Flawed Perfection (An Eve Sumptor Novel) (13 page)

Eve thought of the locket her mother left her, with the engraving “Two bodies, One soul”. She would pass that locket down to Bella one day, and the thought brought tears to her eyes.

Adam stood at the door, silently watching them together. The love he felt radiating from Eve, the love he felt for both of them, left him breathless. Unable to stay away any longer, he went to them, wrapping his arms around them.

“My two favorite girls,” he said softly, burrowing his face into Eve’s neck. “Is our little princess ready for her big day?”

Eve smiled. “She will be, daddy. We’re just going to freshen up, then we’ll put on something pretty, and she’ll be ready to welcome everyone.”

“She’ll be the prettiest little girl there.” Adam kissed Bella on the cheek, then turned to Eve. “And, her momma will be the most beautiful woman.” He leaned in and brushed his lips over Eve’s.

Eve and Adam’s backyard was filled with people celebrating Bella’s birthday. The birthday girl was dressed like her momma, both wearing white shorts, with a white tank. Eve knew it probably wasn’t the best choice for Bella, with the cake, the ponies, and all the playing around, but she couldn’t help it. Her little girl just looked so cute! Add the tiny tiara, and Eve wanted nothing more than to keep snapping photos.

There was good food, good music and, believe it or not, good conversation. If she didn’t see it herself, Eve would not have believed it was possible that such a diverse group would be so accepting of each other.

The kids were kept occupied by riding ponies, having a grand time. Lainey had been hijacked by Trudy, talking about having their boys spend more time together. Adam huddled with James, Charlie and Billy—when he wasn’t with Eve—but assured her they weren’t talking over Eve’s case. She didn’t want what was happening to affect today.

Everyone else just seemed to mingle, or watch the kids. What mattered the most to Eve was that everyone was laughing and having fun. With the sun shining, and the beautiful weather, it was turning out to be the perfect day.

“Eve?”

Lexie’s hesitant voice cut through Eve’s pleasant thoughts.

“Yes?”

“Um, I’m sure you didn’t mean to keep your studio unlocked, but Hunter …”

Eve frowned. “Lexie, I don’t leave my studio unlocked.” With the art and photos that she had in the studio, Eve knew better than to leave the door open for curious little ones to be able to explore.

“Oh. Then I’m not sure how Hunter got these.” Lexie blushed, and handed her provocative photos Eve had taken of herself and Adam. She had been trying her hand at self-portraits, and succeeded quite well. Seeing them in Lexie’s hand was definitely
not
what Eve had planned for those photos.

“Oh my god.” Eve snatched the photos from Lexie. “Keep an eye on Bella, please.”

Eve walked briskly towards her studio. She didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention, so she kept a smile on her face, greeting her guests cheerfully as she walked by. There was no way she left the studio unlocked. It was just so unlike her to do something like that. If she had, the only explanation she could come up with as to why, was the stress of the past few days must’ve affected her more than she thought.

Sure enough, the door to Eve’s studio was ajar when she got there. Damn it! She hated being so careless, especially on a day like today. She pushed her way in, and stopped dead in her tracks. Photos were scattered all over the floor, and her paintings were ransacked as though someone had been looking for something. When her eye caught the portrait she had painted of Adam, her heart stopped. A knife protruded from Adam’s illustrated chest. She was so focused on that, she almost didn’t notice the word “WHORE” painted in red across the far wall.

“
What do you want from me!
” Eve didn’t realize she had screamed the words until Adam ran into the studio.

“Eve!” When he heard Eve scream, fear made his blood run cold. Finding her standing in the middle of the chaos in her studio, lit a fire of rage in his belly. “My God.”

Eve’s outburst brought the attention she didn’t want as person after person filed in, with Charlie pushing his way ahead of everyone else.

Eve couldn’t hear what Charlie was saying over the ringing in her ears. All she could feel was people surrounding her, seeing her in one of her most vulnerable moments.

“
Get them out
.”

“Baby, let Harris …”

“Get them out, Adam. Now!”

Adam could hear Eve’s patience slipping fast, so he began ushering everyone out. He caught Lainey’s eye, and she nodded discreetly.

“Adam, I need to get in there and start documenting this.”

“Not now, Harris. Let Eve have some space for a minute.”

Lainey waited until everyone was out, then went to Eve and wrapped her arms around her.

“Lainey, please go.”

The words bit into Lainey’s ego, but she held on tighter when Eve tried to break the embrace.

“I’m here, honey.”

“I need to be alone.”

“No. You need to be around people who love you. Stop fighting it, and let go.” She felt Eve’s body begin to shake with silent sobs, and fought to keep her own composure.

Lainey was soon aware of Adam’s hand on her shoulder, and she gently shifted Eve into his arms.

