Twisted Tides (Forged Hearts #2)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

JAMESON

“Bad Company” by Five Finger Death Punch

“ S o, you and Evie, huh?” After spending some time catching up with our mutual friends and hearing about Dax’s new position as a full-fledged partner in his father’s practice, I’m surprised it took him this long to discuss the elephant in the room.

I take the soda he offered me, electing for a more alcohol-free drink this morning full of sugar and caffeine. I swear I still smell that jackass’s stench on me. Dax must see the downturn of my mouth and interprets this as something wrong with Evie and me.

“Am I wrong?” he asks, concerned.

“Huh? No, sorry, but we had a little problem last night, and I was just trying to think of the best solution to fix it.” Dax rubs his hand over his chin, trying to ascertain if I need help or not. I hold my hand up to him.

“It’s better if you don’t know.” He looks at me and then nods in understanding.

“Of course, but if you…” he trails off, letting me know that he is here for me should I need him, and those unspoken words mean the world to me.

I place my hand on his shoulder. “Thanks, bro. I appreciate that.”

He smiles, and I hear a wail coming from the other room. Dax stands immediately to tend to his son, and I follow.

“Man, that kid has some lungs.” The crying, along with Evie’s dipshit brother coming in at the asscrack of dawn, has my head pounding.

Dax chuckles. “You have no idea, Jameson. Just wait. It will happen to you, too.”

We enter the room just in time to hear the end of their conversation. I wonder what was said before I entered the room. Whatever it was will have to wait, and baby Kaden is having a complete meltdown, and Liv needs to feed him. We take this as our cue to leave.

We make rushed goodbyes with a promise to meet up very soon. We walk down the stairs, and I look back, extending my hand to Evie’s as we walk to my truck.

I shake her hand, nudging her to look at me. “You okay?

She shakes her head. “Yeah, but dang, there was a lot of screaming in there.”

I bring her hand up to my lips. “You mean you aren’t ready to have little Evie or Jameson running around yet?”

She stops mid-stride, and realizing she is no longer walking with me, I turn back to look at her. The sheer terror on her face makes me go back to her.

I approach her carefully, like a skittish cat that will run off if you advance too soon. “Baby, I was just kidding. I’m not ready to have kids right now. It was a joke, and by the looks of it, maybe a very bad one.”

She relaxes into my embrace. “I’d make a terrible mother,” she almost whispers.

I take her face in both hands and bring her close. “You are brave, protective, and love so fiercely, Evie. I think those are the best traits for a mother, and I think you would be the best mom someday.”

She searches my eyes for the truth. And I know when she finds it there as she melts into my embrace. Sometimes, I forget that even though she puts on a brave act, she is still vulnerable and needs reassurance, just like we all do.

She tilts her head in my hands, and I bring her lips to mine in a soft kiss. She leans into me, and I hug her, kissing the top of her head. When we turn around, Emma is standing there with tears in her eyes. She looks away and walks ahead of us to the truck without looking back.

The ride back to Evie’s and Mateo’s place is quiet. Entirely too quiet as we are all lost in our thoughts. I look in the rearview mirror and see Emma looking out the window. She must sense me staring because she looks my way. Her eyes meet mine and she beams at Evie and smiles. Then she looks back at me before returning her attention to the passing cars on the interstate.

We pull into the complex and see Mateo is still there. Emma is out of the car as soon as it stops, jumping from the back seat like she is propelling herself at a forty-five-degree angle, posing as a stunt double in an action-packed movie.

I cock my head sideways as her little legs take her up to their apartment. Where she is curvy, my Evie is toned and just perfect. I stifle a laugh, and Evie swats my arm.

“Stop already with the short jokes. It hurts her feelings.”

I raise my hands defensively.

“You know we are twins, right?”

“Okay. Okay, but I didn’t say anything. And for the record, you do not look identical.”

We’ve almost caught up to Emma as she has to wait for us at the door since we have the keys. I wave them at her, and her nostrils flare with annoyance. She takes both of her hands and twists them in a scooping fashion toward the door, urging us to hurry up. Evie scoffs, taking them from me and tosses them to her. She opens the door seconds before we arrive and, immediately, the cold air-conditioning hits my face.

“Geez, what is it, like sixty degrees in here?” Evie goes over to the thermostat, turns it up, and the air conditioning cycles off.

Mateo walks into the living room with gray sweatpants and no shirt while he towel dries his hair. We all stare at him as he rolls his eyes at us and saunters off.

“Oh, no, you don’t, Mattie.” Emma starts marching over there.

“I’ll be right out, and you can yell at me in a second. I just need to put this towel away.” He disappears into his room but reappears with a bottle of water.

He slumps into the recliner, placing the cold water bottle on his forehead. Evie and Emma sit on the couch as I stand up, leaning against the wall staring at us. Mateo downs half the water bottle’s contents and leans forward to place it on the coffee table in front of him. He slumps forward and runs his hand through his hair, tugging at the ends. He moves them to steeple under his chin and waits patiently for the chastising to begin.

No one says anything.

I look over at Evie, and she seems genuinely sad for him, while Emma looks pissed.

