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“Don’t you–” he said, but he seemed to forget what he was saying as she pressed the line of her body against his and stared up at him through her eyelashes, tilting her head in a way that she knew accentuated her face.

“You’re a real hero, you know that?” she murmured, draping her arms around his neck. “You did all that for me?”

“Well,” he stammered, his face turning a touch red. “It’s my job. And you know I worry about you, Evie. You haven’t been exactly– I mean, you’ve– I mean–” His voice lowered a touch. “What are you doing, taking up with characters like Walter Stanley?”

Evie paused and licked her lips in a way that she hoped was seductive while she thought of how the hell to answer that question in a way that would satisfy him.

She sighed and tried to look sad, blinking her eyes a few times to try to call up some tears.

“I don’t know what I was thinking, Roberts,” she said, softly. “I’ve been feeling so badly since the war.” Which wasn’t a lie. “Sometimes I just do crazy things. Things I don’t understand, myself.”

“I– I suppose I can understand that,” he said. His hands were on her waist now, settling cautiously as he looked down into her face. “But your father, Evelyn, he’s been beside himself. You couldn’t even tell him where you went? Your husband–”

“Oh, don’t talk about him,” she said with a pout.

“Why?” he said, narrowing his eyes at her, an eagerness entering into his expression. “Has he done something to you? Is that what this is about? Is that why you–”

“Marrying Linus was a mistake,” she said, softly. Also not a lie. It wasn’t that hard to get real tears to come to her eyes. “And that’s all I’ll say about that.”

“Oh, Evelyn,” Roberts breathed. “I’ve– You don’t know how long I’ve–”

“I do know,” she said, feeling her stomach squirm a touch at how easy it was to get him to eat out of the palm of her hand. Guilt was settling heavily on her shoulder. But, she reminded herself, this man was in league with Walter Stanley. It slowly dawned on her that no one had ever been brought to justice for Tommy’s murder. And the reason for that was likely standing right in front of her.

She caressed his face, grimacing at the texture of his skin. It felt strangely rubbery and coarse with his beard starting to come back in, ready to be shaved again the next morning. He caught her hand and turned his head so he could kiss her palm.

She forced herself to breathe. If she had to fuck him, she would. But she had to proceed carefully. Had to draw him in carefully. Had to make him feel like he would be doing her a favor because she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

“I’ve known you for so long,” she breathed against his cheek. The smell of his aftershave was foreign and sent her nerves scrambling in a way that was not pleasurable. “And you’ve always waited for me, so patiently.”

He smothered a groan. “Has it always been so obvious?”

The urge to laugh was so real that she had to bite her lip in a way she hoped was provocative to keep from laughing at him. Was he serious?

“That’s nothing to be ashamed of,” she said. Their faces were so close that their noses werealmost touching.

“Well,” a cold, familiar voice drawled behind them, turning her blood to ice. “Isn’t this sweet?”

Chapter thirty-eight

Roberts

Shock washed over Roberts like an icy wave, followed by anger.

Walter Stanley, Walter Stanley, always Walter Fucking Stanley.

Slowly, he turned to see Walter Stanley standing still as a statue at the door of his office, watching both of them with a look that sent a chill down his spine. Roberts had seen that look a number of times and it had never ended well for the person on the receiving end of it.

Stanley was holding a lit cigarette between his thumb and his forefinger, which he slowly brought to his lips. He took a leisurely drag and blew the smoke out of the corner of his mouth, never taking his eyes from them.

“Stanley,” he said, stoically, straightening his navy jacket.

“Roberts,” Stanley said, though he wasn’t looking at him. He was looking at Evie with something bordering on hatred. Instinctively, Roberts stepped sothat he was ahead of her. “You’ve found my lost kitten. How kind of you to keep her… warm for me.”

“Walter,” Evie said, starting forward, but Roberts blocked her with his arm.

“I’ll handle this,” he told her, straightening up.

“Will you,” Stanley said. It wasn’t a question. If Roberts didn’t know any better, he would have sworn he saw a flicker of amusement in Stanley’s eye.

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