Love in Bloom (De La Fuente Family 3)

Mateo stayed silent and followed him into his plush office. He’d only been here the time he’d had the contract laid out to him and from then he remembered the room being too bright and hurting his head. Of course, the hangover he’d suffered with at the time could have had something to do with that.

“So what brings you out here, now that the contract is void?”

Evans knew there was something going on with him, but Mateo didn’t think he’d figured out just what.

“Erin.” Mateo raised a brow and waited.

Evans sat back in his chair, looking relaxed, but the nervous twitch of his right eye gave him away.

“So she told you her name. What else did she tell you?”

“Enough to make me want answers.”

“There’s nothing else to tell. She applied for a job at the stadium and they sent her résumé to Donny. He’d asked them to keep a look out for a beauty. They found Erin. End of story.”

Mateo leaned against the window and waited, hoping Evans would carry on. He didn’t and instead, watched him closely.

“As you prefer to avoid the truth, I’ll ask. Why was she given a whole script on how to act around me and my family?”

“You’ll have to ask her about that. I don’t know anything about it.”

“You’re lying.”

“So you trust her now?” Evans stood and moved to perch on the front of his desk.

“Yes, I trust her…you, not so much. So, you either tell me why? Or I go to the boss at the club and tell him some underhanded stuff is going on over here. You’re the contracted PR team, do you seriously think he’d pass anything over to you if I plant the seed of doubt in his head.”

“I don’t take threats lightly.” Evans stood and moved toward Mateo. His face only inches from Mateo’s.

“Neither do I,” Mateo pushed back. “I also don’t like the fact that you set me up with a sweet girl because of some reason of your own.”

“Whatever, it’s over with now.” Evans walked around his desk and opening his top drawer, withdrew a framed photograph. Passing it to Mateo, he said, “My wife…soon to be ex.”

Mateo took the picture and although she looked familiar, he had no idea who she was.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what that has to do with me or Erin.” He passed the frame back.

“I figured as much.” Evans dropped into his chair again and seemed less composed as before.

“She was one of the women you messed around with before the club sent you to me.”

Well fuck!

Mateo dropped into the chair opposite the desk. “Are you being honest with me? Or is this something to put me off base again?”

“You’d think I’d make that shit up?”

Probably not.

He sighed and shoved his hands through his hair.

“As far as I’m aware, or rather, was aware, I’d never been with a married woman. They’re a total no-no.”

“At the time she told me it was only with you that she’d betrayed our marriage with, turns out you were one of many but I didn’t know that when I hired Erin. All I knew was that you had made part of my life hell and I wanted someone to do that to you. That was why I asked Erin to be a bitch. I told her she’d only get paid if she played along and kept her mouth shut. I knew she needed the money, so I played on that.”

Mateo debated about what to say because he’d never been in a situation like this before. In the end, he went for an apology. “I’m sorry. You obviously don’t think a great deal of me after that. The truth is that I would have never touched her if I’d known that she was married. I might have screwed around back then, but I went out of my way to figure out the single from married, even when I was a drunken ass.”

Evans nodded. “I believe you.”