Page 29 of Love Without Control

I pressed the heel of my hand against my forehead. “It’s so cruel to leave them wondering though.”

“Then let’s turn it around. If Luca got even an inkling that you were still alive, he’d do everything in his power to find you, including using your family. How would you feel if you turned on the news one day and saw a story about your mother opening a package and finding one of your brothers’ heads in it? How would you feel if you knew you could have prevented that by going underground?”

Gasping, I covered my face with both hands, the unimaginable vision of Monty or Auburn… No. It was too fucking much, and tears leaked from beneath my hands to drip from my jaw.

“Don’t say shit like that,” I wheezed as my chest contracted in on itself. “You’re scaring me.”

A hand brushed down my arm so softly I could have imagined it. “I’m sorry, Evie, but you need to be scared. You need to take this seriously because that’s exactly my father’s M.O.”

I tilted my head against the slightly open window, letting the breeze dry my tears into a fine crust on my face. “I hate you for this, Damiano. I’ll always hate you for this.”

The interior of the vehicle was silent for a long while before I heard, “If that’s what you need to do, Evie, then fine. At least you’ll be alive to remind me how much you hate me every day.”

Chapter 10

Thenextfourhoursof the drive were made in relative silence, other than the radio. The only words I spoke were along the lines ofwhat do you want for lunchanddo you need to go to the bathroom. And Evie answered with as few syllables as possible each time.

My nerves were at a sky-high level when we stopped for a bathroom break somewhere in Mississippi. I was so afraid she was going to go rogue inside the store and scream at the top of her lungs that she was Evie Bouvier and she’d been kidnapped.

But she didn’t. She dutifully tucked her hair beneath the ball cap and put on the sunglasses I’d grabbed from a convenience store when I’d stopped to gas up.

Rolling my shoulders to try and get rid of the kinks, I looked over at Evie. She was napping, but at my gaze, she popped her eyes open and blinked sleepily a few times before stretching her arms over her head and yawning.

“Where are we?”

It was the first time she’d initiated any conversation since she told me she hated me. I wasn’t usually a man who gave a ripping fuck what anyone thought of me, but I’d be lying if I said hearing those words from Evie didn’t bother me just a little bit.

“We’re in Florida.”

She rubbed at her eyes with her fingertips. “I didn’t even think to ask where we were going. I was a little overwhelmed with everything else.”

“Understandable,” I said, tilting my head back and forth. “We’re headed to Rodrigo’s cousin’s place north of Jacksonville.”

“Where is Rodrigo?”

My heart thumped mightily a few times, and I inhaled a long breath to quell it. “I’m not sure. I gave him my regular phone to take up in the chopper with him and forgot to put his number in my spare phone.”Stupid. I’ve been worried about the old guy for hours.

Evie held up a hand, her voice rising an octave. “Wait. He went up in the helicopter? The one with…”

“He had a parachute, Evie. I’m sure he’s fine. We’ll find out once we get to his cousin Rocco’s house.”

She relaxed back into her seat a bit. “Okay. How long is all this going to last? The running thing?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied, and she eyed me skeptically. “I’m trying to be as honest as I can, Evie. I just don’t know. Rocco disappeared a long time ago to escape from my father. I didn’t even know he was alive until Rodrigo told me earlier today. Rod thinks his cousin can help us disappear since he did it so effectively.”

Her eyes closed and her face squished into a grimace of resignation. “All right. This is all way out of my league, so I’m trusting you on this. You haven’t hurt me yet.” She blinked over at me, a rare vulnerability slipping into her voice. “Are you going to?”

“No, Evie. I will never hurt you, though I can’t promise not to piss you off from time to time.”

The sigh she emitted seemed to be never ending. “Okay, I guess that’s the best I can ask for at this point.” She straightened in her seat and stared out the front windshield. “But I still hate you.”

“Fair enough,” I told her, trying not to smile.Stubborn little wildcat.

Pulling the SUV onto the driveway, I was surprised at the lack of security measures. There was no gate, no guard, nothing. Just a long, winding seashell drive that led to the pretty little home that was partly visible from the road.

“This looks nice,” Evie said, leaning forward to peer at the white wood house with black shutters and colorful flower boxes.Nicewas a perfect description for it, large enough to be comfortable but small enough to be cozy.

I didn’t recognize the man who stepped onto the porch and lifted one thick hand in greeting. He was wearing camouflage cargo pants and a black tank top. “Stay in here and let me check it out. We may be at the wrong address,” I told Evie as I pushed open the door.

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