Page 4 of The Forbidden Secret
He would never know about his daughter, who shared his crystal eyes and dark complexion.
Chapter Two
Zeke Coleman
I first met Evelina a year ago, and I had to have her.
It didn’t matter that I was contracted to kill her. When she walked into my trap, carrying those deceptively dark and moody paintings that seemed to be her soul on canvas, she became the single most interesting thing I had ever seen.
She became the single most addictive thing I had evertasted.
And through that haze of lust and craving more, I knew I couldn’t let her in.
I couldn’t let her seeme,because as much as I fought it, I was a monster.
I was a killer, and she was the first target to ever live.
Fate had a cruel sense of humor in bringing us back together in this way.
“We’re not out of the woods yet, Coleman,” Jaimie said as the driver peeled away.
He was experienced. Trusted, even. But as bullets came flying through the car, I instinctively flung myself over Evelina as Jaimie pulled out her gun and fired back a few shots.
The car began veering, and I glanced up, finding the driver hunched over in a pool of blood from a well-aimed shot to the head.
“Fuck,” Jaimie shouted, diving to the front. In a moment, she pushed the driver from the car, closing the door behind him and taking over the wheel.
The SUV gunned down the road, and Evelina went to raise her head.
“Stay down,” I ordered.
She flinched at my tone, but she did as I instructed.
“We have one on our tail,” Jaimie pointed out. “Motorcycle.”
I squinted my eyes as the motorcycle came flying around the corner, rushing toward us. “On it.”
I pulled out my own gun and waited until he was just close enough to take an effective shot. The bike lost control and slammed into the curb, sending the driver flying. I watched for any other stragglers, but as Jaimie brought us through a handful of streets, I was confident that we had lost the tail.
“We’re clear?” she asked.
I nodded, focusing on our surroundings. I didn’t allow myself to look at the woman beneath me. I would focus on that situation later. I would consider the twist of fate that brought me here, and I would spend a long while cursing whichever Gods or deities or higher powers had put me in this position.
Jaimie pulled us into a parking garage where our second vehicle waited, and I ushered Evelina into it quickly. I grabbed the plate from the back of our bullet-peppered first vehicle and tossed it into the new ride. Jaimie didn’t hesitate before peeling out of the garage and down the street.
Evelina looked between us, not saying anything for the first five minutes of the drive. “Tell me what’s going on here,” she demanded.
“We just saved your ass,” Jaimie threw back. “Count your blessings that you haveveryimpressive connections.”
I could tell that she had no idea what to think or say. Hell, she didn’t even seem fully convinced that she was in safe hands—not as she glanced between me and Jaimie, then back at the door as if considering the merits of jumping from the moving vehicle.
“Jaimie and I were hired to see to your safety from the… situation in which you found yourself.”
“In which I found myself?” she shot back, straightening. She opened her mouth but closed it as she thought better of what she had planned to say. “I didn’tfindmyself in this situation. Don’t phrase it like this was my fault.”
I took a long exhale as I looked over at her.
“A thank you would be appreciated.”
