool is me. Because you and I both know she’s going to follow you when you run. And you will run. We all know it, because someone wants to fuck you over. They’re not gonna stop until they’re dead, and despite what the arrest warrants say, you’re not a killer. Which means, you’ll run, she’ll follow, and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to play catch-up just so I can have a week here, a week there.”

I rub my hand over my face, and groan when I tweak my shoulder in the process. “Her loyalty runs deep, Will.” I meet his eyes. “But her loyalty isn’t with me.”

Quinn

Revelations

“In first,” Lucy coaches. “In second.” She stands beside me in front of the mirrors, and shows me what I’m supposed to do. “In third,” she continues. “In fourth. Chin up, and Soph will chop your legs off if you don’t show me that turnout.”

Snickering under my breath, I fix my feet, and lift just one arm into position.

“Good. Back to first. And second. And third, and f—” She stops with a jump in her voice, and turns just as I catch a dark shadow in my peripherals in the mirrors. I’ve spent the day staring at my feet, and not at the mirrors like I’m supposed to. Her brow furrows. “Uh… this isn’t an open studio, so—”

I turn and gasp at the sight of a man in a dark suit. Dark hair. That perfect five o’clock shadow that stretches down to his Adam’s apple.

My voice catches in my throat, and my heart pounds so fast that my head threatens to turn woozy. “Evan?”

Lucy’s gaze snaps to mine, then back to Evan. “You know him? But…” She frowns. “How?”

“Two primas in one room,” Evan purrs. “It is so good to see you again, Lucy Kincaid.”

“You… but…” She grabs my hand when she can’t figure out what else to do. “You’re that guy… you’re… I don’t understand how you know my name. I saw you at the club once.”

“You saw him at the club?” I spin and meet her eyes. “You know Evan?”

She shakes her head – not a no, but a ‘what the fuck?’ “I don’t know him. But I saw him at Rhino’s one time while I was dancing. He paid well, he asked me to spend a little extra time with him in private.” As in, he wanted to fuck her. “I said no and left the stage. That was the end of it.”

“This is true.” Evan meanders into the room, slowly, quietly, and holds his hands in front of his body. “I asked her for a little time, and she said no.” His eyes rage fire, and burn us both. “She said no. I’m not unhappy to see you here, Little Dancer. But to be frank, I’m here for you, Prima.”

“Me? Uh…” I swallow and try to think. I lied about living with Will; does Evan know? I left town without notice; is Evan pissed? Most of all… Am I dead? “Uh… How’d you know where I was?”

He grins, cold and mean. “I have friends everywhere, Prima.” He continues forward with slow, calculated steps, to stop just three feet in front of us. “You left, Prima. Without even a call to let me know you were okay.”

“I… um…” My voice cracks from nerves. “I had to travel for a little while. My brother—”

“Your brother, the murderer. Yes?”

“No, he’s…” I shake my head and link my fingers with Lucy’s when she begins shaking – from fear? From