Catch (6 page)

Chapter 7

I was relieved when the service finally came to an end. It wasn’t because I got bored, but funerals made me uneasy. They were depressing and morbid and to be honest, Mr. Montgomery knew a lot of people who all wanted to share a few words during the service. To avoid looking disrespectful, I focused on trying to listen as each speaker said his or her words. After the sixth, I realized they were beginning to repeat one another so when we were finally able to stand, I was ready to raise my hands in joy. Of course I didn’t, but judging by the looks of my teammates and the other people around me, they were in similar positions.

Just as I stood, my eyes made contact with an unexpected figure. My face immediately dropped.
What the hell is she doing here? And why is she sitting with Rupert Montgomery’s family?
All of a sudden, it hit me. Mr. Montgomery
did
have a daughter… It couldn’t be.

I felt Annabelle tug at my arm but I couldn’t look away. I couldn’t believe the odds. Was Evangeline Rupert Montgomery’s daughter?

Evangeline refused to look back my way, and I continued to watch her in disbelief until she left the doors of the church. Did it bother me slightly? Yeah, I guess it did a little. It was the first time I wasn’t sure how to react, considering the circumstances.

During the wake, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. They followed her as she glided gracefully around the room and spoke with fellow mourners. What I knew of Evangeline Montgomery was only what everyone knew, that she’d been the sole survivor of the accident which claimed her mother and her eldest brother. She had been brought up by her grandparents and had very little to do with her father or the impressive family empire. She must have moved back to New York when her father fell ill. That explained the strange phone call outside the club when I met her.

While I watched, I sensed her awkwardness around the people she spoke to, but I admired the way she pushed through despite feeling uncomfortable. At times, I even caught myself smiling and had to snap myself out of it before anyone thought I’d gone crazy. I was thankful I hadn’t allowed Annabelle to attend the wake and dropped her home right after the funeral. She’d never let me live this down.

“Oh, no. You aren’t possibly considering going home with one of these women tonight, are you? It’s a damn wake, Baby.”

I blinked and turned to the voice beside me. “What? No! Are you out of your mind?” I looked at Bucky in disbelief and disgust, stunned he even suggested such a fucked-up idea.

“Then who the hell have you been staring at for the past hour, and why do you have that stupid look on your face?”

“What stupid look?” I challenged.

Bucky took a sip of his rum and cola while continuing to stare at me in a peculiar way. As soon as he lowered his glass and swallowed what he had in this mouth, his lips twisted into a calculated grin. “Then who’s the girl?” he asked.

I shook my head and turned away, not bothering with a reply. I was thankful when I heard Donny ask Bucky a question about some old movie. With Bucky distracted, I now had the chance to go back to watching Evangeline.

It didn’t take me long to spot her, although I instantly regretted doing so.

She was sitting not too far away in a lounge area with Connor Montgomery, who I now knew was her brother, and a group of football players from both the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets. I found myself gritting my teeth and fighting every part of me not to storm over there and ask what the hell she was doing hanging around a bunch of jackasses. Well, there were a few good guys within the group, but the one with his arm draped around her was certainly not one of them. Nick Kowalski was his name. He was the king of scum, a rotten piece of shit who didn’t deserve to still be playing professional football.

Earlier the year before, his girlfriend at the time accused him of hitting her. The cops were involved, and it blew up all over the media. When the time came to go to court, his ex suddenly dropped all charges and refused to speak. She was paid off to keep quiet, that much was evident, and it meant he kept his football career, but that didn’t change the way I felt about him. I despised men like him.
Well, that’s if you could even call him a man.

I noticed Evangeline suddenly rise and make her way toward the bar. I shot up, too. It was the perfect opportunity to warn her to keep away from him. I could hear Bucky instantly firing questions about where I was going and if I could get him another drink, but I waved them off without glancing back.

I waited until she’d placed her order with the bartender before slipping up to the bar, unnoticed, a few feet away from her. Without looking over, even though I could see her from the corner of my eye, I asked, “So, when were you going to mention you were Rupert Montgomery’s daughter?”

“I wasn’t planning on it. It’s not that big a deal,” she replied casually with a shrug.

“Oh,” was all I said, staring at the half-empty scotch in my hand as I swirled it around in the glass. I knew my lack of response was bound to irritate her and I secretly hoped it did.

“What do you mean by ‘oh’?”

Stilling the glass, I turned my entire body to face her. “You just said it wasn’t a big deal, but I know you’re lying. If it truly wasn’t, you’d have told me that night instead of asking me questions such as whether I worked for the media.”

“Does it really matter whether it is or not?” Her eyebrows drew together.

“Nope.”
Tell her what you really came here to say!
Taking a deep breath and straightening myself, I added, “Listen, I actually came up here to say I don’t want you hanging around those types of guys.”

“We don’t know each other well enough for you to tell me who I can and can’t hang out with, Ryan,” she replied in a sassy tone.

I straightened further. I wasn’t in the mood for games anymore. I needed her to know I was serious about what I was saying.

“Can you just trust me on this? They’re trouble, Evangeline. Especially the one you’re with.”

“Thank you for the concern, but I’m fine to take care of myself, all right?”

She stormed off, carrying the drinks skillfully in her hands. Shit, I’d offended her. I went to chase after her but stopped when I spotted her best friend racing up behind her, grabbing her elbow. He seemed to be telling her some exciting story, so I decided against going up and ruining the moment.

I made my way back over to where the rest of the boys were sitting. Some of the team had already left, and others were preparing to leave. There were only a few of us left. Since it was getting late, it was probably wise of me to also call it a night, but I couldn’t go anywhere knowing Evangeline had become a clear target for that scumbag, Kowalski.

