Mastered (The Enforcers 1)

Hurt splintered through Evangeline’s heart, and her sudden intake of breath had to have been heard over the phone, judging by the ensuing silence. But what bothered Evangeline even more was that Steph had scored a direct hit and nipped at an already blooming insecurity over just how long this thing with Drake would last.

“That was uncalled for, Steph,” Lana said angrily. “You’re acting like a jealous bitch and it’s not very attractive on you. Leave Vangie alone. As long as we’ve known her she’s never done a single thing for herself. Maybe it’s high time she did, and lived a little.”

“I need to go,” Evangeline said quietly. “I have to be dressed and ready to go in ten minutes.”

“Wait, Vangie, before you go,” Nikki said in a rushed tone. “The landlord came by this morning to give us a receipt and a rent-controlled contract. The rent has been paid in advance for two years, with a contract guaranteeing no increase in rent for the next ten. How insane is that?”

“Drake didn’t want my leaving to cause you financial problems,” Evangeline said quietly. “Lucky for y’all, after he shakes me off, you’ll still have a rent-free place to live and a guarantee of no increase for a long time.”

Then she quickly ended the call, still bothered by Steph’s comment.

Evangeline was so out of her element that she wanted to crawl into the nearest hole and die. She was hopelessly gauche and while Justice, her babysitter du jour, seemed rough around the edges, he certainly knew his way around upscale shops, either choosing or discarding appropriate items with ease.

After the first time Evangeline had reached out to touch a shimmering dress right out of Cinderella’s ball and felt the sumptuous material between her fingertips, she’d been in love. Until she looked at the price tag and yanked her hand away as if it had burned her. Oh good God. Was everything in this place so exorbitantly expensive? One dress cost more than she made in a year!

She turned away, her bottom lip between her teeth in consternation. She didn’t belong here. This wasn’t her world. She didn’t fit and she was fooling herself if for a minute she thought she could become a part of it, if only for a little while.

Justice, however, saw her reaction to the dress and made eye contact with the saleslady, who was only too happy to wrap it and add it to the growing pile of purchases Justice was arranging for Evangeline.

At first he’d wondered just what in the hell he’d done to piss Drake off that he had drawn women’s shopping duty with a woman who didn’t seem to want or need anything. Hell, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t been wrangled into shopping with and for one of Drake’s women in the past, but all he’d had to do was stand back and watch the woman march through the store pointing indiscriminately, leaving Justice to pay the bill, and it was all over in a matter of minutes.

But Evangeline? She seemed absolutely mortified and horrified, especially after she’d looked at the price tag of the dress she’d looked at so longingly, caressing the silk material. For God’s sake, it wasn’t even one of the more expensive dresses in the shop, which was why he was glad Drake had called ahead with a detailed list of what he wanted the salesperson to have already out and ready for purchase. Evangeline would likely have a stroke if she caught sight of the prices of those dresses.

He sighed because this had the look of being one long-ass day, and shopping for women’s clothing was like a trip to hell. The things he did for the man he called partner and brother. But he couldn’t quite summon irritation at Evangeline because there was something different about her. Never before had Drake taken a woman like this, nor had he acted so forbiddingly possessive from the very first moment he’d laid eyes on her.

And in a way, Justice could see why. There was something about Evangeline, and it took him a while to put his finger on it, but when it hit he realized it immediately. This was no calculating, mercenary woman out to fleece Drake for all she could get in the short time he’d keep her around.

Evangeline was innocent, naïve, sweet to her bones and as genuine as they came. She had a gentle disposition and from all he’d heard from Thane, she was loyal and ferocious in her defense of others, even those she didn’t know. She’d dressed her friend down over her disdain of Maddox and Thane, which upped his respect for her tenfold. Women like her did not defend men like him. Especially to their best friends.

But according to Thane, she’d acted like a lioness protecting her cubs and had been furious at the judgment levied against Maddox and Thane by her friend, and she’d taken her down several notches and let her know in no uncertain terms what she thought of her opinion.