“Agreed.” I take his plate and fill it up for him.
“It’s her, isn’t it?” Sin adopts his usual glower as Stella disentangles from his lap and starts cutting up food for the twins. “She’s gotten into your head.”
“She’s gotten to his head all right.” Stella gives a very pointed glance at the table, right above my crotch.
“Yes, I want to get to know her better.” I shrug. “That’s smart. Keep your enemies closer and all that.”
“Mmmhmm.” Sin isn’t convinced. He never is. “Do you have any more information on her? What happened at lunch?”
I opt to leave out the parts about me almost impaling her with my cock and, instead, tell him that she’s dead serious about taking Magnolia. “Also, she lied about—” I glance at Teddy who has mashed potatoes smeared on the side of his mouth. “Them.”
“She’s with them?” Sin’s grip on his silverware tightens almost imperceptibly.
“No.” If I had said yes, Evie wouldn’t have lasted the week. We don’t take chances with anyone who supports the Acquisition.
“Then why did she lie?” Stella wipes Teddy’s mouth and kisses the top of his head. “Use your napkin.”
“I don’t know, but I have a gut feeling she’s not interested in whatever they’re offering her. I’ll need to do some more digging. With the business, though, she’s obviously trying to play games with me.”
“Shooting you was a game?” Stella wrinkles her nose.
“Someone shot you?” Teddy’s eyes widen.
“Just a Nerf gun. Don’t worry.”
“He’s lying to protect you.” Stella shakes her head. “I can’t do that. You need to know the threats. It was a real gun, Teddy.” She holds his gaze. “Remember those people who tried to take you?”
He swallows hard and nods.
“Never let your guard down. Lucius is a lesson in that. He took a bullet because we have enemies, ones that want to hurt us more than they want anything else in this world. That’s why we always protect ourselves and our family. Understand?”
“Yes ma’am. I’m ready.” He straightens, his little chest puffing out.
“We’ll see about that tomorrow.” She relaxes a little. Stella is so different from the person she was when she first set foot into the Vinemont world. In fact, the iron in her spine reminds me a little bit of … my mother. I can only hope the similarities end there.
I want to tell her to go easy, that he’s only six, that we defeated the devils who tried to kill us all. But I can’t. She’s right. The sooner Teddy realizes it, the better for him. Even so, we don’t talk about the Acquisition in front of him. No more than mentions of “them” and knowing looks. He’s still a child, and those boogeymen can stay hidden in the dark a little longer.
“Why did someone shoot you?” he asks.
I take a bite of my chicken and chew slowly, then say, “Probably because she was scared.”
“Scared of you?” He swigs his milk. “Good.”
“Not good.” Sin chimes in. “We never want people to know we’re a threat until it’s too late for them. But that’s a lesson for another day.” He flicks his gaze to me. “Now, about Magnolia. What’s your plan to handle the shareholders?”
I take a swallow of wine. “The usual.” The usual in Vinemont terms includes a bevy of tactics including, first and foremost, intimidation. Our reputations should be enough to keep the shareholders in line. If that’s not the case, I’ll give each of them personal demonstrations of what happens when someone crosses us.
Sin nods. “I’ll keep an eye on the proxy requests. If she starts racking them up, we’ll have to go harder against her.”
“Evie sounds tricky. If she’s anything like her brother … Don’t underestimate her.” Stella gives Renee a scoop of apple sauce.
“She’s not like Red. But she’s definitely changed, hardened I guess.”
“Sounds to me like she chose to survive,” Stella says. “I can’t fault her for that. But if she tries to hurt my family, I won’t show her any mercy.”
Sin reaches out and caresses Stella’s face. “I knew there was a reason I married you.”
“You married up.” She nips at his fingers.
Teddy and I share an exasperated glance.
My phone buzzes, and I pull it out of my pocket for a quick look. What I see must telegraph to my face, because Sin asks warily, “What?”
I wipe my mouth and stand. “Thanks for the dinner. I’ve got to head out.”
“Why?” Stella’s eyebrows rise, suspicion in her eyes.
I turn the phone around to show her the screen of my surveillance app.
“There’s a ghost in my woods.” My blood seems to roar louder in my veins at the thought of seeing Evie again. “I think I’ll go home and let her spook me.”
14
Evie
I shouldn’t have come back here. Not when I have plenty of work to do with taking over Magnolia. Not to mention that goddamn black envelope. The invitation is for this Saturday—two days away. But I can’t seem to focus. Not on work, not on anything. Only … him. The way he touched me, the things he said. I can’t get them out of my mind.