Emma shoots up off the couch, startling Mateo, causing him to lean back and away from his firecracker of a sister with an equally volatile temper. She raises her hands in the air. “What the fuck Mateo! You cannot get shit-faced like that and just disappear.”

Mateo hangs his head like a child being scolded.

“You scared Evie half to death coming in last night drunk off your ass and smelling like it, too, from what I hear. You cannot bury yourself in booze and pussy because you were feeling sorry for yourself.”

He looks up at Emma with a scathing look. “And why not, Emma? Huh? Maybe I just need to forget what my life is like sometimes. Maybe I just wanted to feel something, or maybe I just wanted to feel nothing at all.”

Emma sits back down on the couch, crossing her arms over her chest.

Evie leans forward, this time to say her peace. “Mattie, I was so scared when you came home like that. I worry about you. Just like you worry about me. You are my brother. My family. And I’ve lost so much already. I couldn’t bear to lose you, too. I don’t think I could recover if I lost my guardian angel. My protector. My brother.” Evie hits her chest with each spoken word, like a vow she makes to him in return.

Mateo gulps as a multitude of emotions flash over him. He withers into the chair like he is empty and defeated. Beat down.

Evie walks over to him and squats at his level. She takes his hand in hers, and I want to hold her. I want to tell her how amazing she is, but I just sit there, taking in the scene as she comforts her brother.

“Mattie. It’s okay to feel alone, to feel shattered, and to take others’ feelings for granted. You have been through a lot. We all have. Just remember that you have us. You’re family, and we love you. You are not alone anymore. Collect your broken pieces and fix you, Mattie, because if you don’t, one day your life will be nothing but regrets.”

His eyes shimmer with unshed tears, and then Evie leans in and hugs her brother.

Emma walks over to Mateo and throws her arms around him. “Please don’t forget that again, Mattie. We love you.” Emma speaks softly into his shoulder as she leans on the recliner side, hugging Mateo.

He pulls her in closer and kisses her on the cheek. “I love you too, Emma.”

She smiles in return and then smacks him on the arm. “But if you ever do that again, Mattie…” She doesn’t finish that sentence before Mateo tickles her side, and she falls off the chair laughing.

I walk over to the couch that is now free as the girls are huddled over with their brother on the recliner. “Mateo,” I speak up, and the room is silent as Evie glances over at me, forehead scrunching. “I have a concern.”

They all look over to me, and Mateo nods, encouraging me to speak my piece. Emma bites her lip, forcing herself not to speak up to defend her brother and wait until I get out what I have to say.

“What will we do about Ramón now that we know he is working with Mr. Martinez?”

The girls both look to Mateo for answers as I wait patiently to hear his response.

He clears his throat. “Well, I think I need to confront him, but I don’t think his house is the best place. Maybe at the cafe where we usually play chess?” He looks to me for what I can only assume is my opinion on the matter.

I nod. “I just worry about Evie because she always goes with you. Maybe I can tag along, or Emma, Eduardo, and I can show up there for your next meet-up?”

He seems to ponder the idea over and nods in agreement. “Yeah, I think maybe that would be best.”

Evie squeezes his hand, walks over to me, and sits on my lap. “When do we see him again, Mateo?” She shifts her hips over my thigh, making my cock jump into action. She feels it as she wiggles her ass over the rigid outline as it is trying to push upward as if it has a mind of its own.

I hold her from shifting further and stifle a groan. She giggles, and Emma squints her eyes as if she has x-ray vision that allows her to see through clothing.

Mateo speaks, interrupting my thoughts of slipping my rock-hard cock into Evie’s slick heat. “We are set to meet on Friday around midday.”

I look at Emma, and she nods. “I can be there. I’ll bring Eduardo. Just give us the details, and we’ll see you there.” She stands, and Mateo rises with her.

“You leaving, Em?”

“Yes. I have to work tonight. It’s such a zoo there, and nights are the worst, but Eduardo thinks it is safer. I don’t work much now, but it’s part-time. At least for now, until I do other things.”

Evie and I look over at her, and Emma walks toward the door. Evie turns to me and mouths ‘other things.’ I shrug, not knowing what that means as we walk to say goodbye to Emma.

She kisses her hand and then waves. “Love you, but I gotta run, or Eduardo will throw a fit before he takes me to work.” With that, she closes the door, and we stand in the window watching her sashay to her BMW Eduardo had dropped off to her earlier, as she drives away.

Evie scoffs. “Let’s not pretend that Eduardo doesn’t always know where she is.”

As if right on cue, another vehicle with someone who strangely resembles Philip follows Emma out of the parking lot and onto the street.

“Told you,” Evie barks out, pointing to the car driving off after Emma.

“Baby, that’s not the half of it. And I can’t say I blame him.”

Evie looks over at me, searching my eyes for something she won’t find. Because if there is one thing that I have learned from Eduardo, it is that there is nothing we wouldn’t do to protect the women we love.

I pull her to me as I hear Mateo move away.

“I think I’m going to order some greasy food and go back to bed,” he says.

I tug Evie toward me. “I think we will skip the first part of that and go straight on to the second.” I lead Evie back to her room and close the door.