Chapter 227

Chapter 227
EVE

"What did you say?" Lucas stumbled backward, face contorted with pain. "Aurora?"

I rubbed my throat where his fingers had left marks. This was my chance.

"Rebecca was pregnant when Melissa arranged her accident," I said, my voice rough from his assault. "Three months along. The doctors saved Rebecca but couldn't save your daughter."

Lucas crashed onto the bed, grabbing his head. "That's bullshit. Melissa wouldn't—"

"Rebecca kept quiet to protect you. The accident left her unable to have children. Forever."

His breathing turned shallow and fast. "No way. I would remember something that important."

"Would you? When's the last time you thought clearly about Rebecca? When's the last time you remembered anything real about her?"

Lucas stared at me, confusion washing over his face. "I remember... I loved her... I think."

"Rebecca got her memories back last year. She told Sean everything—how Melissa pushed my mother Margaret down those stairs. The fall killed her."

The color drained from his face. "What the hell are you saying?"

"Rebecca used Sean to punish your sister for killing your baby and leaving my mother brain-dead. Everything that happened to Melissa was justice—for Rebecca, for Aurora, for my mother."

Lucas jumped up, fists clenched tight. "You're fucking lying!"

"When Rebecca needed you, whose side did you take? Hers or your sister's?" I stepped closer. "You chose Melissa every single time it mattered. Your weakness killed your own child."

"Shut up!" he roared, pacing the bedroom.

"Nobody forced you down this path, Lucas. You walked it all by yourself."

He stopped, staring into darkness through the window. "You don't get it."

"I get everything. You want what Sean and I have. Rebecca loved you that way once. You threw it away."

His shoulders dropped. "Sean had everything. I got nothing."

"Sean regrets how things ended with Melissa. He's told me that. When you cashed out hundreds of millions and left SkyEve, stealing half his executives—he knew exactly what you were doing. He let you do it anyway."

Lucas turned to me, eyes narrowing.

"He handed you the knife, Lucas. If you stabbed him, he'd take it. He'd bleed until he decided the debt was paid."

The room went quiet. Lucas stood in shadow, a broken man.

"Destroy me and you destroy him," I said softly. "But it won't make you happy."

Lucas gave a bitter laugh. "So damn righteous. Trying to find my conscience?"

I shook my head. "You don't have one. You're just a pathetic, hateful man using dirty tricks to keep someone who doesn't want you."

Something snapped in his eyes. With a roar, he smashed everything off the nightstand.

I ran past him and out the door. My phone buzzed with a text from Sean as I rushed down the stairs and out of the mansion.

SEAN

I spotted Eve running from the mansion's front door, touching her throat. I slammed the Bentley to a stop and shoved open the passenger door.

"Get in," I ordered, scanning for Lucas.

Eve jumped inside. The second the door closed, she threw herself against me, arms tight around my neck, her body shaking hard against mine.

"I've got you," I whispered into her hair, breathing in her scent while watching the house. "Nobody touches you now."

She pressed against me, her face buried in my neck. Her heartbeat hammered against my chest, matching my own.

"Jesus, Eve," I pulled back just enough to look at her face, my hands framing her cheeks. "Going in there alone was insane. He could've killed you."

"I needed answers," she said, trembling slightly. "And I found something."

My anger vanished when I saw the red marks on her delicate neck. "Did that bastard—"

"I'm okay," she cut me off. "But look at this."

She handed me a small glass jar with powder inside.

"Found it in his diffuser. Smells weird—sweet but wrong. When I breathed it, my head got fuzzy."

I opened the lid cautiously, sniffed once, then closed it fast. "This isn't normal aromatherapy."

"It does something to memory. Lucas couldn't remember basic things about Rebecca—his own ex."

I pocketed the jar. "Cole will analyze it tonight."

When I turned to start the car, I saw those marks on her throat again. Pure rage flooded through me.

"What exactly did he do to you?" My voice dropped deadly low.

Eve touched her neck. "Just said awful things, lost it when I mentioned Rebecca and Aurora."

"Aurora?"

"Their unborn daughter. Lucas didn't even remember she existed."

I gripped the wheel so hard it hurt. "I'm going back in. Right now."

"To do what?"

"Beat him until he can't stand."

Eve grabbed my arm. "No! We need him for Noah's transplant. We can't risk it now."

My jaw clenched tight enough to crack. "He put his hands on you."

"We'll handle him after he donates," Eve said. "Maybe accidentally push him off a cliff. Or drop him in shark-infested waters. Or—"

Despite my fury, my lips twitched. "You're trying to distract me."

"Working?"

"No." I glared at the mansion. "But you're right about one thing—that powder matters. If someone's controlling Lucas with chemicals..."

Eve nodded. "Someone might be pulling his strings."

We sat quietly, the engine humming in the background.

"He wanted me in his bedroom tonight," Eve said suddenly.

My head snapped toward her. "What?"

"Insisted we share a bed. Said I had 'wifely duties.'"

My vision went red with rage. "Did he touch you anywhere else? Besides your neck?"

Eve paused, then pointed to her chest. "Here."

"I'll kill him," I snarled, grabbing the door handle. "Right now."

Eve launched herself across the console, wrapping her arms around me from behind. "Sean, stop! I'm kidding! He never touched me there."

I froze, then slowly turned to face her. "You think that's funny?"

"A little," she admitted, a tiny smile playing at her lips.

In one quick move, I pulled her across the console onto my lap. My fingers tangled in her soft hair, tilting her face up to mine.

"Making me jealous is dangerous," I warned, my thumb brushing across her bottom lip. "Someone needs a lesson."

I crushed my mouth against hers, biting her lower lip—not to hurt, but to claim. She gasped against me, her fingers digging into my shoulders.

"Still think it's funny?" I murmured against her mouth.

She shook her head, breathing hard.

"Good," I whispered, kissing her deeper until she melted against my chest.

When we finally broke apart, Eve rested her forehead against mine, our breaths mingling. "What are we doing, Sean?"

"What do you mean?"

"This. Us. I'm technically married to another man."

"A meaningless piece of paper," I growled, tightening my arms around her waist. "You're mine. You've always been mine."

"I don't want people calling me your mistress," she whispered, her eyes searching mine. "What am I to you now?"

I held her face between my hands, brushing my thumbs across her cheekbones. "What are you to me? Everything. My past, my present, my future. The world can go to hell if they judge us."

I reached around her neck, unclasping her necklace. "Aria's monitoring tonight. She can hear everything through this."

Eve's eyes widened. "The necklace has a microphone?"

"And a tracker. How else would I know exactly when to rescue you?" I placed it on the dashboard. "I wasn't risking your safety for a second."

Eve curled against my chest, exhaustion finally catching up to her. I kept one arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders.

After a few stolen moments, I knew I had to take her home. Everything in me fought against letting her go.

I watched her walk inside, waiting until the door closed behind her. Then I parked across the street and settled in for the night. I lit a cigarette, blowing smoke into the cold air, ready to tear through walls if Lucas even thought about coming near her again.