Evelyn's dream of securing a scholarship to America's top ballet school shattered when her mother was brutally murdered during her teenage years. Determined to make a difference, she became a detective, ready to take on the world. Assigned to invest...
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The day after was a slow-burning torment, Evelyn realized as she tiptoed past the kitchen for the sixth time, praying the intoxicating biker wouldn't appear. Just the memory of him sent sparks crawling across her skin, made her pulse hammer, and twisted her thoughts into dizzying spirals. At least four bikers had had to call her name repeatedly, watching her drift into her private storm of longing, and frustration turning like smoke in her chest.
"Evelyn? Evelyn!" Vic's voice sliced through her reverie, and she flinched, caught thinking of that biker once more. Athena chuckled behind her, and Natasha smiled, one of the sirens Athena and Vic introduced her to, a knowing glimmer in her eye. Evelyn had met Natasha only a few weeks ago, but Vic and Athena were inseparable from the striking woman.
"What are you thinking about all the time?" Vic asked, pulling a dress from Evelyn's wardrobe with a flourish. Evelyn hesitated. She didn't know whether to spill what had happened the night before or lock it away behind her chest like a secret treasure, yet the weight of it pressed insistently.
"Nothing," she muttered, shaking her head as if that motion alone could scrape the thoughts away. Her friends, however, had taken it upon themselves to dress her for tonight's party, a celebration in her honor. Jax apparently felt compelled to show his gratitude in more than words.
"Something is on your mind. Your eyes get all glassy," Natasha observed, moving closer with the calm authority of someone who could peer straight into your hidden heart. Evelyn felt trapped, her thoughts stripped bare.
"Could it have something to do with a certain biker?" Natasha asked, settling beside her on the edge of the bed. Evelyn knew the trap and searched for an escape, but no words would come.
"Oh, it's so delicious!" Vic squealed, collapsing gracefully onto the floor in front of her, eyes bright and teasing. Natasha, by contrast, moved with elegance, sitting beside Evelyn with a soft, expectant patience. Heat spread across Evelyn's cheeks, a slow bloom of inevitability. She wouldn't leave without confessing, no matter how much she wanted to.
"Tell us now!" Vic urged, her voice a playful whip that made Evelyn's pulse stutter. Evelyn looked away, exhaling through a heavy sigh.
"Honestly, there's not much to say... we spoke, and then, before I knew it, he was behind me. Everything happened so fast. One moment, we were talking, and the next, he was pressing his lips to my neck, trying to coax me into saying something... I knew I should have pushed him away, but I couldn't," she admitted, collapsing back onto the bed with a groan. Vic's laughter echoed, delighting in the drama.
"He used kissing to make you talk?" Vic asked, amusement dancing in her voice. Evelyn groaned again, frustrated at her own weakness. She knew the tricks, all of them, yet she had fallen prey to the simplest.
"I know I'm weak," she admitted, shoulders slumping, and Athena's laugh followed, rich and knowing.
"Well, Jeremiah and Gunner are clever in their own ways, and it amuses me that they share tactics. But did he kissyou?" Athena asked, curiosity shimmering in her gaze. Evelyn raised an eyebrow, wary of the old woman's mischievous gleam.
