“She came by the house after returning from Chicago.”
“Probably wanting to check on you,” Daniel mused.
Evan hoped he could get by with a nod. Because the truth was a million times more complicated. “She met the three of them. Liked them.” Steering them away from Paige before they caught wind of anything, he quickly boiled the story down to the main points. Why Theresa left, how she got to Modesto, the TV show they’d seen him on, Tony and Kelsey wanting him to keep an eye on Theresa’s abusive boyfriend. “She claims she’s not going back to him.”
“You want us to drive over to Modesto and take care of the guy, just in case she’s tempted to go back?” Daniel rolled up his sleeves as if he was ready to go right now.
“We’ll make sure he never comes back.” Sebastian cracked his knuckles.
“Business can wait,” Matt said, obviously in agreement with the others.
The Mavericks were always ready to jump in with their fists when it was required to protect one of the others. But this was Evan’s problem. His brother and sister had come to him for help. And while he’d been the one who needed defending when he was a kid, now he was a defender of the weak.
And he realized he wanted to take on the guy. Not just for Theresa and for Kelsey and Tony. But for himself.
It was long past time to face down a few of his own demons—with men who bullied his mother sitting right at the top of the list.
“I’ve got it covered. I’ll be taking a trip over there this afternoon.” The Collins Group could go one more day without him.
He actually felt his blood heating, his ire rising, his muscles bunching for the fight. He’d never been a warrior like Will, but he suddenly itched for a shot at Greg.
It wasn’t a shot at his father—but it was as close as he was going to get, so he’d take it.
Daniel looked at him pointedly. “Have you told Mom?”
Evan’s stomach dropped. He hadn’t called Susan, despite having all of yesterday to think about it. Any way he looked at it, allowing Theresa back into his life felt disloyal to everything Susan was to him. Yes, he knew that his foster mother would tell him that was absolute bull, but his insides were all tied up in knots right now.
Knots that were also tangled up with Paige. He’d touched her, kissed her, and now he couldn’t get beyond the guilt of how badly he wanted to strip off the rest of her clothes, drag her beneath him, and take every ounce of pleasure she was willing to give.
What if he called Susan and she somehow figured out his emotions with her X-ray mom vision? What would he possibly say then?
But no matter how twisted up he felt inside, he owed her that call. “I’ll take care of this guy in Modesto, then I’m on it.”
* * *
After lunch, when Evan’s meeting with the Mavericks ended, he picked up the car he kept at his headquarters, ready to head for Modesto. By the time he was passing over Highway 680 in Pleasanton, he had a ferocious need to hear Paige’s voice. It would be wiser to keep his distance—given that every time he got close to her, his need for her only amplified—but the thought of never talking with Paige again, never laughing with her, never seeing her beautiful toffee-colored eyes, made his chest and his gut twist up tight.But she beat him to the call. Just seeing her name on the screen in his car made his heart beat harder. Faster.
“Evan,” she said once he picked up the call. “Thank you so much for the flowers. They’re beautiful, and they smell so good.”
The flowers weren’t nearly enough to thank her for all she’d done on Sunday—for the support and comfort she always gave him—but he was glad she was enjoying them. His hands relaxed on the wheel, and he suddenly realized he hadn’t been able to loosen up until the moment he heard her voice. “I’m the one who needs to say thank you to you again.”
“Nonsense. It’s what family does—be there for each other.”
Hearing her talk of being family churned him up all over again. Because kissing her, needing her this badly, definitely wasn’t the way he should treat his family.
“Peonies are my favorites. How did you know?”
Because I’ve never been able to stop noticing you.
But he couldn’t admit that to her. Couldn’t even fully admit it to himself.
“I’m glad you like them,” was all he let himself say. To further throw her off the scent, he divulged, “I’m driving out to Modesto to see Theresa’s boyfriend.”
“Are you crazy?”
He sure as hell was crazy. And not just because he was going to battle with some guy who was abusing the birth mother he’d sworn he didn’t even want anymore.
But also because he couldn’t stop falling harder for Paige with each smile, each kind word. Each kiss.
“I thought you wanted me to get involved.”
“I want you to get to know your family better. Not confront some creep.”
“I can handle him.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“Thanks for worrying about me.”
“Evan,” she said softly, her voice filling the car. Filling all of him, whether he wanted her to or not. “Promise me you won’t lose it.”
Couldn’t she see? He’d already lost it. He couldn’t stop wanting her again. Wanting her now. No matter how certain he was that it would end badly.
“I won’t do anything I can get arrested for,” he promised.