Page 55 of Royal Pain

Evangeline

An impossible situation.

That’s what I’d found myself in. I hadn’t tried. I’d simply wanted to have a good time with girlfriends. I’d been fooling myself thinking my friends weren’t heavily embroiled in the society. I guess I’d so wanted to believe I had something I could hold onto of my own. Plus, all four of them had talked about getting out, so happy they had jobs on the outside. Lies. Lies!

My guess was that they’d been allowed to have a life outside of the compound after agreeing to marry whoever the hell their fathers wanted them to marry. God, I was the dumbest chick in the world.

I’d fallen into a trap, including the use of my parents. Or was that completely the truth?

Gage appeared in front of me, sitting down on the thick leather chair across from me. So far, the plane ride had been smooth, the beautiful scenery comforting, but I remained on edge. It feltlike that by heading to San Diego, I was going even further away from my little boy.

“Have some water.” Gage’s voice was soft, comforting. “You need to stay hydrated.”

I eyed him carefully, wondering why he was doing all this for me. I was still a basic stranger, no matter how close we’d gotten intimately. “Joseph knows about you.” I accepted the water.

“I’m certain he does. Good. Maybe he’s smart enough to figure out he’s met his match.”

“How has he met his match, Gage? You’re one of the good guys. They are anything but…”

He grasped my hand, his grin far too infectious. And sexy. “Trust. Remember. What you found in the glossies on the internet about me and my family is barely a tip of the iceberg, much like if anyone looks up Joseph and his family. Powerful families don’t always do things the right way. Do you understand?”

“I don’t know.” I was exhausted. Yes, I’d fallen asleep, waking to find him dozing in a chair near me. After that, my monsters had taken over big time in ugly nightmares as usual.

“Morally gray? Crossing that thin light of right and wrong?” He certainly didn’t seem embarrassed about it either.

“I get it. Obviously, I was more naïve than I believed but I’m honestly not stupid. I just wanted to believe in the best of people. Do you really think you and your family can help me?”

“I do. I won’t stop until your son returns home. However, you’re not staying in Connecticut.”

“Where am I going?”

“I think you just might like San Diego.”

“And leave my family?” I knew I had to. I wasn’t a fool.

He glanced out the window of the plane. “I’m not trying to hurt you any more than you’ve already been hurt, Evangeline, but there is a strong chance your father is a part of the group or at minimum owes them a large debt of some kind. I have a feeling part of his payment was to look the other way when your son was taken.”

Another something that wasn’t a big shock, although it hurt to hear it coming from someone else. “Yeah, I had a feeling.”

“You did?”

“Too many unanswered questions with my father. Late night meetings. He’s been very clandestine over the years. I even asked once why we were living in such a commune-like environment. He took me all around the house reminding me that we would never be able to afford anything close to what the house was worth in Weathered Heights.”

“Weathered Heights. Sounds amazing.”

“Yeah. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? On the outside, it’s pristine and well maintained. It’s the kind of community where you can drive down the street and everyone will stop and wave, huge smiles on their faces. Meanwhile, they really want you to get the hell out. I remember the board once voted to put gates on every entrance with guards, but the city had a fit. The roads are public, not private.”

“How did you manage the divorce? I know you said you weren’t certain before.”

I think I was staring at him wide-eyed because he looked perplexed. “The truth is I’m not one hundred percent certain. Maybe I had my blinders on to what was really going on. I’d had an argument with Joseph. He was being a bastard, even raising his arm to beat me. I dared him to do it, getting right in his face, which wasn’t necessarily like me. I told him I wanted a divorce and I had enough money to get my own attorney. And I did. I was clever in how I squirreled away a tidy little sum. I left the house with Damien and an already packed bag, went to my parents, and flat out told them. I didn’t even tell my besties I’d left. I just went to a motel, turned my phone off, and chilled for a couple days.”

He shook his head. “You were lucky. Did you see anyone watching you?”

“No. That doesn’t mean someone wasn’t hiding in the bushes somewhere, but if they were, I couldn’t see them and I looked. I was refreshed, had contacted an attorney, and even managed to squeeze in a first meeting. My guess is Joseph and his band of merry men found out I was dead serious. Suddenly, when I returned, everything was different. We sat down, worked out a plan, and I was granted my divorce. I didn’t ask why the change of heart. I didn’t care.”

“And Damien?”

“Of course I didn’t fight visitation rights. It was all very… strange in my opinion. I didn’t ask to move out of the community, I left.”

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