years ago.”
His sister frowned. “You think?”
“I don’t know. Until a month ago, I didn’t exist.”
“What do you mean?”
Evelyn sighed. “My father died before I was born, shot during a drug deal. My mother has been an
addict all my life. She gave birth to me in an alley and I never had a home until now.”
Isa’s face slowly fell. She glanced at Lucian. “Is this a joke?”
“It’s not a joke,” Lucian said softly.
His sister looked at them both, gauging their sincerity. “How on earth did you two hook up?”
“Evelyn was a maid at Patras. I caught her rummaging through my stuff.”
His arm was smacked again. “Lucian! Don’t tell her that. I was not rummaging.”
He laughed and kissed her temple. She pushed him away and rolled her eyes. “Your brother made a
rather inappropriate proposition and rather than sue his ass off, I took him up on his offer. I figured it would help my mother in the long run. Which it did, but in no way close to what I imagined.”
“You were . . . homeless?” His sister said it like it was a word foreign to her vocabulary.
Evelyn nodded. “Lucian helped me.”
He needed to cut in. “She didn’t need my help. Don’t let her fool you. Evelyn has more
determination than anyone I know, including myself. She would’ve gotten there with or without me,
but I’m glad I was the one to help her.”
Isadora sat back, her arms crossing, one hand catching her glass of wine. “Wow. Does anyone else
know this?”
“Dugan. Shamus. Slade.”
“Everyone will know now,” Evelyn commented hopelessly.
“Does Toni know?” Isa asked.
“Not unless Jamie told her, but I don’t think he would.”
Isa nodded. “Me neither. They aren’t there yet.”
Evelyn sat up straighter. “Jamie’s with your sister? Since when?”
He grumbled. “Apparently for some time now. I was the last to know.”
“Oh, stop bellyaching,” Isa snapped. “It’s only been for a couple weeks, and who knows where it’s
going. Those two fight about the dumbest stuff. They don’t get along long enough for anything to be
consummated.”
“Nobody’s consummating anything,” he snapped.
“Oh, I bet they’re consummating like bunnies right this moment,” his sister teased. She knew he
couldn’t accept that his best friend was sleeping with his little sister. She turned back to Evelyn. “So, how did that little twit find all this out?”
Evelyn shrugged. “I have no idea. I’m more worried about what this could do to Lucian and your
family.”
Isadora laughed. “Honey, the worst it could do is humble him. The paparazzi can’t hurt him with
this petty crap. It’ll just add to the legend. Besides, that’s your past. You’ve come a long way. I never would’ve guessed you were homeless when I first met you. You own that!”
He smiled, loving his sister for affirming everything he tried to say on the ride over.
“But it will embarrass him. And he’ll lose business.” Evelyn was still protesting.
He tried not to, but knew he scowled at her. “I told you to stop that. You are not an embarrassment.
I’m proud to have you beside me. I don’t give a furry rat’s ass what your past is.”
“And really, Evelyn,” Isa cut in. “If people aren’t doing business with the Patras name, who will
they do business with? We’re everywhere.”
Lucian was surprised to hear his older sister make such a pretentious statement. It was true, but of
all the Patras relatives, she was the most unimpressed with their wealth. Almost to the point of
holding it in disdain because of what it did to their family.
Isadora turned back to him. “So what happens now?”
“Damage control. DeLaCruz will issue a statement when Evelyn’s ready. I find some homemade
porno or some dirt on Nottingham and nail her to the wall. Our biggest concern is making sure this
doesn’t affect Pearl.”
“Pearl?”
“Evelyn’s mother.”
“Oh. Where’s your mother, sweetie?”
“She’s in a rehab. Did that woman really make a sex tape?”
Isa snorted. “Probably. She’s a whore. And if she didn’t, we can at least start a rumor that she did.
That’s always fun.”
“Isa!” Evelyn gasped and laughed. “We all know it was an affair with her cousin. It’s not nice to
joke about.”
His sister and Evelyn cracked up, carrying on with Nicole Nottingham’s scandal, each time adding
more fuel to the fire. He sat back and relaxed, glad to see the stress of the evening washing away. His sister was good for Evelyn in that manner. Good for him too.
The scandal would still be there when they returned to the hotel and likely in the papers tomorrow
morning, but his greatest worry was protecting Evelyn. He’d grown up in the spotlight, but Evelyn’s
privacy was something she cherished. He needed to make sure all this mudslinging didn’t hurt her.
Chapter 11
Match
A competition between two individuals
Evelyn dozed in the crook of Lucian’s elbow as the limo cruised into Folsom. Her shoulders tensed
and he shifted. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“We’re going toward Patras?”
“Yes?”
She sat up. Her hair was slightly mussed and looking particularly adorable. “Lucian, I have to go