And the last thing she needed in her life right now was another man with ulterior motives.
* * *
"The wedding is off," she said flatly. "I wanted you to hear the news from me."
It was one of the most painful admissions of her life. But she knew she owed it to her parents to give them the news herself rather than have it catch up with them through the grapevine.
"Oh, Eva!" her mother said, before hurrying over for a hug.
Her father looked relieved, but he asked gruffly, "Are you okay?"
She'd driven directly to Mill Valley from the The Last Supper Club. When she'd arrived, she'd found her parents ensconced in their living room, where they'd obviously retired after dinner. Her mother, it had pained her to note, had been flipping through a bridal magazine. Her father had been watching a news show on television.
Now, Eva pulled away from her mother's embrace and faced her father. "You should be happy. Carter isn't going to be your son-in-law."
"Happy doesn't describe what I'm feeling at the moment."
"Elated?"
"What happened?"
"Griffin hasn't told you?" she said, feigning surprise. "Isn't the hired gun supposed to let his principal know the news first?"
Though Griffin had told her yesterday he'd come to her first with his evidence, she was surprised he hadn't immediately followed up with a call to Marcus. He'd left before she could ask him to let her break the news to her father herself, assuming her pride would have let her make such a request.
Her father had the grace to look a little uncomfortable. "He hasn't said a thing."
"Surprising since you ordered him to have Carter investigated," Eva responded coolly.
"In the first place, no one orders Griffin—"
"Marcus, is this true?" her mother interrupted, looking shocked.
Her father shifted his focus to her mother. "What else was I supposed to do, Audrey? He was about to marry into this family. And don't second-guess me, because Eva just admitted I was right!"
"Right about what?" her mother asked.
Eva sighed inwardly. "About Carter wanting to marry me for my money, Mom."
"Oh, Eva! I'm so sorry."
Her father muttered a few choice words.
She didn't want to bring up that, on top of it all, Carter had been cheating on her. Griffin's silence had given her an out, and she wasn't above using it now.
"What would you like us to tell everyone, Eva?" her mother asked quietly.
"Just tell them Carter and I decided to break up. Period."
She'd thought about the issue on the drive over to her parents' place, and realized there were only a few people she wanted to share the whole truth with.
Fortunately, because her engagement to Carter hadn't yet become official—there'd been no ring, no party and no public announcement—there would be fewer questions. She also knew the last thing Carter would want to admit was that he'd been dumped by the heiress to the Tremont fortune because he'd been cheating on her.
Now she faced her father squarely. "I got rid of Carter, but you're my father and I can't change that."
Her father went still.
"So I'm just here to say," she continued, "don't interfere in my life again."
"Evangeline—"
"And to use Griffin Slater, of all people."
Her father shook his head. "I never understood your aversion to Griffin."
"You know, I've never quite understood it myself. After all," she said sarcastically, "he's done me a favor by taking on the role for the Tremont heir that I'm not inclined to—or should I say, I'm not capable of?"
"I never said you were incapable."
"You didn't have to," she responded.
Her father looked stormy, while her mother simply seemed distressed.
"The reason I never pushed you toward Tremont REH," her father said, "is that I wanted you to be able to choose your own path and follow your own dreams."
The admission was a balm to raw feelings. Still, she wasn't letting him off the hook as far as Griffin was concerned.
"You may never have pushed me toward Tremont REH, but you're happy to push me at Griffin," she accused.
"Not because of Tremont REH," her father replied stubbornly, "but because he's a good man."
"Stop it, the both of you," her mother said, then turned her head toward her. "Eva, I hope you'll spend the night here. I hate to think of you being alone right now."
She was grateful for her mother's invitation, but she had one more thing to say to her father.
"Well, know this. Griffin Slater is the last man on earth I'd marry."
She thought it was a good parting shot. Especially since the risk of having to eat her words was zero.
Five
T wo days after Griffin went to see Eva at her apartment, he looked up to see Marcus in the doorway of his office at work.
Usually Marcus's appearance at Tremont REH and Evkit's shared headquarters wasn't noteworthy. Only semiretired, he was in the habit of dropping in on a regular basis.
But this time Griffin knew better than to think Marcus's presence at work was unremarkable.
As Marcus shut the door behind him, his face turned into a glower. "That bastard, Newell."
His sentiments exactly, Griffin thought.
"Still, I'm glad Eva called off the wedding."
Griffin let the news of the cancelled nuptials wash over him like a cool wave on a blistering day. As mad as she'd been, at least Eva had had the good sense to give Carter the kiss-off.
He stood and came around his desk. "Glad you're focusing on the bottom line, Marcus."
"She said Ron found evidence Carter was marrying her for her money," the older man stated.
"Yes," Griffin said, not knowing how much Eva had revealed.
"How did he draw that conclusion?"
Griffin forced himself to shrug nonchalantly. "The usual stuff. A financial profile that showed Carter's living on a borrowed dime. Some interesting conversations caught on tape."
Since Marcus hadn't yet said anything about Carter two-timing Eva, Griffin kept his mouth shut on the topic.
Marcus nodded, looking, in fact, as if he didn't want Griffin to go into further detail.
Griffin didn't blame him. He wished he didn't know the particulars. He could only assume the situation was even more uncomfortable for Marcus, given that Eva was his daughter and only child.
"I went to Eva first," Griffin explained, skirting the issue of when exactly he'd gotten news from Ron, "because I thought she was entitled to hear the information before anyone else. I figured she'd want to tell you herself."