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They’re all in suits. And I’m still dressed in my overnight shift clothes. Faded black jeans and a matching T-shirt.
All of it drops away when I meet Ella’s dark eyes. They flare wide and my heart aches. She didn’t expect me to come for her. Is it surprise in her eyes? Relief? Or maybe horror?
In a scrambled effort she backs away from the table, the wheels of the chair rolling back as she attempts to stand. “Zander,” she says, and my name has never sounded so good as it does right now. “Z.” Kamden puts his hand on her arm like that asshole is going to keep her in her seat, but she shakes him off. Her legs work to carry her around the table as fast as she can go and she flies into my arms.
The office erupts. Damon curses behind me. “I tried to stop him,” he tells the others, and I don’t care.
The feel of her body in my arms makes everything and everyone else fade into the background like white noise. It pushes away a number of things I don’t expect to feel. I breathe in the delicate scent of her skin, and run my hands over her shoulder blades. Over her back. Her heart flutters in her chest but her arms are tight around my waist.
I want to keep her in the circle of my embrace, where nobody can touch her but me. To protect her and give her the choice of what’s next. Cade’s warning command to leave falls on deaf ears. He repeats my name and clears his throat. From my periphery I’m faintly aware that he’s standing now. There’s movement behind me but I ignore it all.
There’s something I have to do first.
I put my hands on her shoulders and create the only space I can bear between us. Tipping her face to mine so I can look into those dark eyes, she’s trembling but she looks as determined as I feel. Ella’s stronger than people give her credit for. Maybe even stronger than I gave her credit for.
“I tried to come back to talk to you this morning. Last night—it wasn’t a mistake for me.” I have to choose my words quickly, and carefully. I could get cut off at any time. “I want to be with you. I need to know if you want the same.”
She pauses, and it’s the longest moment of my life. It drags out and out and out until my entire life feels like it’s hanging between us. Her eyes stay on mine, searching there, and Ella swallows. It reminds me of the first time I saw her in that courtroom. How quiet she was. But she knew what she wanted then too. And I think she knows now. She gives a single, subtle nod.
Before my brother can make it to us, his footsteps foreboding, I tell Ella to sit, leading her back to the table and pulling her chair out for her. It’s silent in the room as she gracefully does as I command. She can’t hide the gentle simper at her lips and it forces a heat to run through my chest.
Pulling out the chair opposite to where my brother was seated, I join the meeting like I belong here.
“I fucked up,” I announce to the room, but I’m looking at my brother, who’s retaking his seat, his narrowed glare not leaving mine. “I crossed a professional boundary. My emotions became involved and I should have told someone before things got this far. I should have come to you.”
“You didn’t,” Cade replies and then swallows so loud I can hear it from across the room. He’s shaken and looks like hell. There’s an edge to his voice so sharp it lowers the temperature in the room. “You didn’t do that, Zander. You had an inappropriate relationship with a client. You can’t be part of this anymore.”
“I apologize.” He breaks the hold he had on me, his gaze dropping to his hands as he clenches his jaw.
“But it would be a mistake to discontinue our relationship, as its purpose has been meaningful to her mental health. I’m certain any one of you can attest to the fact that she has …” It’s uncomfortable speaking about Ella while she’s sitting next to me, able to hear every word.
“I’ve been,” she says, pausing to take a deep breath, then lifts her head to meet Damon’s gaze. “Healing.”
Everyone turns their heads to look at Ella, whose cheeks go pink. There’s color in her face. A brightness to her eyes that wasn’t there when she stood at the front of the courtroom. She’s visibly healthier. She’s been revealing more about what drove her to the unfortunate place she was. “I’m doing the work that needs to be done,” she adds firmly.
