Flawed Perfection (An Eve Sumptor Novel) (8 page)

Eve felt the warmth of his body as he laid next to her. Thoroughly fucked, she could stay where she was and not get up—ever—and she would be okay with that.

“We should probably get into bed and get comfortable.”

“I’m good right here.” Eve’s words were muffled from being face-planted into the sheets.

Adam laughed, smacking her ass and making her yelp.

“Come on, beautiful. I want to hold you.”

“So demanding,” she muttered, squinting up at him with one eye. How the hell did he have so much energy? The way he had just hammered her, he should be as relaxed—and exhausted—as she was.

“You love it when I’m demanding.”

“Only when we’re fucking. Not when you’re trying to get me to move when I think it’s physically impossible.”

Adam’s eyes twinkled with humor watching her. So damned beautiful and sexy. And his. With renewed vigor, he stood, flipped Eve over on to her back … and had a mind to take her all over again.

“Don’t even think about it, pal. This area,” Eve waved her hands in a circular motion around her crotch, “is closed for the next few hours.”

“Closed, huh?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Bet I could get it to open up for me.”

Eve narrowed her gaze at him. “Try it and it’ll stay closed for a week,” she threatened.

Adam threw back his head and laughed, and—damn her body—Eve responded with a quiet moan. Who did she think she was kidding? She knew, just as well as he did, she could never stay away from him for that long.

“Shut up.”

He smirked at her, still tempted to have another go. “It’s your own fault, you know. You’re just too damn sexy for your own good.”

The shadow crossed Eve’s face for a split second before it cleared.

“Baby …”

“Don’t. Please don’t apologize, Adam.”

“I should have chosen my words better, Eve.”

This is what she didn’t want, what she had always avoided by not revealing her past. Eve never wanted Adam, or Lainey, to think about what she had been through as a mere child. The unspeakable things she had to do with her body. Those men had paid for her because she was ‘too beautiful’ to resist. But, that was then. And, this was Adam. She wouldn’t let her past hurt them anymore.

“I don’t want you to have to worry about what you say to me.”

“I made you think …”

“No. Look, the words are something of a trigger. I can’t help where my mind goes when I hear them. But, when I’m with you, when you’re touching me, kissing me, making love to me, none of that other stuff ever happened. Do you understand?”

Adam sat down next to her, and cupped her cheek in his hand. “It did happen.”

“Not when I’m with you.” Her words were an urgent plea for him to comprehend. “Everything else goes away when you’re near me. When you’re inside me, it feels like I’ve never been touched by anyone but you. I want you to forget about it like you make me forget. Please.”

Her words touched him deep in his soul. It never ceased to amaze him how strong Eve was. To go through being tortured the way she was, violated in the worst way a woman could be violated, and still be the generous, loving woman she was, astonished him. Knowing that he made her forget that awful time in her life, humbled him.

He brought her lips to his, kissing her gently. Then smiled into her eyes. “Nothing outside of this house exists, beautiful. Just you, me and our baby girl. Let’s go to sleep.”

They snuggled together, her back to his front, and slept dreamlessly.

“I’ll get it, Lexie,” Eve called when the doorbell rang. She peered in the kitchen as she passed by, and saw the nanny wiping oatmeal off of Bella’s face. Eve smiled at the scene. Bella loved the young, fun-loving and sincere brunette—though that wasn’t necessarily a difficult thing for Bella—and, Lexie was excellent with her. Eve couldn’t be happier to have her there. She especially liked the fact that Lexie had multiple certifications in childhood education, and felt comfortable leaving Bella in Lexie’s care.

Eve opened the door, and frowned. “Lainey? Since when do you ring the doorbell?”

“Good morning to you, too.” Lainey pushed past Eve. “I rang the doorbell because I didn’t want to interrupt anything.”

Eve didn’t detect any hostility in Lainey’s voice, but she still didn’t like it.

“Before you start bitching at me,” Lainey smirked at Eve’s raised brow. She knew not many people had the nerve to talk to Eve that way. “I’m just trying to be more respectful.”

“Fuck respectful, Lainey.” Eve’s voice was low, and if Lainey admitted it, kind of scary. “You are welcome in this house,
without
having to ring the damn doorbell.”

“Calm down. I thought perhaps you and Adam may still be celebrating, so I was just being careful.”

Eve couldn’t hold back the smile thinking of her night with Adam. She bumped Lainey’s shoulder. “You do realize we have a daughter, and Lexie is here, right? What would we possibly be doing?”

Lainey caught Eve’s smile, and even though she felt the slight sting of jealousy, she was happy for them.

“Actually, I forgot Lexie was going to be here.”

“Oh? You must have had a good night, as well.” The smile Eve gave Lainey was wicked, and knowing. Lainey flushed slightly, because Eve was very right. Her night with Jack had been better than good. In fact, it had been amazing. She felt Eve’s hand take hers as Eve pulled her towards the kitchen. “Coffee?”

Lainey cleared her throat—and, her mind of the night before—and grinned. “Yes, please.”

