Page 105 of Original Sins (Dark Odyssey 6)

When I told Henry, all he did was nod and offer to give me his half. I declined it, insisting I pay. Of the two of us, I was the angriest. He at least took the time to consider why Evie did what she did.

What pissed me off the most was what I said to him. She knew us.

Whenever I’d been to her house even before Henry started coming with me, I felt her eyes on me—always watching from that window.

That means she would have been doing so long before her mother died.

Before I started going to Donny’s house by myself, my father used to take me. I was seventeen when he first starting taking me.

Fuck.

I don’t even want to think about how old Evie was then.

I’m twelve years older than her.

Twelve fucking years.

I take another swig of my drink and lift my head when I hear the front door open.

We have staff coming in and out all the time, but I already know who’s where in the house.

Our two maids are upstairs, the chef in the kitchen, John, isn’t here and won’t be back until tonight because he’s running an errand for me upstate and the guards don’t come inside unless there’s something wrong.

I stand, and Henry lifts his head, taking a break from whatever the fuck he’s doing.

“Who is that?” he mutters.

“No idea.”

Footsteps sound now, light and careful. Then I see Evie, and I have to wonder if I conjured her up from my mind.

Evie stands by the doorway dressed in a little summer dress. Her hands come together, shaking but what I’m paying attention to is her tear-stained face and red blotchy, puffy eyes.

In my periphery, I can see Henry staring back at her too.

She looks from him to me then keeps her gaze on me.

“I’m sorry,” she says, and as much as I want to be mad as fuck and continue my rage at what she did, I can’t do it.

This woman has me soft on her, and even now, with the shit of what could happen if our secret gets out, I still want her.

She’s said two words, and I want her. I want it to be last week when I would walk over to her and kiss her. I want it to be last week when I would take her up against that very door she’s standing by. I want it to be last week when my ignorance of the truth was bliss.

But, I know even as I stand here wanting her, I can’t have her.

“I’m so sorry for what I did,” she mutters.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. You should go home, Evie. You can’t be seen here.”

“I had to come and explain what happened, and I can’t accept the money.” Tears run down her cheeks, and I have to resist the urge to walk over to her and wipe them away.

Henry glances at me, then back at her.

“It’s right that we pay you,” he says. “Obviously, you needed the money for something big, so you should have it.”

I can tell from his tone that he’s as angry as I am. It was just when he was with me that he was trying to reason out what might have caused her to do what she did.

“If I take it, then all I am is a whore, and you’ll think that our time together wasn’t real when it was for me.”

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