Adam, p.11
Adam, page 11
Jesse raised his brows and nodded at Adam. They had been the closest of friends since they were little. Even though they didn’t see each other as often as they liked, each time they did, it was as though no time had passed.
The seven of them settled at the table and conversation flowed as easy as it always did. Eve was quiet as the rest of them spoke, except Clint, of course. Tabitha seemed to enjoy teasing Elias, making the stern doctor blush at least twice.
Eve picked at the food, although she liked the biscuits, judging by the fact she’d eaten three of them. She watched and listened as the cousins told stories and talked about what had happened since the last time they’d seen each other.
“Eve, tell us how you met this fool and how he managed to marry you before anyone else spotted you.” Spencer waggled his eyebrows.
Adam wanted to punch him.
Eve sipped at the tea in her cup. “The universe made a choice for us. We were apart and then together. We couldn’t argue with the universe, after all.”
“She’s good.” Tabitha whistled. “She shut you up, which is something I appreciate.” Spencer frowned at her.
“She’s all right in my book.” Jesse smiled at Eve. “Adam is a lucky man.”
Clint nodded in agreement as he stuffed another forkful in his mouth. Elias pushed his spectacles up on his nose. He was the first of the cousins to approve of Eve as a choice of wife. While Tabitha and Jesse weren’t related to any of them, they were still family and Adam valued their opinion.
“You’re all too kind.” Eve kept her gaze on her hands. “I think I’m lucky too.”
Adam smiled at his cousins and received winks and smiles in return. Life was turning out well for him. No matter how they’d started as a married couple, they had the rest of their lives to journey along together. He thought perhaps his stars had finally aligned.
Then the stranger walked into Cindy’s, looked at Eve, and all hell broke loose.
The nightmare began in the restaurant. It was the end of the blissful life Eve had been allowing herself to enjoy. There was always something that came along to stop the situation. She didn’t want to call it a farce. The marriage was far more than that. She had tricked herself this time, instead of the mark.
When her former partner, Wade, walked in the door, her stomach slammed into her throat. She hadn’t seen him in years, since she left him tied up in a hotel in a small town outside of Houston. The malice shining in his eyes was like a physical slap. This was her teacher, her captor, the man who had shaped her into the shyster she was.
How had he found her?
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” His voice, both familiar and hated, echoed across the restaurant. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
Adam frowned, his shoulders straightening. The rest of his cousins also came to attention, their expressions wary. Even Tabitha had her hand on the pistol that rode her hip.
If Wade had been looking for Eve, that meant someone had told him she’d been spotted. Wade had a large network of people who owed him favors and he had apparently never stopped searching for her.
Vengeance was written in every pore of his body.
“No greeting from cara mia?” Wade sauntered toward them and she watched in horror as the life she might have had turned to dust. He knew everything about her.
Everything.
She’d been under his control from the time she was a young girl until she was fifteen, when she escaped. In truth, it was more than an escape. She’d set him up to be arrested for stealing and run like hell to Galveston.
Wade was of indeterminate age, but time had not been kind to him. He used to be handsome, and shades of that comely face remained. He had long brown hair and muddy eyes with dark rings beneath them. A scraggly beard hung from his narrow chin and his clothes had tears and mended seams. He was evil on two legs. The boogeyman of her dreams.
“Do you know him?” Adam whispered.
“Of course she knows me.” Wade smiled. “I’m her brother.”
Eve wanted to scream a denial. He was not her brother. He was nothing to her except a puppet master who had shaped the darkest piece of her soul.
“Brother!” Adam’s brows shot up. “I thought you didn’t have family.”
Wade’s smile dared her to contradict him. He must have guessed she was conning these people and wanted a part of it. Regret shafted through her for marrying Adam, for staying when she should have left, for setting them up for Wade’s dirty touch.
She might vomit.
“He was at an orphanage with me when we were young.” She refused to allow Wade to force her into a familial relationship. Eve would do what she must to protect the Sheridans and the rest of their tribe.
