Man of the House: A Dark Bad Boy Romance(24)

She was gorgeous and incredible. Evelyn knew something had happened, but she wasn’t pushing to find out what, not yet at least. I was thankful for that, since I didn’t know if I could keep it from her. Well, maybe the details of what had happened, but not the greater picture of something going down between Emily and me.

But nobody caught us and nobody seemed to know what was happening. Otherwise, I’d likely get castrated by my damn board and end up a pauper. Well, maybe not a pauper, but significantly less rich.

Being wealthy, young, and handsome meant that a lot of women threw themselves at me over the years. I lived for a long time to f*ck, drink, and party, and life didn’t seem like it could get any better. I neglected my company, leaving it in the hands of other people while I indulged myself.

I continued to get richer and richer because I created a solid foundation for Valor and I hired great people to run it for me. But I wasn’t doing much of anything, at least until the last two years. I got back to my roots, doing research and real work for the company, at least until the whole married women scandal broke.

I knew there was more out there than just f*cking. I knew I needed to change, needed to do something differently. I thought that could be just lying to the media and giving the illusion of having changed, but maybe I really was going through a real change.

It was strange and exciting, a lot like my relationship with Emily was. Things were complicated, and although in the past I ran like hell from anything difficult, I felt for the first time in my life that I was ready for something a little more meaningful.

I didn’t know what form that meaning would take, but I wanted something more. Maybe that more was Emily, or maybe it wasn’t. I couldn’t be sure, not yet at least. All I knew was that I wanted her, and I couldn’t pretend otherwise.

As I sipped my whisky, I heard the roof door open. I looked back and watched Evelyn step out, adjusting herself as she frowned over in my direction.

“Fancy meeting you here,” I said as she approached.

“I’ve been looking for you all over.”

“Why didn’t you check the Marauder’s Map?”

She blinked at me. “The what?”

“Never mind.”

“Anyway, I wanted to talk to you.”

“What about?”

“There have been some changes around the mansion that I’m a little concerned with.”

“Like?”

“Well, there are a lot more strange men hanging around than there were a few days ago.”

“Increased security,” I said. “After the dog’s head incident, we beefed things up.”

“Did you catch who did that yet?”

“Not yet. Cox is working on it.”

She nodded, looking out toward the bay. We were silent for a few minutes while I sipped my drink. Evelyn was smart, probably way too smart to be my secretary, and I figured that if she had a better chance in life she could have really done something amazing. As it was, she raised an awesome daughter and did a damn good job for me, so that was pretty great already.

“I’m worried,” Evelyn finally said.

“Don’t be. Cox is very good at what he does.”

“I believe you. But things are very shaky right now, and the last thing we want is someone breaking into this house.”

“Nobody is breaking in,” I grumbled.

“Still, Carter. You know what I’m saying.”

I nodded. “I get it. What do you want me to do?”

“Be careful,” she said softly. “I know something happened between you and Emily at the charity thing last night. Don’t be stupid and reckless, Carter.”

I grinned at her. “I don’t know any other way to be.”

She shook her head, not amused. “I’d forbid you from seeing her, but that would probably only make things worse.”

“I can’t pretend like it would stop me much.”

Evelyn sighed and faced me, her arms crossed. “My daughter is a grown woman and one of the most responsible people I know. Probably too responsible. But she never asked for any of this, and I don’t want her dragged into the mud if we f*ck this up.”

“You mean, if I f*ck this up,” I said softly.

She stared at me, not saying a word.

“The last thing I want is for Emily to get hurt,” I said finally.

“Good.” Evelyn’s expression softened. “She likes you, you know.”

“Oh, I know.”

“She hasn’t had a serious boyfriend since high school. Honestly, I was starting to wonder if she took after her mother.” Evelyn laughed softly to herself.

I cocked my head at her, not sure what she meant, but she was already walking away. I watched her go, confused by that last comment, but I didn’t want to persist.

She was a worried mother and had every right to be. The things happening at the house were strange, even strange by my standards. Put my relationship with Emily, or whatever the f*ck we were doing, on top of that and things just got downright insane. Evelyn was probably barely holding it all together, juggling everything and keeping it in place without me even realizing it. That was what she did best and why I valued her so highly. She made things just work without having to be directed.

After a few more minutes, I finished my drink and stood. It was time to get back inside and back to work, although I mainly wanted to stay up on the roof and have maybe three more drinks. Unfortunately, I had to pretend to be a responsible adult for another few hours, and so I headed downstairs toward the lab.