20. Ryder

Ipull Eva into my chest, hugging her for a moment. "Declan won't hurt you. I don't think he'd do that," I reassure her. "That being said, he's still dangerous. He's a Mob Boss. He has to be."

"I appreciate your help," Eva admits. "I didn't know what to do when he cornered me."

"You can always tell us if he does anything that makes you uncomfortable," I reassure her. "If he's in the room or you feel like you can't say something directly, maybe we can use a code."

Eva tilts her head. "Is that necessary? Do you think he'd do something?"

"I don't think he would, but living the life we do, we like to be prepared for anything," I tell her.

"What code?" Eva asks.

"Hmm. What's your favorite movie?" I ask.

"Uh… maybe Beauty and the Beast?" she offers.

"Okay, so the thing with codes is sometimes you forget the phrase in the heat of the moment, or it's hard to fit the phrase naturally into conversation. So what we'll do is any line from that movie that comes into your head is the code. I'll know that you're in danger if you use it."

Eva smiles slightly and nods. "Okay." She pauses, brow furrowing. "I should tell you something about…"

"About what?" I prompt when the silence seems to stretch out too long.

"Nothing." She shakes her head. "I want to thank you for covering for me back there. That's all."

"Oh," I say, nodding. "It's fine."

"I need to get back to work now." Her hand shoots out, squeezing my arm for a moment before she leaves to get back to her duties.

Feeling better at having dealt with Declan confronting Eva, I decide to take a shower. The three of us are going out tonight to the nightclub to take a night off work and commitments. We haven't had a good night out in ages, at least a few months now. Things have just gotten so busy that we haven't had time for all three of us to go out together.

Declan seems to leave quickly, just as Oliver returns to the manor.

"Ready to go out?" I ask, lounging on his couch in his room. He's in the bathroom artfully tousling his curls. I hide my laughter. Oliver is a bit vain about his hair.

"Almost," he says. "Theo is on his way home now. He got caught up with some business in the city, but he's done now."

Once Theo arrives, he changes quickly into something suitable for going out, and we head out in his car to our nightclub.

We bought it almost on a whim, but it's been a great place for us to conduct business and enjoy pleasure at the same time.

Heading inside, we nod to the bouncer. Cal is one of the most loyal employees we have. He always keeps an eye out and makes sure any of the girls we bring upstairs don't overstay their welcome.

"Hey, guys," Cal says. "It's been a while since the three of you were here at the same time."

I smile. "Yep, a few months now, I think."

"Last time, you were here with that chick, right?"

We glance at each other. We've taken a lot of women to the club over the years, and spent the night with a few, but I don't remember that offhand.

"I guess." I shrug.

"Have fun, guys!"

We head inside, the speakers pounding out the music.

Taking our seats in our usual spot, we sit above the club, watching the comings and goings. "How was work?" Theo asks Oliver.

"Bullshit, as usual," Oliver grumbles. "I saw Declan's car passing as I was leaving," he adds. "What was he doing at the house?"

I roll my eyes. "He was confronting Eva about the time she's been spending with us. I don't know why he's got it in his head that she's distracting us. He said something about that to me the other day because I was dealing with some club business when he called and couldn't deal with an issue he needed dealt with right away."

Theo sits up straighter, and Oliver leans in, eyes blazing. "What? How dare he confront her?" Oliver snaps out.

"He doesn't need to go talk to Eva. If he thinks we're neglecting our work, then he needs to talk to us," Theo declares. "It's none of his business, anyway. Whatever we do or don't do with Eva has no bearing on our work."

"We've done everything he's asked of us," Oliver says, fingers clenched around his glass. "I don't understand where this is coming from."

"Maybe he's just stressed with all the bullshit going on with the DeLucci Family," I speculate. "He's looking for someone to take his frustrations out on."

"Well, Eva is the wrong person to do that to," Theo says, his eyes dark. "If he touches her…"

"I don't think he'd hurt her," I interrupt, trying to get my more hot-headed brothers to calm down. "I think since she's pregnant, we should still keep a closer eye on her, though."

"We can take turns," Oliver agrees. "Maybe one of us should always be at the manor at all times from now on."

"We can't do that," Theo says, shaking his head. "If Declan is already thinking we're neglecting our shit to spend time with Eva, then he's going to lose his shit if we do this. Besides, even if Eva is pregnant, it's not our baby. We have no claim to her, remember?"

I take a sip of my drink, contemplating that. It's true. None of the three of us have even talked about what it is we want from her or why we've been so obsessed with her since day one.

"I'm going to go dance," I murmur, pushing my drink away. I need to get out of my head, stop stressing about everything going on, and not think for once.

Oliver follows but Theo stays, ordering another drink. He's not much of a dancer, and it's hard to get him onto the dance floor most of the time.

As I dance, my mind drifts back to Eva. I hope she's alright there at home by herself. I don't know why I'm suddenly so damned soft for her, but I guess I don't want any shit to happen to her. Not after we put her through hell once already.

Our father had impressed on us that women were nothing more than a distraction, something to keep us warm on a cold night, people who could entertain us for a few hours, but who weren't to be trusted.

But I'm starting to realize he was wrong. He'd married a woman and then discarded her after Oliver was born, satisfied with the three heirs he had to continue his legacy. There was no love there. We barely knew our mother.

But being around Eva hasn't made me tired of her. If anything, it's made me want to be around her more. She makes me feel like I want to be a better version of myself around her.

Oliver nudges me, pulling me from my thoughts. A girl dances in between us with long, dark hair, and I put my hands on her waist, a sudden memory popping up.

Cal had mentioned us being here last time with a girl, and I feel like I vaguely remember that now, recalling silky hair and a soft smile. We'd danced together that night, her and me and Oliver.

I wonder why that popped into my head all of a sudden.

Shaking myself out of my head again, I wind around the girl I'm dancing with, holding her close as we sway together.

She lifts her long arms, winding them around my neck from behind. Her hands are soft, and I close my eyes, lost in the sensation for a moment.

Another memory pops up.

"It's my birthday," the faceless girl says, her mouth curving into a grin under the neon lights.

"Happy birthday, doll," I say back.

I wonder why I'm suddenly remembering these details. The girl in my memory seems familiar somehow, but I can't put a finger on it.

Shaking my head, I refocus my attention on the girl I'm dancing with, just trying to enjoy myself in this moment.

I look up and catch Oliver's eyes, raising an eyebrow to silently ask if he wants to take this one upstairs.

He shrugs and glances over at Theo, who seems sullen for whatever reason. I laugh, then remember how I did this before the last time we were here.

We took that girl upstairs, didn't we? I wonder why I'm suddenly remembering all this.

Maybe Cal just triggered the memory. We had a lot to drink that night, celebrating the three-year anniversary of our father's death, so the memories I do have of that night are all a big blur.

I'm suddenly not in the mood to go upstairs with the girl we're dancing with and push her away, deciding to go back to the table and have another drink. Oliver watches me with a quirked eyebrow, but I shrug, unable to voice my thoughts.

Slipping into the booth next to Theo, I drain my drink then signal the table service girl for another.

Whatever is going on with my mind tonight, I came here to get away from it all. I need to drink until I stop thinking so hard.

Lifting the shot to my lips, I take it back, then another right after. The burn feels good, and I like the way I'm already starting to not think so hard.

Whatever happened that night was probably not that big a deal, so I don't know why I'm dwelling on it.