“Ah, well, then pleased to meet you.” Adam got to his feet and held out his hand. Wade was half a head shorter and thinner than her husband. The sheer size of her red giant gave her an ill-timed sense of pride. He was a beautiful man, inside and out. “I’m Adam Sheridan. Eve’s husband.”
Wade’s eyes widened. “Husband? Who knew Eve had gotten married? And I wasn’t invited.”
“There wasn’t time to invite many folks.” Adam gestured to Jesse and Tabitha. “My cousins missed it too. It was last Wednesday.”
“Then we’re celebrating now?” Wade pulled a chair over and sat down, crossing his legs. “Splendid.”
Spencer had shed his usual sarcastic self and looked so much like his father Eve was glad he was on her side. “Odd how you showed up in town a week after Eve did. Who are you really, stranger?”
“I told you, I’m Eve’s brother. I’ve been looking for her, following her trail to try to catch up with her. I missed my little sis.” Wade smiled, knowing his ridiculous behavior was not only suspicious but designed to make her uncomfortable. It worked, damn him. “Wade is the name.”
“Where are you from, Wade?” Spencer crossed his arms, accentuating the broadness of his chest. His cousin Clint did the same. The two of them looked like blond Vikings from stories.
“Texas.” Wade picked up someone’s coffee mug and sipped at it.
“We were just fixing to leave.” Spencer shooed everyone toward the door. “I’ll settle up the bill.”
“Leaving so soon?” Wade smiled at her. “And my little sis hasn’t even greeted me.”
Eve wanted to run from all of this, to hide from the world and start anew. She could do it. After all, she’d done it for years. Her feelings for Adam and his family were a weakness. She couldn’t let Wade hurt them. She was trapped by a situation she created.
“I don’t feel good.” She pressed a hand to her stomach, her joy of getting to know the five people closest to Adam fading. Nausea crept up her throat.
Adam put his arm around her shoulders. “Then let’s go home so you can rest. I’m sure Jesse and Tabitha want to see Pa too.”
“Can I come?” Wade smiled over the rim of the cup.
“No.” Eve found her voice. “His father is recovering and very ill.”
“Been busy, have you, Eve?” Wade kept emphasizing her name. The name she chose to use when she left him behind. In truth, she had no name, no past, still the girl from nowhere.
“I married and am building a life here. What happened before is done and gone.” She was painfully aware of the six people watching the play between her and Wade. He could destroy her with a few words and tear away the first man who’d made her feel special, important, loved.
“Oh, don’t say that. We’re still friends.” Wade stood up. “There’s a hotel down the street, with some fine looking women. I think I’ll stay awhile.” He smiled at Eve. “I’ll see you soon, cara mia.”
When he walked out the door, her knees wobbled and she was glad of Adam’s support. All of them stared at her, but what could she say? It would either be a lie or the awful truth. Neither was an option she wanted.
“Please don’t ask me about him.” She was ashamed of the tremble in her voice. “I will try to get rid of him as soon as I can.”
“We can help you, honey.” Spencer frowned at her. “My father might be a pain in the ass, but he’s a damn good lawman.”
She shook her head. “Wade hasn’t broken the law.”
“Yet,” Clint grumbled to everyone’s surprise.
Tabitha took her arm. “Leave her be. That man obviously upset her. Don’t make it worse by bullying her too.”
She led Eve out of the restaurant and into the beautiful Sunday afternoon. All Eve saw was the destruction of wispy dreams she hadn’t yet allowed herself to acknowledge but would grieve for nonetheless.
Adam’s gut burbled with fury. He barely resisted the urge to race after the man claiming to be Eve’s brother. He’d scared her, destroyed the get-together and threatened her.
Adam had never experienced such a killing fury. Eve had already admitted she had an unusual childhood and life, and had done what she could to survive. He wasn’t fool enough to think she never did wrong. It was apparent Wade was someone from that past. She’d turned pale as milk and barely spoken a word to the man.
