Chapter 16



𝔸 𝕕𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

Eve's POV (ℙ𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕕𝕒𝕪)

I sank into the sofa next to Rita, my lips trembling as pain sliced through my abdomen. Everyone was silent. Too rattled up to say a word. Lucas joined Damien on the sofa opposite us and rested his head on his palms.

I felt so tired, so angry, and so out of control. The last part was what bothered me. The last time I felt like this, my mum had been lying in my arms, fighting for her life. I shoved the thought away and stood up.

"Rita?' She looked up from her laptop. "Please tell me something positive."

Rita set her eyes back on the screen. "Senator Matthew has been informed of your desire to see him. He will be here first thing in the morning." I nodded. "I also just sent a message to Doctor Jay, warning him about Detective Rowan."

I sighed and began pacing, but staggered to the side as pain sliced through my ribs, reminding me of how badly I was hurt. I grabbed my ribs and winced, not able to hide the pain.

Lucas got up and came to me. I gave him a menacing look but it didn't deter him. "Eve," He muttered as he approached, a determined look on his face. "Let me take care of that" He urged, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. As he did, my body froze. My skin burning everywhere he touched.

I wanted to protest, reject even, but the pains in my sides were totally agreeing with him. I needed care. Medical care. He guided me towards the sofa and helped me sit. "I'll go get some bandages and painkillers." He said and took off towards the stairs. Halfway through he stopped and turned. "Where exactly is the medical cabinet again?"

I rolled my eyes. "Behind the shower stall."

"Yep." He said and ran off. I slouched back into the couch and sighed, my head in serious turmoil. I haven't had a good night sleep in two days and my body system wasn't in support of that decision.

"Thank you." I heard Damien groan across me. I lifted my eyes to him, my face melting into a smile.

"You don't have to thank me. I'm just doing my job."

"It's more than that and you know it."

"It really isn't. Although we haven't talked about my payment." I pointed out, a grin playing on my lips. Yep, he had grown on me. It was almost like we had a bond, an unexplainable connection.

"About that-" He started but was stopped when Rita cleared her throat.

"Ehm, guys?"

We both turned to her. "What?" I moaned, knowing that tone of voice only brought mayhem.

"We have an incoming live broadcast."

I frowned. "From who?" She stretched her arms and picked up the flat screen remote control.

"I'd rather you saw." She said and switched on the TV. After a minute of furious typing, a broadcast came on a screen.

"Hello, Eve." I heard the sneer before I saw the figure. My eyes narrowed. A woman with blond hair, caramel skin and piercing brown eyes stared right at me and I couldn't help my cringe. She looked more irksome in person than I thought. Her pictures were practically a mercy.

"Laura," I snarled, disgust plastered on my face. Was this the thing that's been making my life hell for the past two days? This was an insult to me. An insult to the legacy I've built.

"Seems you've done your homework. Your reputation precedes you." She sounded impressed. Pleased even. Which only got on my nerves the more.

"What the fuck are you doing up on my screen, Laura? Did you want candy before your funeral?"

Laura threw her head back in a hearty laugh, completely unfazed.

I sent a glare to Rita and she mouthed, "I'm tracing the call."

"Don't even bother." A settled Laura spurted, eyes trained on me. "This call is untraceable." I turned to Rita and she smirked, eyes trained on her laptop. My baby was up to something. I needed to keep Laura talking.

I turned back to the TV. "Why are you after me, Laura? I thought your aim was Lucas? You know, for trying to kill you."

Laura's eyes darted to Damien for a split second, a dangerous glint dancing behind them. It was so quick, I almost didn't see it.

"I thought you were smarter than this Eve. Thought you might have figured it out by now."

"Quit beating around the bush Laura. If I'm going to kill you, the least you could do is let me know why you started this war in the first place."

"You keep saying, you'll kill me when death is already at your door. This brings me to why I am here. We both know I'm two steps ahead, and the only way you are getting out of this is dead. Except..." She trailed off. A wide grin on her face. I caught her eyes glancing behind me and I turned. Only to see a frozen Lucas staring at the screen from the edge of the stairs.

"Except what?" Lucas raped, voice dangerously low.

A gleeful Laura clapped her hands, beaming from ear to ear. "The star of the show finally joins us! I was beginning to wonder where they were hiding you. You have always being a coward who lets his women take the fall for his shit."

I took a glance at Lucas and noticed how tensed he looked. His hands were balled into fits and his jaw clenched and unclenched tightly. I knew he wanted to say something. He looked like he wanted to scream. But for some reason, he stood completely silent, completely still. Almost too still.

I turned back to Laura and saw a thrilling look on her face. She was thoroughly enjoying this. I spared a glance and Rita and she gave me a nod. The only person who seemed composed was Damien. From the corner of my eyes, I could see how his gaze kept darting from Laura to Lucas, but that wasn't what piqued me. It was how he looked at Laura that gave me a pause. Like he could see through her or something.

I was confused. For all I knew, Damien was one of the people that had the right to be furious right now. The lady almost got him killed. Twice. So the fact that he was looking out of place and uncomfortable didn't bode well with me.

"Like how you made Damien take the fall for your vengeance right?" I fired sweetly, a direct answer to her taunt on Lucas. "I wonder where Lucas learnt his spinelessness from? Probably from the master herself."

Laura froze, her face transitioning into a dark growl. "You have no fucking idea what you are talking about Eve. You've been so clueless in the skim of things that I wonder if-"

"Could you be any more infuriating?" We heard Damien bark, finally speaking up. "You endangered our lives, hunted us, almost killed me, and now you have the effrontery to barge in here and spurt trash?" I've never heard Damien sound so angry before, and it took me aback. But why was I even surprised? Wasn't this what I wanted?

Turning to Rita he groaned, "Turn off this broadcast, it seems she has nothing else to say-"

"I'll stop." Laura cuts in. We all turned to stare at her. "I'll stop coming after you on one condition."

I had a feeling I wasn't going to like this.

"And what would that be?" I asked with a sneer, totally ready to tell her off.

She smirked. "Hand over Lucas."

"What?' Damien blurted. I was still. Very, very still.

"Hand him over and I'll leave your lives for good." Setting her gaze on me she continued, "And I'll tell you the truth about your mother."

My heart jumped at the mention of my mum. "My mother is dead," I said, voice breaking as emotions threatened to overwhelm me.

Laura shook her head. "No, your real mother. You have until the end of tomorrow to decide."

Before I could ask her what the hell she was talking about, the call went dead. I stared at the screen for what felt like a million years. The ultimatum staring me in the face like a bitter pill.

I glanced at Lucas and caught him watching closely. It was as if he knew. As if he knew my mind was already made.

Curiosity had won this round.