The Scarlett Legacy (Woodland Creek)(23)

He kissed her. “You’ll let me at least say goodbye to my parents, won’t you?”

Evie closed her eyes and kissed him back. His hands went up her dress and smoothed her back.

“Okay,” she said. “We say goodbye to your family, and then we are gone?”

“That’s right. We can go wherever you want.”

“You promise?”

“Promise.”

Evie prayed that he was right.





EVIE SAT UP in the passenger’s seat of Parker’s Challenger when they approached the Albrecht Mansion. She stared out her window as she saw Avalon get out of a black sedan with tinted windows.

There were two other cars parked inside the gates. Four men stood there as Avalon headed up the stairs to the front door. The men followed behind him, each looking serious.

“What in the world is going on there?”

Parker glanced as they passed by.

“Oh yeah. My father mentioned that earlier. Hugh Prince’s son came back from Scotland and bought the Albrecht Mansion.”

“It’s a historic landmark. You can’t buy a museum.”

“Apparently you can. He’s living there now.”

Evie strained to get a better look as Parker drove down the road that connected the university to Old Town. They hit the fork in the road and headed to New Town.

“I can’t believe it.”

Parker reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. “It’s okay, babe. I know how your family feels about the Princes. We’ll be out of here tomorrow.”

Evie settled in her seat, those words comforting her. “Yes. You’re right.” She looked ahead as her mind tried to make sense of Avalon’s actions.

Does he mean to stay?

Evie remembered how scary things were during her childhood. Wes didn’t realize just how much she remembered about their father’s business. He thought he could shield her from the truth, but she knew much more than she let on.

Who were those men?

Avalon’s taking over Hugh’s business?

Evie pursed her lips. Her mind raced with every possibility. She’d only seen four dangerous looking men and she’d concluded that he was organizing crime in Woodland Creek again.

She tried to drown out her thoughts by the music on the radio as Parker drove them to his condo building.

She got out and stretched.

“I’m not even tired,” Evie said as she followed Parker up to the front entrance of his building.

He pushed in his code and the glass double doors opened for them. Inside a doorman waited and nodded for them as he kept watch.

They got on the elevator and went up to the fourteenth floor to his condo. Inside she walked directly to his kitchen and pulled a bottle of wine from the rack.

Parker took off his shoes at the door and grinned as he walked over to her.

“Thirsty?”

She shook her head, cracking a sheepish grin.

“Stressed,” she said. “I need a shot really.”

He took the wine bottle from her hand and put it back on the rack. She stood there and watched as he went to his freezer and pulled out a bottle of tequila.

A grin stretched across Evie’s lips as she eyed the frosty bottle. “Yes. You read my mind.”

He chuckled and took two shot glasses from the cabinet beside his fridge. “I knew you’d appreciate a little Patron.”

She took her hair from its ponytail and pulled off her tie. She sat on the granite counter and watched him pour the shots.

Parker handed her a shot and stood between her legs as she sat on his countertop.

“We might as well celebrate, right?”

Evie nodded. “Absolutely. Who knows where we will end up on Monday?”

“Cheers to the unknown,” Parker said and they both clinked shot glasses and downed the contents.

“No limes,” Evie said. She wiped her mouth, grimacing. She held her shot glass out. “One more.”

Parker poured two more shots and they drank them both.

“So,” Parker said. “Tell me where we are skipping out on college to go.”

“I’m not exactly sure,” she said. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. “Carry me,” she said with a grin.

He shook his head. “You really are spoiled,” he said and he picked her up.

“Is something wrong with that?”

“Not at all,” he said and carried her up the metal stairs. His bedroom was in the loft that overlooked his living room and kitchen.

He sat her on his king-size sleigh bed, turned on his mounted flat screen, and handed her the controller to his video game system.

Evie grinned, pressing the buttons on the controller while he scrolled through the options of games that they could play.

“Stop that,” he said with a laugh. “You know you’re not doing anything yet.”

She giggled. “We are such nerds,” she said. “Sitting at home on a Saturday night, playing video games.”

“I’m okay with it,” he said with a smirk.

When he selected a fighting game she got excited. Evie sat cross-legged while he laid down beside her.

“I can’t access my inheritance until I graduate. All I have is my credit card which Wes pays for me.”