Wade also seemed to want to be sure to emphasize Eve’s name. Adam didn’t have to know all her secrets and could let her past stay hidden. It wasn’t important to him. All that mattered was here and now.
He watched Tabitha and Eve walk back to the house with Elias. Jesse, Clint and Spencer stood with Adam on the street.
“That was bad news walking.” Jesse squinted in the direction of the hotel. “Do you believe he’s her brother?”
“Not for a second.” Adam fisted his hands. “He’s here to cause trouble, nothing more.”
“That man has revenge stuck in his craw.” Spencer sounded sure of himself. “I’d recognize it anywhere. Seen too many people arrested by my pa for it.”
“Eve is the person he wants revenge on,” Jesse added.
Adam didn’t like to hear any of this out loud, especially the idea that Eve was the person he wanted to hurt, but he knew it was all true. That pushed his fury up another notch.
“By the look of him, he’s probably been in prison. He’s got skin so pale it’s obvious he hasn’t been outside for a long time. No meat on his bones, and twitchy. I’ve seen men just like him in Pa’s jail cells.”
Spencer’s pronouncement made Adam wonder, for a second, if Eve had been involved with something illegal. He told himself to let her past stay there, but a niggle of doubt settled on his shoulder and wouldn’t let go.
Clint scowled. “We can make him leave Tanger.”
“I don’t want to run him out of town.” Adam held up his hands to stem the protests that were inevitable. “I want to find out why he’s here, what he wants and make sure he never comes back. No matter what happens to my marriage, I want her safe.”
The three others all nodded, albeit grudgingly. Adam met Jesse’s gaze. “I need your help to do it.”
“Anything you need.” Jesse’s connections as a lawyer were strong.
“See if you can find out who he is. If Spencer’s right, he’s been in prison in Texas. There’s a record of that.” Adam turned to Spencer. “Check the wanted posters without alerting your pa why.”
“Oh, that will be easy.” Spencer snorted.
“I want to know why he’s here and why Eve couldn’t get away from him fast enough. She might only be my wife for a handful days, but I’ll protect her to the ends of the earth.” Saying it out loud made Adam feel foolish but his cousins didn’t laugh. They looked as grave as he imagined he did.
“Don’t take offense, Adam, but what do you know about your wife?” Spencer asked.
“Enough to know she’s a good person. Her past is just that. Past.” Adam frowned. “I know she was stranded out on the road out to Briar Creek. There was a bright wagon going the opposite direction. I figured they might have left her behind.”
“Bright wagon? Was it yellow and green?” Spencer surprised him.
“Yeah, it was. Do you know it?”
“Gypsies. Pa told me they were camped not too far from here a few weeks ago. The leader’s wagon was green with red and yellow shutters, name of Luca.” Spencer had a knack of remembering everything he ever heard. He used to say it made his mind too full, but it was a very useful skill.
“Then I need to talk to them and find out what they know about her and Wade.” Adam would do anything he could to protect her.
“We’ll stay here and keep an eye on things, especially Wade or whatever his real name is.” Spencer patted Adam’s shoulder.
It was comforting to have a small army at one’s back. The six wonders of the world were his closest friends, blood kin or not. He trusted them with his life and was now entrusting his wife’s life.
“Tabby will stay with her.” Jesse gestured to his retreating sister. “She might be rough around the edges for a female, but she is loyal, smart and damn deadly with that pistol of hers. She calls it Sam. As in Colt?”
The tension dropped down a few degrees as they all chuckled over Tabitha naming her gun. It didn’t dissipate the urgency Adam felt, though. Whatever Wade was planning would be accomplished fast and no doubt dirty. The man exuded darkness like a demon come to life.
Adam decided the best way to find out what he needed to know about Eve was to talk to someone who knew her.
