Mastered(64)

Evangeline reached for the box Jax was holding, and he adopted a wounded puppy-dog look that had Drake wanting to beat his head on the desk. Were his men turning into complete pussies? For fuck’s sake.

“Hand it over or you don’t get one,” Evangeline said, her attempt at sounding menacing making Thane and Justice chuckle.

Jax sighed and made an elaborate show of reluctantly handing over the box—or was it a covered plastic food container?

Evangeline cracked the lid, reached inside and, to Drake’s eternal surprise, drew out one of the cupcakes she’d given him for dessert last night. She held it temptingly under Maddox’s nose.

“All better now?”#p#分页标题#e#

He narrowed his eyes. “That depends on whether you poisoned them or not.”

“If I did, it’s nothing more than you deserve. I’m sure your accountant would thank me.”

Another round of laughter sounded and Drake leaned back in his chair, any effort to disguise his irritation now gone. Not that anyone paid him any attention.

“Are those cupcakes?” Justice asked incredulously.

He and Thane were both eyeing Maddox and Evangeline as if they’d sprouted a third head. Drake supposed he could see the humor in the fact that a woman bearing cupcakes had walked into Drake’s inner sanctum where no woman had ever been before. Much less bearing fucking cupcakes.

Evangeline turned in Thane and Justice’s direction, but Jax cleared his throat. Evangeline rolled her eyes and then handed him one of the baked treats. Drake had a bad feeling that his angel was going to have his men trained like dogs by handing out puppy treats whenever she came near.

Then she walked over to where Thane and Justice were lounging on the leather couch and dutifully handed over a cupcake.

What she did next astounded Drake.

She first walked over to Hatcher, who glanced nervously between her and Drake as if gauging Drake’s reaction or perhaps determining whether he should even be speaking to Drake’s woman.

“Hi,” she said in a shy voice as she held out a cupcake. “I’m Evangeline.”

Hatcher took the cupcake and smiled at her. “Hello, Evangeline. I’m Hatcher.”

But when she then turned her attention to Silas, who had since melted into the farthest corner, one that was so dimly lighted that Drake was surprised she’d located him with such ease, it seemed the entire room held their breath.

She walked right up to the big man, who stood as still and silent as a statue, and issued a shaky smile. Drake realized then that for all her false bravado, she was, in fact, terrified. All of his earlier irritation fled as pride surged in his veins. Evangeline was doing just as he’d asked her. To walk into his world and accept it—and him. And she’d obviously sensed that by accepting him, she was accepting his men as an extension of himself.

His jealousy evaporated because she was doing this—all of it—for him.

He sat back, a small smile on his lips as he watched Evangeline tilt her head to look up at Silas’s much taller frame.

Then she simply reached into the container, pulled out a cupcake and held it out for Silas to take.

“Hi,” she said, repeating her earlier introduction to Hatcher. “I’m Evangeline. I promise I didn’t poison your cupcake. Just Maddox’s. And”—she leaned forward, whispering conspiratorially—“I made sure his had sprinkles and pink frosting.”

Laughter sounded behind her, but she kept her solemn attention on Silas as he slowly reached out, his palm up. She gently set the cupcake down in his hand and he stood there in bewilderment, a perplexed look in his eyes as if he had no idea what to do with Evangeline.

That makes two of us, brother.

“We’re having fucking cupcake parties now?”

Zander’s voice boomed over the quiet room with the effect of a gunshot. Evangeline jumped, knocking the cupcake from Silas’s hand. As it fell to the floor, it landed on his pants, leaving a glob of frosting.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” Evangeline said in a stricken voice even as she hurried to scrape the frosting from Silas’s knee. “I hope I didn’t ruin your pants. That was so clumsy of me.”

Mortified tears sprang to Evangeline’s eyes, and her embarrassed flush extended from her cheeks all the way down her neck. She no longer looked at any of the men in the room. Instead her gaze was solidly focused downward as she scrubbed ineffectually at the mess on Silas’s pants.#p#分页标题#e#

Drake cursed, wanting to murder Zander on the spot for the damage he’d inadvertently done. For a few brief moments, Evangeline had overcome her shyness and uncertainty and had begun to relax around Drake and his men. Now she looked as though she’d like nothing more than for the floor to open beneath her and swallow her whole.