Chapter 2

Evan

“Goodnight, Mr. Murdoch,” the driver said as Evan climbed out of the Lincoln Town Car while it idled in the circular driveway in front of his home.

“ ’Night, Bill,” Evan called back. He paused to tiredly rub his neck. “Oh, and tell your wife I’m sorry for keeping you out so late. All right?”

The driver waved away Evan’s apology and grinned over his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, sir. If you keep giving me those bonuses you’ve been giving me, she won’t care if I don’t ever come home!”

Evan laughed and shut the passenger door. He watched the car pull off and then slowly climbed the stone steps leading to Murdoch Mansion. Though the floodlights were on, illuminating the exterior of the expansive estate, only one light inside the mansion burned bright. Evan smiled when he looked up and realized that light was in his own bedroom. Though it was almost three o’clock in the morning, Leila had waited up for him.

Unlike Charisse, he thought grudgingly as he inserted his key into one of the French doors and stepped inside the silent three-story foyer. Charisse either would have been passed out drunk on her bed or too preoccupied sharing that bed with someone else.

While he had been pulling long hours at Murdoch Conglomerated after taking the position of CEO, trying to maintain the legacy that his father had left to him, Evan’s wife, Charisse, had been occupying her time carrying on a hot-and-heavy affair with his backstabbing half-brother, Dante. But Evan wasn’t too upset when he finally had proof that she had been cheating on him. He had suspected it all along. His marriage to Charisse had been in name only for years, even if Evan had been unable to admit that truth to himself until he caught his wife screwing Dante in their marble shower. The blow of betrayal had been softened because he had been already firmly in love with someone else: Leila.

Evan quickly climbed the staircase to the west wing, hearing his footsteps on each riser. His steps echoed off the walls and high ceilings. He couldn’t get to the second floor fast enough, so impatient to slide into bed next to his fiancée.

Leila had been his childhood friend and lifelong crush. For years, he had hidden his feelings for her, only to watch her marry another man, whom he still despised. It had taken more than twenty years, Leila getting married and divorced, and Evan getting married and separated, before the two finally ended up together.

They no longer had to hide their feelings. Leila was no longer another man’s wife and he would soon no longer be another woman’s husband. No more clandestine nights at his office, where they made love on the leather couch with the door locked. No more ultimatums from Leila about ending their relationship or revealing to his wife and everyone else in the world their own affair.

“We’re better than this, Evan,” she had told him back then and it had humbled him to admit that she was right.

They were engaged and out in the open. She lived in his mansion and so did her daughter and mother. Evan was ready to start the next chapter in his life and he was beyond happy that he was starting that chapter with Leila at his side.

A minute later, he pushed open the door to his bedroom. The crystal pendant lamp on Leila’s night table was on, but unfortunately, Leila was fast asleep. She was propped up on several pillows in her silk nightgown. The hardback novel she had been reading had fallen from her hands and was fanned open on the bed beside her as she snored.

Evan inclined his head and smiled. Well, at least she tried to wait up for me, he thought before softly shutting the bedroom door behind him. He tiptoed across the room so as to not wake her, though it wasn’t necessary. The plush carpet drowned out any sound his footsteps could make. As he walked quietly, he took off his coat, tossed it onto a footstool, and began to unbutton his dress shirt and remove his cufflinks. He finished undressing and prepared for bed in the bathroom after shutting the door behind him. Minutes later, he returned to the bedroom in his boxer-briefs to find Leila still slumbering.

She had sunk lower on the pillows and was now partially splayed onto the bed. She was on her side facing him. Her peach silk nightgown was bunched around her hips, showing a great deal of thigh, both of her calves, and all of her delicate, red-painted toenails. The top lace panel of the nightgown had fallen open on one side, revealing one lone honey-hued breast and a dark nipple that was already hardening and puckering with goosebumps in the cool bedroom air.

Evan’s smile widened as he leaned against the bathroom doorframe. This was what he had been trying to explain to his little brother as they had watched the cosmetically enhanced, topless strippers pump, grind, and hump on stage. It wasn’t that he hadn’t found the women or their performances seductive, but he found it exceedingly more erotic to stumble on a subtle scene like this: a beautiful, sexy, natural woman whom he loved, fast asleep, unwittingly showing all her assets to him and turning him on in the process. Watching her lying there, Evan hardened.

He walked around the bed, extinguished the light, and placed her book on the night table. The bedroom fell mostly into darkness except for the glow of the full moon filtering through the gossamer curtains on the other side of the room. Leila didn’t stir as he turned off the light or even when he walked around their king-sized bed to the side where he usually slept. She shifted slightly only when the bed dipped as he climbed in naked beside her after tugging off his boxer-briefs. She mumbled something unintelligible, then started snoring again.

