had an evil twist to it. “Rest a bit, darling. I’m hoping you’ll be able to come play with me by tomorrow.”
I was on my own.
Think, Eva, think.
There had to be a way out.
Fuzziness took over my brain and my limbs felt heavy. Whatever was in that drip robbed me of any coherent thought or will to move. Nolan’s voice faded away, and my body was sucked into the mattress once again.
Chapter 29 – Harrison
With an empty feeling, I made my way to the waiting airplane. I felt as if I had unfinished business with Eva, even after my decision to get out of her life like Bill had suggested fucking doing. But the coward in me had reared its head, and I guess it was just easier to get the fuck out of the US for a while as I thought things through.
Life had a way of fucking with me. Every time some semblance of happiness came anywhere near my way, everything went for a ball of shit. First Amy and now Eva.
“Hey buddy, wait up. You left your phone on the table and the fucking thing is ringing.”
It was unlike me to leave my phone anywhere. “That’s what sleepless nights do to me.”
I swung around and took the cell from Savage. I’d ignored Eva’s messages and calls for days, but instead of things getting easier I was on the verge of caving in. Desperate to at least hear her voice before I headed off on my most dangerous mission to date, I pressed the phone to my ear.
It wasn’t the voice I wanted to hear.
“Hey, Summers. Can you talk?”
What the hell did Ryder want from me? It was enough that I was acting civilly to him lately, but for both our sakes, I hoped he wasn’t trying to build a fucking friendship. It just wasn’t going to work in this lifetime.
“Yeah, make it quick. I have a minute before I board a plane.”
“Fuck. Figures.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” The hair at the back of my neck stood up. Ryder was always going to rub me up the wrong way.
“Eva. Something is wrong, and I wondered if you knew where she was.”
Coming to a grinding halt, I sucked in a breath. “I don’t have a clue. I haven’t spoken to her in days. Your old man—”
“Listen, there isn’t time for bullshit. I just spoke to my old man, and he told me something . . . disturbing. At first I thought nothing of it, in fact I was quite relieved, but Jade convinced me it was off. I’ve tried getting hold of Eva, but I’m in New York and I can’t reach her. Her phone keeps going to voicemail. It’s not like her at all to not return my calls.”
“What does Jade think is wrong?”
My sister had sharp instincts. If it weren’t for her, both of us would have been shot in the crossfire that had killed all our friends. Although I’d ignored her lately, believing that she was making the mistake of her life being with Ryder, my gut told me I needed to listen.
“Apparently the senator called Bill and told him he had plans to take Eva on a romantic getaway.”
My world started spinning. Sweat broke out on my forehead, and I felt sick.
“You okay, buddy?” Savage said, as he gave me a strange look.
I nodded and waved him ahead. Takeoff was in ten minutes and everyone was getting jittery, including my partner.
Savage scraped past me. “Hurry up, okay?”
I patted his back, and he started climbing the stairs to the plane.
“And Jade thinks there is something wrong with that?” I said, clutching at straws. It felt as if someone had kicked me in the balls. Of all things, I’d never thought Eva would go back to Parker that easily. But what the fuck did I know about women? Apparently, not much other than how to make them scream.
“Yeah. Jade is convinced Eva hates the senator’s guts.”
“Women change their fucking minds all the time. You should know that by now.”
“This is different. Jade says that Eva is not in love with Parker.”
“How would Jade know that?”
A long silence ate up the few seconds I had left before boarding.
Ryder sighed. “Because she’s in love with you, dickhead. Jade is convinced.”
Holy fuck. It couldn’t be true. Jade was mistaken.
I laughed out loud. “Tell my sister her imagination is running away with her.”
A snarl came my way. “Listen, asshole, do you think it’s easy for me to tell