Page 20 of Love Without Control

Rising from the bed without jostling Evie, I stared down at her for a long moment. Hopefully Luca would never find her again because, if he did, there would be hell to pay for daring to escape him. Maybe I could talk her into taking the money and relocating somewhere outside the city with her family.

I made sure to leave her door cracked a little when I left and went to my room. Stripping off my suit, I took a shower and climbed into bed for what I hoped would be a good night’s sleep.

Because come tomorrow, I was going to need my wits about me.

“Can I call my family now?” Evie asked from the backseat as we drove back to the airstrip in New Orleans. She’d insisted on sitting back there so Rodrigo could sit in the front. I had the impression it was because he was older, which gave me a chuckle. Rod may not be a spring chicken anymore, but he was about the toughest old bird I’d ever met.

“We can’t do that right now, but you’ll be with them soon.” My eyes caught the droop of her lips in the rearview mirror, and I hated that. So I opened my mouth and told a big, fat lie. “They’ll be waiting for you when we land.”

That was one hundred percentnotgoing to happen. I was still working out the logistics in my mind, but I needed to stall her for at least an hour after we landed in New York to give myself time to get away. And I needed to fabricate some kind of story that wouldn’t implicate Rodrigo. Fuck.

Evie mentioned her dad and brothers, so I was positive they’d show up with law enforcement if they knew she was being brought back to New York, and that wouldn’t bode well for me. I could probably talk my way out of prison since I’d rescued her from the traffickers, but jail time was not my biggest concern. Luca Cappitani was the more dangerous threat.

Nope. I needed to be long gone before her family was called and dragged the cops into it.

To quell any more questions from Evie, I turned on the radio and tuned in to a classic rock station. Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” bled from the speakers, and the irony of that particular song wasn’t lost on me.How apropos.

Evie’s head appeared between the front seats. “Did you know Frank Sinatra was Jon Bon Jovi’s great-uncle?” she asked.

Rod and I glanced at each other before shaking our heads. “I never heard that,” he said.

“Yep, on his father’s side. If you look at their eyes and the shape of their faces, you can see the resemblance. Jon used to keep a picture of Frank backstage at all his shows.”

“How’d you know that?” I asked, and she shrugged as she sat back.

“I know lots of things. My brother Monty calls me a font of useless drivel.” She smiled fondly, and I liked seeing it on her face. “I can’t wait to see him. I’m closest to him because we share a birthday.”

“Twins?” Rod asked.

“No, I’m a year older than him, but he’s a lot taller so he thinks he’s the boss of me.”

“How old are you, Evie?”

“I’m turning nineteen this month, so Monty will be eighteen.” Her voice turned wistful. “I’m so happy we’ll be able to spend the day together.”

“You’ll see him soon,” I promised.

“I miss my other brother and my dad too. Heck, I’ll even be glad to see my mother.” I sensed the tension in that last sentence but didn’t have time to ask any questions because we were pulling up to the hangar.

Putting the sedan in park, I swiveled around to face her. “Look, Evie. I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything,” she agreed with an up and down bob of her head. She looked so much better today. Still bruised and with a cut lip, but there was a brightness in her eyes that was missing yesterday.

“There’s a guy here, and I need you to pretend to be my prisoner when we’re around him.”

“Why?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion before rising. “Ohhh, he’s not part of the operation or whatever you call it?”

I ignored Rodrigo’s smirk of amusement at Evie still thinking we were Feds. “Right. He’s definitely not part of the operation,” I answered. “We’re going to have to stop a couple times to refuel the helicopter, but we’ll have you home really soon. Just play your part until we’re in the air.”

“So don’t try to kick or scratch you?” she asked, one side of her lips tipping up, and I chuckled.

“Exactly. Try and control your wildcat instincts.”

“Okay, anything else?”

“Just… don’t talk to anyone but me, okay? And only if I speak directly to you.” Her lips pinched together in disapproval, but I couldn’t worry about that right now. We needed to get past Guido without arousing suspicion.And speak of the devil…

Guido strolled out of the cream-colored metal hangar sporting about five more gold chains than he needed to wear. “That’s the guy I need you to avoid talking to,” I whispered fervently, my eyes flitting between Evie in the rearview mirror and the idiot in the purple track suit.

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