He would leave straight away to look for the wagon he’d seen leaving her behind. It was time to take the reins and protect his family.
Chapter Ten
Eve fought back the urge to vomit, although it was a near thing. Losing that delicious lunch in front of Tabitha would have been mortifying. No more so than Wade destroying the meal for all of them. How was she going to explain who he was?
Adam had been furious, ready to do damage to the con man. On one hand, it made her feel treasured. However, on the other hand, she was terrified for Adam’s safety. Wade was ruthless, without a single shred of remorse. He was dangerous in so many different ways; Eve would be hard-pressed to list all of them.
Adam was too good deep down in his soul to know what to do against Wade. She couldn’t let the confrontation between them happen, no matter what. If she were asked what she would do to protect him, she would answer “anything”.
“That fellow was mighty unpleasant.” Tabitha sipped at the iced tea from her perch on the railing of the porch. The young woman who wore trousers had a keen eye and missed very little. She also loved her gun, given how often she touched the butt of the pistol.
“That is more true than you can know.” Eve closed her eyes as she rocked, eager to flush the last half an hour from her mind. “He’s a poison that destroys everything he touches.”
“He’s not your brother.” Tabitha’s tone told her she already knew the answer.
“No. He’s a nightmare I never wanted to see again.” Eve took a deep breath. “I’m sorry he ruined our meal and I’m sorry you ever had to lay eyes on him.”
“I’ve seen worse.” Tabitha shrugged. “Living on a ranch in Texas, you see the dregs of humanity ride past. Then you have people like Adam, Clint, Spencer and Elias. The good outweighs the bad.”
Eve managed a smile. “You are the angels of light, all six of you, compared to Wade. Compared to me. I don’t belong here.” The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them.
Tabitha would ask questions, there was no doubt of that. Eve wasn’t prepared to answer them. The sad truth was she would lie to save herself, because it would save Adam and his family.
Yet the other woman asked no further questions. She sipped her tea and gazed out at the sunlight-dappled ground. Eve had had little time to make friends, and most girls and women avoided her. She knew how to blend into the background, to be unnoticeable and become a shadow.
Now she was front and center, wife of the red giant and part of the most prominent family in town. She did everything but blend in. Eve should have realized nothing good would come of her association with the Sheridans.
After Wade’s appearance, she knew her life in Tanger was over. She would leave that night, after everyone had gone to bed. Eve knew how to sneak away without notice. All she needed was dark clothing and a few supplies.
“That’s the thing about the Devils. We all belong.”
Eve frowned at Tabitha. “Devils?”
Tabitha’s grin widened over the rim of the glass. “Our fathers were a mounted group during the War Between the States. When they rode into battle, they screamed to bring down the hounds of hell on their enemies. Folks started calling them the Devils on Horseback.”
How appropriate. She’d heard the part about the men being in the war together, but to know they were creatures of darkness made a difference. She now understood how she felt at home with the Sheridans and their extended family.
Eve was a devil, just not on horseback.
“I don’t want anyone to try to do anything to Wade. He’s my problem.”
Tabitha snorted. “You’re crazy if you think for one minute the rest of the boys aren’t already plotting. I could get rid of him permanent-like, if you want.”
Eve should be shocked by the suggestion, but instead she was touched. Not many people had protected her and now this woman, whom she barely knew, had offered to commit murder for her. She shook her head. “No, I told you. He’s my problem.”
“I won’t argue with you.” Tabitha set her glass down on the railing. “But you’re wrong.”
Eve wasn’t sure how to convince this woman, a stranger, that she didn’t need any help. The Devils and their families ran over everyone else’s objections for their own purposes. That could be good or bad. In this case, it was bad. Wade would not take kindly to someone trying to get rid of him.
He would seek more than a nasty revenge on them. He would kill them, and Eve couldn’t have anyone’s death on her conscience. No, she would go to Wade tonight and find out what he wanted. She’d do what she must to get rid of him, including disappearing herself.
