Release!: A Walker Brothers Novel (The Walker Brothers #1)(16)

She got screwed by a selfish mother who hadn’t given a shit about her.

The more I thought about it, the more it pissed me off. My dad had had expectations for all of his sons. He’d been a savvy businessman, and he’d been formidable, but he wasn’t the type not to accept a new daughter had Eva’s mother chosen to bring her into the family.

Eva was quiet as we exited the store, and that annoyed me even more. I had to know why she had been forgotten when her mother had taken off for Texas to marry my dad. Hell, she obviously hadn’t even stayed for Eva’s high school graduation. What kind of parent was that?

Seeing her apartment and how Eva had been living made my gut ache. Granted, I knew next to nothing about Karen Morales, but I was going to make it a point to find out.

My control was something I valued, and I was slowly losing it completely when it came to Eva. I needed to find out what was wrong so I could fix it. When I buried my cock inside her, I greedily wanted her complete attention.

I didn’t want gratitude.

I didn’t want her to feel like she owed me.

All I wanted was her pleasure, and those climatic moments would belong to me and only me.

If that made me a selfish bastard, I didn’t care, but I would make her mine.

I had no doubt that I’d win.

I always do.





Chapter Six

Eva





I prepared a brine to marinate the turkey, my mouth watering at the thought of our Thanksgiving feast tomorrow. I hadn’t eaten regular meals in so long that the thought of eating a huge meal seemed almost decadent.

I knew Trace was waiting for me, wanting to pick up the conversation where we’d left off in the grocery store. Now that I’d stored the plump bird in the fridge, I had little reason to avoid him. Except for the fact that I really didn’t want to talk about Isa or the dreams that I’d had right before I graduated from high school. That was a long time ago, and things had changed more than I ever dreamed possible…and not in a good way.

Release it. Let it go.

There was nothing I could do to change my past, but I could decide my own future now.

I was washing my hands way longer than I needed to when I heard a male voice right next to me. “Wine?” he asked, holding out a beautiful wine glass partially filled with white wine.

Not being much of a drinker, I had no idea what I liked when it came to alcohol. Nevertheless, I thought I could use a drink. I noted he was holding a small glass with something that looked stronger than the wine I took from his hand.

“Thanks,” I answered gratefully, taking a careful sip of the pale liquid. “It’s good.”

“I wasn’t sure what you liked.”

I smiled at him weakly. “That makes two of us. I’m not sure either. I don’t really drink alcohol much.”

“Come sit with me. Are you done?”

I was, but I really wanted to tell him that I had a ton of things to do in the kitchen. But for some reason, I couldn’t lie to him. “Yes.”

He nodded his head toward the living room, and I followed. He’d turned on the enormous gas fireplace, and the room was so inviting. I’d discovered that although Trace liked quality, he wasn’t one to blatantly flash his wealth. The neutral colors were lovely, the leather of the furniture butter-soft, but the room was still comfortable.

I took a seat in one of the leather recliners. He stretched out his large form on a matching sofa across from me.

He was still wearing the same pair of black jeans that hugged his body, and a green sweatshirt that matched his eyes. Jesus, he was gorgeous, his short hair slightly mussed, giving him a look that was almost…touchable.

Thank God he was sitting far enough away that I couldn’t smell his unique masculine scent, but the short separation wasn’t helping much. I still wanted to strip him naked and crawl up his body and beg him to f*ck me.

“Tell me now, Eva. What were your plans back when you were getting out of high school?”

His baritone was rich and smooth, and it flowed over me like velvet.

I took a slug of my wine, knowing I would have to talk about some of my past. “When I was sixteen, I got a job in a restaurant. I learned a lot by working in the kitchen. I wanted to pursue a career in the culinary arts, and Isa helped me find an apprenticeship program. I could work and study at the same time. She did a lot of things that she didn’t need to do, like helping me with arranging some financial aid and applying for scholarships. But as soon as I graduated, things changed.”


Please don’t ask me anymore. I’d told him everything I wanted to reveal.

“Changed how?”

I shrugged. “My mother left, and I had bills to pay.”

“Her bills?”

“The rent was overdue, and I was going to be evicted. At the time, I had no idea where she’d gone. I had to give up every penny I’d saved to keep a roof over my head.”

He frowned. “Why didn’t she tell you, take you with her? My dad was strict, but he would have welcomed you. He wouldn’t have wanted you to be left alone at seventeen. Christ! She just deserted you.”

She’d done much more than that, but I wasn’t going to tell him just how coldhearted my mother had been. What good would it do? “She hated my father, and she despised me. I reminded her of every failure she’d ever had in her life. Her marriage to my dad was one of her big ones, or so she said. I think she had to marry my father because he got her pregnant. My grandparents wouldn’t accept him…or me.” Lord knew I’d heard about how I ruined my mother’s life often enough—her mixed-race child that her parents would never take in.