Evan let his eyes trail over her in the dim lighting. His gaze not only lingered on her breasts and long legs, but also rested on her slightly parted lips and the dark lashes that swept her cheeks. He pushed a lock of hair off of her brow, then let his fingers lightly trail down her neck and along her collarbone before descending even lower. He ran a finger along her breast, then her nipple, before cupping the full breast in his hand.

Leila still didn’t rouse, but her breathing instantly changed. Her snores halted and became sharp, quick breaths. She shifted and moaned softly in her sleep as he trailed his thumb over the nipple again and again, flicking his finger across the dark bud. When he leaned forward and lowered his mouth to her breast, she breathed in sharply. Her eyes fluttered open.

“Ev,” she murmured sleepily as he eased her onto her back, “what are you—”

“Sssshhhh,” he urged, holding a finger to her lips. He grinned. “Just lie back and relax.”

He then returned to suckling her breast and her strangled moans became even louder. As Evan tugged the straps of her nightgown off her shoulders, he raised the hem of the nightgown even higher. He was delighted to discover she wasn’t wearing underwear beneath it.

Good, he thought. There would be less fabric in between him and what he wanted: her.

His mouth didn’t leave those delectable nipples even as he eased his hand between her legs, coaxing her to spread them wider. He massaged her clit with a practiced touch and felt her grow wet beneath his fingertips. Her moans shifted to yells and back again. Just when he sensed her getting close to the edge, he pulled his hand and mouth away and she whimpered in protest.

“What the . . .” She pushed herself up to her elbows so that she could glare down at him.

Leila was barely wearing her nightgown. It was now nothing more than a silken, crumpled belt around her waist. At that moment, she was naked, resplendent, and absolutely indignant. “What the hell, Ev? Why’d you stop?” she grumbled.

She looked so angry that he had to laugh.

“I didn’t stop, baby,” he said as he climbed between her legs. “I’m only getting started.”

He reached down and started massaging her again, bringing her back to the brink of ecstasy that he had dragged her to before. But this time he quickly replaced his hands with his mouth, licking and kissing the juncture between her legs until she was bucking underneath him, until she was balling the sheets in her fists and screaming his name. His dick ached to be inside her, but he held back, wanting to give her pleasure first. When the orgasm hit her, he sat back on his elbows and watched her stomach rise and fall. He watched her thighs tighten, then go slack.

When the last wave washed over her and she fought to regain her breath, he slowly climbed back on top of her.

“I love you, Evan,” she whispered to him in the dark, wrapping her arms and legs around him, drawing him close.

“I love you, too,” he assured her just before he entered her and she cried out his name again.

Evan drove hard and deep, loving the way she felt around him, loving her welcoming warmth. Leila clawed at his back and dug her nails into his shoulder blades. She widened her legs even further to let more of him inside her and he readily plunged into her over and over again. She bucked her hips to meet each stroke.

As they made love, Evan rode the rollercoaster of sensations, felt the thrill of each plunge, and knew what awaited him at the end: pure bliss.

He closed his eyes and let out a long, tortured groan when the release finally came. His hold around her tightened to the point that he worried he might be crushing her and then he suddenly went slack. He collapsed his full weight on top of her and panted against her ear. When he finally regained his strength, he peered down at her. She was beaming.

“So this is what you’re like when you come back from a strip club?” Leila asked with laughter in her voice. She licked her lips seductively. “Remind me to send you there more often.”

Evan pushed that bothersome lock of hair out of her eyes once more and kissed her chin, cheeks, and lips. “We could save the money and you could just strip for me every night?”

“For free?” she asked with mock outrage, cocking an eyebrow.

He chuckled. “No, for a nominal fee.”

She inclined her head and pretended to consider his offer. “Eh, you’re cute. I guess I could give you a discount.”

“I’d appreciate that.” He pulled out of her and turned onto his side, dragging Leila with him. Evan wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they lay naked beside each other in bed. Sex with Leila was always amazing, but the quiet moments they spent in bed alone together afterward were definitely a close second.

“Did you guys have fun tonight?” she asked, trailing her fingers along his arm and shoulder.

“It was okay.” He shrugged. “I think Terry had a better time than I did, though.”

She chuckled. “Of course Terry did. Strip clubs are right up his alley.”

“I felt bad while I was there.”

“Why?” she cried, looking taken aback. “I told you I didn’t mind! I meant it.”

