Page 111 of Crave Me

CHAPTER 25

Evan

I rub my face, trying to relieve my exhaustion. Declan used the information Hound gathered to secure search warrants for Bryant’s premises. There were several served in the area and in the surrounding counties, all of which he shouldn’t possess the resources to afford. Evidence found within the fraudulent accounts connected him directly to crime lords in South Jersey as well as New York and Boston. Currently, he’s at large, and if he’s smart, he’s far away from the city and me. As much as I’m relieved for Wren, I’m not any less furious.

The gentle knock at the door has me lowering my hands. “Come in.”

Wren steps in, pausing briefly before walking toward me. She’s not in one of her stylish suits or a skirt and blouse that embrace both business and sensuality. She’s in a simple dark pink dress and sandals.

The color is my favorite she wears. When I told her, she began adding more pieces to her wardrobe containing that shade. I think she intentionally wore it.

That doesn’t make her any less beautiful.

She doesn’t take a seat, choosing instead to stand in front of my desk. “Hi,” she says.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

She drops her gaze briefly. “You don’t want me here?”

“That’s not what I mean,” I say, realizing how I must have sounded. “It’s late. You should be home.”

Our encounter with Declan the other day was a solid step toward alleviating the damage Bryant caused. At least it should have been. While I erased all evidence of Wren at her most vulnerable, I couldn’t erase her memories, let alone mine.

Instead of returning to the office, Wren followed me home. We didn’t talk through our feelings nor did we make love. We simply surrendered to our fatigue, and she slept wrapped in my arms.

I left her sleeping and returned to work early the next day, attempting to make up for the work I pushed aside to help her. When she called later that morning, I told her not to come in and to take a few days to recuperate. I assured her I would return. But the endless amount of projects kept me working, and I ultimately spent the night.

Although we’ve spoken briefly, this is the first time I’ve seen her since I left our bed yesterday around dawn.

“It’s almost midnight,” she tells me quietly. “I didn’t want to go another day without seeing you.”

I don’t reply, too fixated on her words and how much I fucking miss her. Regardless, of my commitment to her and our relationship, the strain Bryant caused remains.

I never expected the tension between us to vanish all at once, nor did I count on it to surge. Yet there it is, worsening with each breath that passes between us.

Wren moves with a confidence most women lack, and can only dream of. As I watch, it’s noticeably absent, understandable considering—

Fuck.

I pinch the bridge of my nose, wanting to forget everything I saw. Even as my heart shattered, I wanted to believe her love was real and that she hadn’t used me, and what she did was a mistake committed in her youth out of desperation. But in learning she knew nothing about it, and exactly what he did to her, I can’t forget.

My hands slap against the edges of my desk as I push away from it. I want to rise and meet her, but the weight of my anger keeps me in place.

I love Wren, her honest and outrageous way of speaking, her endearing demeanor with others, and how I knew the first time she smiled, no other woman would ever compare.

It’s this love that fuels my rage and keeps me from sharing my news.

I’m not a particularly violent man. While I’ve had my share of fights and outbursts in school, I’ve learned to rely on my intelligence to win my battles and dismantle my adversaries. Yet when Wren told me what this bastard did to her, my first instinct was to find Bryant and kill him.

Death is something I’ve never wished on anyone, let alone by my hands. The thought should terrify an educated man like me. But the one and only thing that scares me, is any harm coming to Wren.

“What are you thinking?” she asks.

I barely registered her edging forward. Yet here she is.

I meet the face that mesmerizes me and soothes my soul as effortlessly as my heart beats. “That the world can take my company, my money, and my health, but you’re the one thing I can’t live without.”

I pull her onto my lap when her expression crumbles, wishing I can stop the pain she feels.