I sat beside Bucky, who was still talking with Donny. They were asking for my opinion on something, but I wasn’t paying any attention. My eyes were still glued to the other side of the room where Evangeline had just said goodbye to her brother, Connor, and his partner. She had just sat down on the sofa when Kowalski immediately got up and went over to her. I tried to ignore the bitter taste in my mouth each time I saw him lean into her and whisper something. She lifted her head a few times, possibly to keep an eye on her best friend who I’d seen slip away with some guy earlier o—
Wait a minute. Did I just see him try to kiss her and she turned away?
I shot up. My jaw immediately tensed, and my hands balled into fists.

“Where are you going?” I heard Bucky ask but I ignored him, already walking away, storming over to the fucker who was harassing a girl.
My
girl.

By the time I got there, Kowalski had his filthy arm around her shoulders and a hand on her thigh while Evangeline tried pulling away and asking him
politely
to leave her alone. It made my blood boil seeing him take advantage of her like that.

When I spotted his hand travelling further up her dress, I lost it. “Let her fucking go!” Without another warning, I raced forward and my fist connected with the side of his mouth. Not my best shot, but at least it caused some damage; he was bleeding from the mouth. I couldn’t see Evangeline; my eyes were solely focused on the filthy being in front of me. But I knew she was close. I could feel her.

“What the fuck is your problem, man?” I heard him say as he fixed himself up and wiped the blood away.

“Assholes like you!” I shouted. “When a woman says no, she means it!”

I could hear voices all around me, and I heard Evangeline say my name, but they all seemed so far away.

“Fuck you, man! You could’ve broken my fucking jaw.”

Nick shot up and lunged at me. Unable to get away fast enough, I fell backwards and felt my body collide with something hard, sending shooting pains all throughout my back. It didn’t stop me, though; it only encouraged me to make sure I gave the guy everything he deserved. I threw another punch, just missing the side of his head, but it allowed me to position myself above him and I threw another. That time, I didn’t miss. I got two punches in before the guy kneed me in the stomach. I keeled over, hugging my stomach as Kowalski threw a punch, hitting me in the chest. I managed to correct myself in time to miss his second blow and get another one in of my own before hands were on me and pulling me away.

“I’ll fucking get you next time I see you, you bastard,” Kowalski spat as two of his teammates held him back.

I tried to rip myself from the grasp of Donny and one of the boys, Mick G, but they tightened their hold as Bucky joined in to help them out. No good. I was just going to have to shout my threat from where I was. “If I ever see you near her again, I’ll find something harder than my fist to hit you with, scumbag.”

“Get him the fuck out of here!” someone shouted from behind me. I was ready to rip into whoever the hell said that about me, but when I noticed the boys who were holding back Kowalski nod, I realized they were talking about him, not me. Good thing.

Donny and Mick G dragged me backwards and sat me down, and then Bucky kneeled down in front of me and grabbed my chin in his hands. I didn’t bother looking at him. I kept my eyes on the ground, desperately trying to calm myself. “Baby, you’re losing it! She’s fine. It’s all right. He’s just drunk.”

“You’ve got to calm down, Baby,” said Donny, patting me on the shoulder.

From the corner of my eye I saw Bucky stand, walk away, and then introduce himself to someone. I stared down at the ground until I heard
her
voice. I immediately rose to my feet. Waving off the others, I walked toward Bucky and Evangeline.

“I’m fine, Bucky. She’s Rupert Montgomery’s daughter.”

Without looking back at me, he said to her, “Oh, shit, I didn’t even put two and two together. Of course, you were here with Connor before.” He turned to me, adding, “Well, that kind of explains a few things but not your behavior, Baby.”

“Can I talk to you for a moment?” I didn’t bother replying to Bucky. My eyes were on Evangeline.

She turned to the blond guy standing beside her. I recognized him as Miami Dolphins’ player, Hawke Hudson. He was hard to miss. He was one of the country’s most documented players since he was the son of A-list celebrities.

It irritated me to see Evangeline ask him for permission to speak to me. Like she needed anyone’s permission to do that. He whispered something back to her, but I reached for her arm and escorted her to a quiet end of the venue.

“Have you fucking lost your mind?” I barked, unable to control myself any longer.

“Me? Why are you mad at
me
? You’re the one who attacked another guy in public!” she snapped back. To my surprise, she crossed her arms and glared at me.

“Fuck, Evangeline!” I scrubbed my face. “Couldn’t you see what he was doing to you? I heard you tell him no, but he kept going and you just let him!”

“Wait just a minute! No, I didn’t ‘just let him’. I was in the process of telling him off before you came and tried to beat the shit out of him. It was my father’s funeral today, of all days! What’s your problem, anyway?”

“Scumbags like that are my problem!” I threw a finger over to where we’d come from.

“Yeah, well, you don’t have to take it out on me, asshole!”

“Oh, so
I’m
the asshole? For sticking up for you?”

“You didn’t have to go crazy. You could’ve told him politely.”

Her comment made me pause for a moment, then snort before rolling my eyes. Did she realize how absurd she sounded by asking me to tell him ‘politely’? Since when did that ever work for anyone? “Yeah, because
your
technique was working very well for you.”

I received a glare. She was angry, but instead of upsetting me it made me want to kiss her. “You’re such an ass! You know that?” she growled. I contemplated kissing her and weighing up the consequences. She wasn’t going to like it, I knew that much. “You’re such a―”
Oh, well, here goes nothing
.

I grabbed hold of her and smashed my lips against hers. I anticipated a smack to the head or a knee to the balls, something I probably deserved but would relish afterwards, though nothing of the sort came. Instead, I felt her entire body relax as her mouth opened to allow me in.