Luke pulled her in closer, but she could tell he was being mindful of her sore body. “I love you too.”
Evelyn couldn’t help the smile that formed. “Really?”
He nodded, resting his forehead against hers. “Really.”
“Shocking. How many times has Luke Devereaux told a woman he loved her?”
“Including this time?” He squinted as though he thought about it. “Once.”
The elevator down the hall opened, and two uniformed officers strode intently toward Evelyn and Luke. It looked as if their little moment was over.
“I have to head to the hospital.” She pulled away. “Hotchins was working on contacting your family and letting them know the gist of what happened tonight.”
But as the police got closer, she realized they were much too tense for a quick debriefing. Evelyn straightened and pulled away from Luke as the police reached them. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Easson Harper escaped,” said the first cop.
“He got out of the restraints and shot two officers. We’re pulling all our available men to look for him, but we’d like to get you to the hospital now.”
“He escaped!” shouted Luke. “We practically gift wrapped him for you.”
Evelyn set a hand on his arm even as she tried to control her own anger. But in her experience, little good ever came from insulting police. Especially police who had just had two of their own wounded. “Let’s go. There’s nothing we can do for now, and with the information Longineu can tell us, we might be able to find him.” Evelyn intertwined her fingers with his. “Trust me.”
EPILOGUE
Evelyn walked past Cali’s empty desk and headed to Luke’s office. She paused in the doorway as Luke stared intently at the computer, but it didn’t take long for him to realize she was there. “Hey.” He jumped up and ran around the desk.
“Hey yourself.” He stopped just short of her and leaned in for a kiss, barely touching her.
“You know you can’t treat me with kid gloves forever.”
He pressed a hand softly over the bandage wrapped around her ribs. “At least until the bandages are off.”
“And here I thought you’d like me in a dress.” Which she’d be wearing until the act of buttoning pants didn’t hurt so much.
The corner of his mouth hooked up as he reached down until he was at her knee and moved his hand up, bunching her white dress as he moved farther and farther up her thigh. “I do kind of like this dress thing,” he whispered.
“Oh my,” said a woman with a hint of a Southern accent.
Evelyn jerked at the interruption, but Luke stayed in place. “Emma, so glad you could make it.”
“Emma. Nice to meet you. I’m—”
“Evelyn. I figured that you were his girlfriend by the way, well, you know.”
“Yes, this is my girlfriend, Evelyn Price. Evelyn, this is my baby cousin, Emma.”
Evelyn smiled at the petite reddish blonde. Her skin was tanned from the Southern sun, and she looked decidedly less beat-up than Evelyn did. “Michael and Lori just got here. They’re waiting for you.”
Luke let go of Evelyn and took her hand as they headed toward the conference room.
She clenched his hand. This was her first time seeing his family when they weren’t on official duty, and it would’ve made her feel better if she’d known ahead of time. “I didn’t realize everyone was here.”
“Well, Emma and Jace were coming up the second they heard we made a major arrest and once they found out that someone was getting us video footage of the party at Farrell’s.”
“Everyone’s a voyeur,” she muttered.
The second she stepped into the conference room, everyone stood and stared as though she was some being from another planet. Good grief, she didn’t know whether she’d felt this uncomfortable the last time she was surrounded by cartel gangsters.
These were no gangsters, though. This was her boyfriend’s family. She didn’t think she’d ever met a guy’s family before, let alone been in a room with a brother, cousin, and their other halves. At least Jace was a more familiar face. She shot him a quick nod as Michael broke out into a huge grin. “Agent Price. I hear you and Luke have reconciled your differences.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Hey, you’re still my favorite brother, but only if you stop making cracks like that.”
“Awww. He’s my favorite brother too.” Lori winked.
Luke held her hand tighter. “Hey, hey. I have it on high authority that I am now Evelyn’s favorite, okay. Be nice to her. She came bearing presents.”