A Pound of Flesh (A Pound of Flesh #1)(194)

Eva’s face glimmered with hope of the same thing. “It wasn’t just you. We’re all to blame in some part.”

“I need you to know that I’m not here to do anything but love and take care of your daughter.”

A timid smile played across Eva’s mouth. “You know,” she said wistfully, “you sound like Kat’s father when you talk like that. He had to convince my dad he was good enough for me.”

“And did he?”

“I think so.”

“Have I convinced you?”

Eva stood and walked across the room to the large window. The silence and anticipation caused Carter’s heart to race like a f*cking V12 engine.

“My daughter is too much like me for her own good,” she began. “You were right about that, and I can see how much she loves you.” Her cheeks washed with an embarrassed pink. “I didn’t want to see it, but it’s clear as day. Still, having said that, I can’t overlook the fact that Kat’s putting a lot at risk by being with you.”

Carter opened his mouth to protest, but Eva held up her palm, halting his words.

“I need you to know that Kat is the most precious thing in my life. She always has been. If anything happened to her, I don’t know how I’d survive.”

He knew exactly what she meant. If Kat ever ceased to be, so would he.

“But you saved her, didn’t you?”

Carter swallowed. “Yes, ma’am.”

“You saved her when her father couldn’t. And if you hadn’t been there, then I’d have lost them both.”

“Yeah.”

“So where does that leave us?”

Carter shrugged. “I don’t know. But it’s a start, right?”

Eva’s face gave nothing away.

Carter peered toward the doorway again before slowly getting to his feet. He pushed his hands into his pockets and gestured with his head in Kat’s direction.

“I’m—I’ll go and see if she’s okay.”

Eva didn’t reply, but kept her eyes on him as he walked across the room.

“Wes.”

Carter stopped and clenched his eyes shut for a brief moment, then turned back to her, a rock in his gut and a desert in his throat. “Yeah?”

“Thank you,” she whispered. “From the bottom of my heart, Wes, thank you for saving Katherine’s life.”





33


Once Wes left the sitting room, Eva was lost in thought, staring out of her mother’s front window, watching the snow falling to the ground, crisp, clean, and beautiful.

She blinked slowly, picturing the face of the man who had been her everything. She loved Harrison with all of her heart, save for the one piece that would forever belong to Daniel Lane.

Eva wiped away tears and glanced over her shoulder when she heard the faint sound of laughter and the closing of a door. She had to give Wes his due. He’d stood his ground, never wavering. He’d spoken articulately—save for a few curses—and showed unquestionable love and protective loyalty for Katherine. Eva wasn’t lying when she told Wes she hadn’t wanted to see the love between them. It’s what scared her most.

Her daughter was head over heels in love with Wes Carter. It was a love that many never found and no one could ever extinguish. It was a love that was far-reaching, powerful, and all-consuming. Eva could see it in Kat’s eyes when she looked at him and when she glared at Eva in his defense. It was the same look Eva had given her father innumerable times when she’d first introduced Danny to the family.