“What will happen if they can’t find the paintings?” Lainey sipped coffee from her to-go mug. They pulled into the parking lot of Branson’s delivery warehouse, and Eve swung into a parking spot and cut the engine.

“Insurance will get involved, and we’ll have a lengthy period in which they’ll investigate, try to devalue the paintings and then bitch and moan while writing out the check.”

Lainey’s shoulders shook with silent laughter at Eve’s answer. It was a terrible situation, but she was glad Eve could find a little bit of humor.

“You’re hoping they find them.” Of course she would rather have the paintings than the money. That was how Eve was. The money wasn’t worth as much as the art to her. Lainey knew that art may have been the one thing that saved Eve’s sanity, perhaps even her life, during that horrid time in her past.

“Hmm. I’m not getting my hopes up. Those paintings could be halfway around the world by now.”

Or, somewhere too close to home, Lainey thought silently. She still wasn’t convinced that this had nothing to do with Eve’s father. She had no idea how or why, but she couldn’t shake the feeling. It was ridiculous really. Tony was dead, and Eve didn’t think it was related. She just wished she could trust Eve’s instincts. Despite the warm spring air, Lainey shivered at the thought.

“Cold?” Eve was at Lainey’s side then, and rubbed her hands down Lainey’s arms a couple of times to warm her up.

“Not really. Someone walking over my grave, I guess.” Lainey’s mumbled reply was a bit distracted by the thoughts that came into her mind when Eve’s hands were on her. She shut it down, quickly, and smiled. “Let’s get this over with. The less time I have to spend near that man, the better.”

Eve shook her head with a smile at Lainey’s back. Lainey had once been very timid, thinking she was just a boring old mom. After their affair, Lainey’s attitude changed completely. Even becoming quite bold, as Eve remembered affectionately. The new Lainey kept Eve on her toes every day. It was an adventure Eve enjoyed a lot.

“Ms … er, Mrs. Riley! I told you I would contact you if I had any information!” Mr. Branson’s chubby face reddened with frustration.

“I’m not very good at waiting, Mr. Branson. I would like to take a look around.”

“Absolutely not! This is
not
a gallery.”

“Clearly.” Eve scoffed. Her surroundings were deplorable to say the least. Thinking of precious art in the dingy, stuffy warehouse made her shudder. She was seriously considering opening her own distribution center just to cut Branson out. It was certainly something to evaluate, she thought as she deliberately walked past Branson.

“You cannot go back there!” Branson positioned himself between Eve and the entrance to the expansive area holding paintings and sculptures encased in cloth or brown paper wrappings.

“Watch me.”

“Mrs. Riley, don’t you need a warrant or something to come crashing in here and searching my place of business?”

“She’s not the law, Mr. Branson. No warrant is necessary.” A man in a dark suit stepped inside, and stood in front of Branson.

He—seemingly appearing from thin air—startled Lainey who had been enjoying the showdown between Branson and Eve. She recognized his face, but couldn’t place it with a name.

“Well, then I am forbidding her to inspect my place.” Branson crossed his arms, defiantly, clearly thinking that was the end of the conversation.

Lainey snickered. The man obviously did not know Eve.

“Mr. Branson, you have lost millions of dollars of my client’s merchandise.”

Ah, so
that’s
who he is. Eve’s lawyer. Lainey still couldn’t think of his name.

“I would say she has every right to be here and look around, don’t you? Unless you’d rather make this a messy legal battle?”

Eve chuckled as Branson sputtered. “Don’t you just love lawyers?” Once again, she walked past Branson, motioning for Lainey to follow her, and began rummaging.

“You asked your lawyer to be here?”

Eve flipped through paintings that were leaned, haphazardly, against the wall, and glanced at Lainey.

“When that amount of money is involved, lawyers usually are, too. But, to answer your question, no, I didn’t ask Ian to be here. He insisted.”

“What are we looking for?”

“Nothing.” Eve grinned mischievously. “I just want to rattle Branson. And, see what I’m dealing with.”

“Eve! You are so naughty!” As soon as the words left her mouth, Lainey knew it was the wrong choice. She saw Eve’s eyes flash, and Lainey felt the heat build inside herself. Damn it.

“
It will always be there, Lainey.
” Eve whispered. “
It was too deep, too intense to just disappear.
” She touched a fingertip to Lainey’s lips, before dropping her hand and going back to the paintings.

Lainey blew out her breath, fluffing out her bangs. She knew nothing would happen between her and Eve again. But, the hell if she wasn’t going to fantasize—just a bit.

Eve saw more paintings through a door that was slightly ajar, so she pushed it open and went in. Ian was keeping Branson busy in the front office, so Eve was going to take liberties with her exploration.

“Should we be in here?”

Eve shrugged in answer to Lainey’s question. She didn’t care if she couldn’t be in here. As far as she was concerned, Branson owed her. Eve was planning her takeover of Branson’s delivery service when she saw them.

“Son of a bitch!”

“Eve?”

“That fucking asshole!”

“Eve! What is … oh my God! Is that …?”

“Mine? Yes.”

“But, why would he tell you it was missing? And, where are the rest?”

“Let’s go find out.”