Page 16 of Waiting For A Girl Like You
“Random vows? On a beach?” Evie sneered at Toby. “How lovely.”
Evie hated the beach. She would occasionally go watch Samuel surf or if their girls wanted to play in the sand, but spending time on a beach was probably her sister’s least favorite thing in the world, and Toby knew this.
“I guess there’s no time like the present to speak my truth, considering where they’re sending me.” Toby turned pensive, chewing on his bottom lip. “But it was nice. Our wedding. It was the first time I knew someone could love me for me. It made me think maybe you could love me like that, too.”
“Nothing during his college years in Grenada.” The screen to Rowan’s left paused in its scrolling, highlighting a name. “Here we go. Brandy T. Carroll. Antilles Private School in St. Thomas. A couple of years behind Toby, but they would have overlapped.” He ignored the laptop showing Toby and the group behind the screen gathered to watch Rowan engage in a search for the woman. “Daughter of Bryan Carroll. No mention of a mother in her transcripts.”
Jamison crouched next to Rowan, her face wedged between his and Will’s as they read. “Do we know anything about Bryan Carroll?”
“Yeah,” her father said. “He’s the man Charlie lost the villa to. Drug supplier to a few of the islands down there. When I found out who took the property, I decided Carroll was a big enough pain that even I didn’t want to fuck with the guy to try and get it back.”
“And that’s saying something,” Will mumbled, shifting in his chair to address Klausen and the other agent. “Bryan Carroll. St. Thomas. Drug runner. You know him?”
“Oh yeah. I know him,” the other agent said. “He’s still active. Operating out of St. Lucia these days, far as I know.”
“Shit. This keeps getting better and better.” Will turned back around. “Give me everything you can find on her, Rowan.”
While Rowan continued to search, Evie continued working on Toby. She had spent the last two days rehearsing with Liam, learning how to act. Body position. Voice control. Emotional restraint. Liam had played devil’s advocate to every worst-case scenario Toby might throw at her. He trained Evie to hold the line and to know when to let it drop.
It had been brutal to watch, but Jamison was sure it had been even harder for her brother. Samuel prowled around through the whole thing. He tried to focus on caring for the girls, but Josie took over that department, knowing it was for the best if he were involved.
“So let me get this straight.” Evie looked pissed, pretending as if Toby had betrayed her. Off to the side, Liam grinned while Samuel scowled. “You married some woman on abeach, then came here and expected me to do what exactly? Play second best to yourwife?”
“Equal,” Toby replied, like he still had it all planned out. “You two will be equal in all things.”
“And I’m sure she loves that idea.”
Toby’s face darkened. “She doesn’t have a choice.”
“She should have a choice,” Evie snapped. “Marriage is a partnership.”
“Oh, is that what you have? A partnership with Sammy?” Toby snorted and shook his head. “He has you so brainwashed. No offense, but it’s pathetic. I guarantee he doesn’t think of you as his equal.”
“Because you know so much about us.”
Toby remained unnaturally still for a moment, and Jamison checked the heat scan. The indicator showed his body temperature starting to rise, creeping higher and higher as he slid closer to the camera.
“I know everything about you.” Toby blinked one eyelid at a time as he spoke. “I know how you like your coffee and the brand of wine you prefer. I know the type of books you read. I know how you sing along to every song on the radio and play music at a horrifically high volume.”
Distracted by the shift in Toby’s tone, everyone stopped what they were doing, returning their attention to the interview. Jamison moved around the table, already seeing the panic swelling behind Evie’s eyes.
“I know how you sleep with the curtains open at night and how beautiful the moonlight looks on your skin,” Toby went on, his lips twitching when he realized he was striking a nerve. “I remember standing behind that closet door, watching Sammy fuck you and memorizing every sweet sound you made. I know how the world laughs at you both. They call your marriage something straight out of a soap opera. Strangers worry over the welfare of your kids. What will happen when they enter school, Evie? Do you really think the other children will just let it go? You know they won’t. They’ll have the whispers of their parents in their little ears, and they’ll repeat those vile things to Harper and Theodora.”
Evie flinched. Her breathing had picked up, and the color in her cheeks was going from bad to worse.
And it was feeding Toby. The monster, who hadn’t had a meal in years, was gobbling up the pain as if he were starving.
“When they’re old enough, do you think your girls will abandon you?” Toby asked. “Will they leave their sicko parents behind, too embarrassed to have anything to do with you or Sammy? Trust me. No one wants to be known as a freak, and no one wants to know that their parents are basically step-siblings.”
Evie rose from the chair, eyes wide and unfocused. “I think I’m done here,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, Cohen. I can’t.”
“Not yet.” Realizing he had pushed her too far, Toby stood and knocked his chair over. Desperate and afraid, he screamed. “I might not ever see you again!”
Liam struggled to hold Samuel back, not wanting any engagement between the men, otherwise it might make the situation worse. Jamison was in motion immediately, ready to pull her sister away, but Evie appeared frozen, either by her panic or from seeing Toby decline into an animal-like state as he thrashed on screen. Railing against his chains, he roared in denial, begging her not to go.
Before Jamison could make it over, she watched as her father swooped in to guide Evie out of frame. “We’re done,” he shouted, loud enough for the guards in the room to hear. It was their signal to end the interview. “Turn it off.”
All hell broke loose in the interview room. The guards went in simultaneously. It was a coordinated takedown, each handling a different part of Toby’s body as he fought them.
