Page 52 of The Wrong Side Of Us

I nodded, sitting on a bench and stretching out my legs. “Do you know where she is now?” I asked Derek.

Once again, he tensed, the carefree man from before gone. He swallowed, looking down to his hands as if searching for an answer. “She’s in jail, isn’t she?”

“Yeah,” I replied, biting my lip. “Thanks to me.”

“And thanks to you, many families got justice, so that’s a good thing. You shouldn’t feel bad about that.” Derek ran a hand through his light brown hair. “Your family hurt many people, Evelyn.”

“They’re still my family, though.”

Derek cocked his head to the side, studying me. His furrowed brows told me he was deep in thought, and though he seemed like he had a lot to say, he held back. He ended up shaking his head slowly in disbelief.

“You’re nothing like I thought you were.” It almost sounded like he was complaining, as if it had been a letdown that I wasn’t what he thought I was.

Offended, I immediately put my guard up. “What did you expect?”

His green eyes met mine, for a moment distant until something resembling hate filled them. “Honestly? I thought you were a frivolous bitch.”

The words cut through my chest like a knife.

I looked away, wanting to prevent him from seeing the tears in my eyes. For some reason, it hurt to have someone I didn’t know think I was so cold-hearted because of my family’s reputation. The silence consumed us for a few minutes, but I was sure I could hear the loud beating of his heart.

“You’re far from what I thought you were,” he repeated, this time more to himself. He sighed, placing a hand on my arm to get my attention. Quickly, I blinked away the tears before turning my attention to him. His gaze was now full of compassion. “You’re kind and sweet. You’re different than all the women I know, and that’s a good thing.”

I bit my lip, once again feeling like I was going to cry in front of this man who was a stranger.

He frowned. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I’m fine,” I whispered.

Searching for comfort, I placed my hand over my belly. Derek’s gaze followed the motion, and soon his eyes widened as his lips parted, realization setting in.

“I’m sorry, are you pregnant?”

“Yeah, I am,” I replied with a small smile.

He sighed once again, as if he couldn’t figure what to do or say next. “Shit,” he cursed, standing up. “Shit, fuck.”

“Is there a problem?”

He ran a hand over his face, groaning as if he was upset. “No wonder Maxwell takes so much care of you, huh?” His lips tilted up ever so slightly as his eyes sparkled at me with genuine care. “I’m telling you, you are far from the woman that I thought you were.”

Speechless, I tried to decipher what was going on through his mind. He seemed troubled.

“Congratulations on the baby,” he finally said with a smile. “Now, we should get you back to Nathan or else I think there’s going to be bloodshed.”

The man next to me managed to confuse me more than I thought possible, and I intended to figure out exactly why.

Chapter 20

Nathan

“Trust is the foundation of all relationships.”

I rolled my eyes, listening to Jessica’s words. I already knew this. I trusted Evelyn; I had no doubt regarding her faithfulness, no doubt about how committed to our relationship she was.

But Derek Hensley, that was another story.

He was a womanizer, expert in manipulating people, women. I didn’t trust him.

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