“I know, but it’s not like I have a lot of nights at home. I mean, I’m always at the office. Tonight could have been time we spent alone together.”

“You have nothing to feel bad about, Ev. You can have some nights out with your brother and your friends. I don’t mind!” She shook her head. “Besides, tonight I had to help Izzy with her science project. I was up to my ears in Styrofoam and glue, trying to re-create the solar system.”

Izzy was Leila’s daughter.

“I could have helped, though.”

“You didn’t have to help. We had it covered!” She waved her hand. “We’ve got just a few more finishing touches and we’ll be done. She’s going to present it to her second-grade class on Thursday. She’s excited.”

“If you have a few more things you have to do, I can help. I did science fair projects back in the day, remember?”

“I told you . . . We have it covered, Ev.”

“No, seriously, Lee, what can I do? I want to help.”

Leila’s smile faltered. For the first time, she looked uncomfortable. “Actually, I think Izzy would . . . would prefer if just . . . you know . . . she and I work on it . . . alone.”

He tightened his jaw. “You mean she doesn’t want my help.”

“Ev,” Leila began, “she’s still adjusting to all this, to us being together. I told you, bonding with her isn’t going to happen overnight.”

“I know that, Lee,” he said tightly, releasing his arm from around Leila’s shoulders.

He was a businessman. He understood things took time and that building relationships with people could sometimes be a slow process, but his relationship with Izzy was painfully stilted, almost prickly. She wouldn’t even let him call her Izzy.

“My name is Isabel,” the precocious seven-year-old had softly but firmly corrected him once when he used her nickname.

He had tried to be kind to Izzy, to shower her with attention, to joke with her, to pull her into conversations. Hell, he had even tried to ply her with gifts, but so far, nothing had worked.

“You’re just trying too hard, Ev,” Leila had insisted. “Let it happen naturally.”

Maybe Leila was right. Maybe eventually Izzy would warm to him. But for now Izzy was adamant that she had one dad and one dad only, and his name was Bradley Hawkins, not Evan Murdoch.

“She will eventually bond with you,” Leila now argued as they lay in bed together. “Please just give it—”

“Time? I know. But all the time in the world isn’t going to help if Brad keeps making her hostile toward me.”

Leila bit her bottom lip and fell silent. She knew he was right.

Though Brad, who lived back in California, was also engaged and planned to get married in the upcoming months, he didn’t seem as willing to let his ex-wife move on with her new life. He argued with Leila by phone and had threatened to file for sole custody and “take back what’s rightfully mine.” The only thing that kept Leila from worrying about losing Izzy was that Brad had been found guilty of fraud and embezzlement for an elaborate pyramid scheme and now faced jail time. With a criminal record, the likelihood of him getting custody of his daughter was very remote. But that didn’t stop Brad from pouring poison into Izzy’s ear, saying things about her mother and her mother’s “big-shot, millionaire sugar daddy.” So far, Brad hadn’t managed to turn Izzy against Leila, but it seemed he was having much more success in turning her against Evan.

“I’m sorry, but I have no control over what Brad says or does,” Leila now whispered, gazing at Evan in the darkened bedroom.

“Which is why you need to try even harder to sway Isabel in my direction,” he argued.

“Ev, that’s not how kids work.”

Leila sounded tired and it wasn’t just because it was three o’clock in the morning. He knew she was tired of having these arguments, and frankly, so was he. But he also knew that even though Leila loved him, she would end their engagement if Izzy gave her an ultimatum or told her she didn’t want her to get married. He had seen before how much investment Leila had in making sure that her daughter was happy. On the rankings of importance in Leila’s life, Isabel Hawkins came first. That left Evan with a lot at stake in this.

“Then how the hell do kids work, Lee, because I don’t know what else to—”

He was stopped short by the ringing of the telephone. Both Evan and Leila paused, surprised to get a phone call at this late hour. When the phone rang a second time, Evan’s stomach instinctively tightened. Whenever he received late-night calls like this, it was always because something had gone wrong. And something had gone wrong—he could sense it.

He slowly picked up the cordless phone on his night table. “Hello?” he asked with a frown.

“Hello, this is the Metropolitan D.C. Police Department,” a woman’s voice answered. “Am I speaking to Evan Murdoch?”

“Y-yes. This is he.”

“Are you the next of kin for Terrence Murdoch?”

“Yes,” Evan nearly shouted, sitting bolt upright at the mention of his brother’s name. Leila jumped at his side, startled. “I’m his brother. What’s . . . What’s wrong?”

“Sir, your brother has been in an accident.”