“Could you watch Bella while Lexie packs a few things for her?” Adam asked Lainey, softly. “We’re going to leave earlier than expected.”

“Of course. And, I’ll make sure everyone gets out okay.”

Adam mouthed his ‘thank you’ and turned his attention to his wife. He stayed quiet, sensing what Eve needed was just the strength of his arms, not his words. There was nothing he could say, anyway. Everything he had in his head held contempt and anger for whoever was doing this to her, anyway. That wouldn’t help the situation.

“Why are they doing this to me?”

“Harris, James and Donovan will figure this out, beautiful. You, Bella and I are getting away for a couple of days.”

Eve sighed. “How can I go now? I have to find out who’s doing this …”

“That’s not your job, Eve. Let Harris handle it.”

Eve stepped away from him and wiped the tears from her eyes. Fury was quickly taking the place of her distress. She marched to the painting of Adam.

“Do you see this?” Eve pointed angrily at the knife. “This is a threat against
you
! Do you think I’m going to stand by while they threaten my
husband
?”

“Baby, look around you. It’s not just a threat to me, it’s a threat to
us
. For all we know, Bella could be included in that! We are getting out of here, and we’re doing it now.”

“Adam …”

“Not up for discussion, Eve. Pack a few things, and let the authorities do what they have to do.”

Eve raised a brow. Either those around her are getting much more comfortable speaking to her in a way she wasn’t accustomed to, or she was losing her authoritative edge. Either way, she heard the firm resolve in Adam’s voice. So, she did what any woman would do. She changed tactics.

“There are things in here that I don’t want others to see,
amant
. Things I don’t think you want others to see. Particularly Billy.”

“Nice try, beautiful, but we’re going. I’ll talk to Harris and tell him he needs to be discreet. I’ll even talk to Lainey, and see if she can be here while they’re here.”

Even though she still wanted to be here to find out who was threatening her family, Eve knew she couldn’t argue with him. It made her feel a little better knowing Lainey would be here.

“Fine.” She went to him, and caressed his cheek. “You owe me for talking to me the way you did.”

Adam’s lips curved slightly. “You can take it out on me later.”

Everything okay?

It was probably the twentieth text Eve had sent Lainey, but she couldn’t help herself. To Lainey’s credit, she wasted no time replying.

Still fine. Try 2 relax.

Fat chance of that, Eve thought to herself. Adam was on the couch of their private jet with a fussy Bella. She had already tried calming Bella down, but the little one just didn’t like to fly apparently. When nothing Eve was doing was helping, Adam took over, without much success. She turned back to her phone, and texted Lainey, again.

Are they still there?

Eve’s phone chimed a few moments later.

Yes. Charlie won’t let anyone in the studio unless they absolutely need to be. I’m here, and I’ll be here until they leave.

Eve thanked Lainey, promising her she wouldn’t keep bombarding her with texts. She put her phone away, and joined Adam and Bella.

“Did you decide to give Lainey a break?”

Eve’s eyes cut to Adam. “You’re already in trouble, pal. Do you really want to make it worse?”

“I don’t know. Will spanking be involved?”

“You are incorrigible,” Eve laughed. “But, yes, spanking will definitely be involved.”

Adam’s crystal blue eyes darkened with desire. “Don’t promise something you’re not going to go through with.”

Eve leaned closer. “Have you ever known me to back down on anything?” With a wink, Eve plucked Bella out of Adam’s arms, and got up to walk around with her, bouncing her on her hip.

Adam watched Eve closely. He knew she was trying to cover up the fact that she had fear and anger just below the surface, but he saw it. Her body almost vibrated with it. If he could do anything to help get her mind off of what was going on back home, he would do it, whatever it cost him.

Adam pushed Eve’s hair from her face, using the quiet moment to study her sleeping features. It was times like this, when she was peaceful, that her youth came through. He could forget most days that she hadn’t even turned thirty yet, except when he watched her sleep. He almost didn’t want to rouse her.

“Wake up, beautiful.”

Eve groaned, burying her face deeper in the pillow. “I already sexed you up, pal. Leave me alone.”

Her muffled words made Adam laugh. After they finally got Bella to sleep, Eve certainly kept her word and ‘punished’ him. And, oh, how amazing it was.

“We’re here, Eve. Up.” Adam emphasized the last word with a sound smack on Eve’s bare ass.

She jolted and shot him a snarky look before dropping her head back to the pillow.

“We land in less than ten, beautiful. Up and at ‘em.”

“Okay, okay. I’m getting up. Sheesh, you’re so bossy.”

Adam leaned close to her ear. “You know you love it when I’m bossy.” It was a variation of their usual, playful banter when she was being particularly cranky. One he enjoyed a great deal. Adam kissed the small of her back, rolling his tongue down just enough to tease her, and then left her wanting more.