Page 53 of Twisted Minds of Sin

“Coffee,” I am already on my way to the coffee maker to pour myself some.

“Just that?” She asks with deep concern in her voice, but coffee is all I can stomach.

“Just that,” I pour myself a cup of coffee, and since I don’t exactly feel like it, I don't add any sweetener.

“What can I do to make it better for you?” She begins to load food onto plates for the carts lined up to be taken to the people I don't want to see this morning or ever.

“You have done enough Evelyn, I will just take a stroll around and I'll be fine,” I walk to the other side of the kitchen island.

“A stroll sounds perfect,” she makes the sign with her finger.

“I will walk with this,” I swing my cup of coffee slightly in the air, like I'm telling her I will be back with that gesture.

“I'll keep some of these for you just in case you want them after your stroll.”

I nod, give her my goodbye smile, and then walk out of the manor. I don't want to hang around for Carlos to text. Plus, I have to get to the public entrance of the golf club to be picked up. It's our meeting point and the best place to be picked without being obvious.

I am about to send a message to Carlos that I'm on my way to the meeting spot when his text comes in.

Carlos: I'm here. Black Tesla.

I gulp down my coffee and hasten my steps, taking long strides as I walk to the entrance of the golf club. It's just adjacent to the manor. With every step, my heart hammers against the wall of my chest and I can hear my pulse thrumming in my ears. No onemust see me leave. Not Claudio, not Lawrence, and definitely not Benedetto.

But it is not the nervousness from being caught that has me teary. It's the sinking feeling of betrayal. And this time it's not that I'm betraying him, it's that he betrayed me. He promised me he would keep me safe. He said he was protecting me. But he lied. And good lord I wanted him to make good on those promises.

I dab my wet cheeks for the hundredth time the past day as I see Carlos’s Tesla in the distance. I toss my cup of coffee and scuttle to his car, scared to my bones that someone might show up out of the blue and stop me after I have come this close.

“Hey,” I help myself with the door and climb into the passenger seat, “Carlos,” I smile at him in the driver's seat like the savior that he is.

“Breathe, you are fine now,” Carlos smiles at me, then reverses into the street that leads out of the estate.

“Thank you for doing this,” I do as I'm told and breathe.

“You should have called me sooner,” he looks at me quickly, smiles again, then turns his attention to the road.

Carlos is a friend from my past. Okay, maybe not just a friend. He did ask me out at some point but that stopped when I was engaged to Romano. He might be a ten for some ladies, but heis not my type. It's not so much the fact that he wears white as a second skin, l now - white dress pants, and a white dress shirt - or that his raven hair and gray eyes and his multi-millionaire status don't intrigue me. We just never clicked.

But he is my savior now. The men that I have clicked with in the past have landed me in this deep shit I'm trying to escape from.

“You can rest,” Carlos turns on the radio and a musical interlude begins playing.

“I'll try to get some sleep,” I close my eyes, hating the song but enjoying the idea of being driven away from madmen.

A few hours later, after trying to sleep through the long hours of driving down to New York without success, Carlos leads me into the elevator of his apartment building.

To say I've missed New York is an understatement. Caged in the walls of Benedetto’s manor, I was beginning to lose my sanity to boredom. But here it is different. The familiar kind of different.

“Your apartment is beautiful,” I smile at the monochrome minimalist white interior as we walk in.

“Thank you,” he walks to the sofa, that has two sequin dresses and three pairs of strap heels on it, “These are for you to choose from,” he points at them.

“Thank you,” I swallow and walk to the dresses.

Not much of a choice if you ask me. It's either this or that, and both the this and the that he has presented are not exactly things I'd pick for myself.

“I'll show you to your room, and notify the stylist and glam team when you are ready.”

I nod, “Carlos, I'm really grateful for this,” I inhale, soaking in the scent of freedom.

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