“What’s the point?” I shrugged. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of boxed in here. I end up with you or I do my family’s bidding and marry Nico. Neither of which appeal to me. I’m in no rush.”
“You could have refused my dad’s offer.”
“You’re right, I could have, only I’m not that cold-blooded. I wanted to help your sister and my brother.”
I turned to the front window again for the sixth time in the last minute or two. Kon probably assumed I had a nervous tic. I spotted Evie standing across the street. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and pressed it to her ear.
Not good. So not good.
Without a doubt, I looked more than a little unhinged. My eyes were as wild as the chaotic drum of my heart. When I envisioned how this whole thing with Kon would work, I never progressed beyond feeling sorry for myself and wondering how I’d get out of it. The impending confrontation with Evie crammed the cold hard reality in my face.
My brother would freak. Like go on a murderous rampage freak. And Evie…well, she only mentioned her brother once in the last year, and it was to affirmatively state she never wanted to see him again. That he was a lying, traitorous piece of crap. In hindsight, I should have pled his case a little and let her in on the secret that he was instrumental in getting her sociopathic dad to back off and consent to their relationship without using it to his advantage.
I popped out of my seat like a jack-in-the-box.
“What’s wrong?” Kon said.
“Evie’s here,” I hissed.
“Evie,” he parroted, his gaze leaping to the front window. “What the hell is she doing here?”
“Meeting me.”
“Why?”
“We’re friends. She’s my sister-in-law, or did you forget?”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“If you didn’t notice, I was trying to get rid of you.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” He rubbed his knuckles across his jaw, his shirt stretching across the contours of his chest. “All the same, you could have clued me into the exact reason why you wanted me to leave.”
“How did you find me here anyway?”
“I have my ways.” His body tensed for a beat, then a huge smile slid across his face.
“Well, do me a favor and disappear, like right now.”
He took his sweet freaking time lumbering from the chair, and I curled my hands into the hem of my shirt to prevent myself from succumbing to the urge to push him across the room.
“So I’ll see you tonight?”
“What are you doing? Go, get out of here,” I snapped, my teeth clenched, and my hands balled into fists.
“Are you afraid of my sister?”
“No, but I am afraid of my entire family figuring out that we’re doing whatever.”
“No matter how this plays out, your family’s gonna find out about us.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and his hand lingered near my neck. “You understand that, right, solnyshka?”
“Not yet, please. I need a little more time to figure things out.”
“It’s better to rip off the bandage and get it over with. Don’t you agree?”
My eyes latched onto his ocean blue ones, secrets and mischief dancing right beneath the surface. I couldn’t look away. My lungs constricted and my palms were sweaty.
He bent his head until his lips brushed the shell of my ear, and his fingers slid up my neck, cradling the back of my head. Chills danced down my arms. “Relax. Everything’s going to be fine. You’ll see. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”
“Carmela, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me your news when we talked this morning,” Evie said, flinging open the door. She stared at her phone with a huge grin on her face, still ignorant to the metaphorical bomb about to explode.
His voice velvety as honey yet cold as ice, Kon said, “Evie, it’s been a long time.”
Her mouth opened and closed in quick succession. She shook her head as if she couldn’t believe her eyes. “Carmela,” she said, her voice ragged and her face paper white. “What’s he doing here with you?”
His hand flexed on the back of my head, signaling me not to respond. “Carmela and I are…friends. Isn’t that right?”
“Friends?” Squinting until I could no longer see the whites of her eyes, Evie aimed a shaky finger at Kon. “If this is another one of your tricks to mess with my life—”
“It’s not.” His hand dropped from my head, and I felt…bereft. Kon glanced at his sister then planted a kiss on my cheek. “I’ll text you about later.”