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She could. She would.
15
Logan sat in the car and peered through the downpour. He could still see Ella’s house, but just barely. The skies had parted just as he was leaving the house after going through the transportation and security plans for her and Leo, and he’d driven back to the penthouse through rain so heavy he couldn’t see more than two feet in front of the car.
He hadn’t meant to come back. He’d assigned two of Mauz’s men, August and Max, to take the night shift on opposite ends of Ella’s street while Beck and Ryker rested up for the day shift driving and guarding her.
But the penthouse had taken on the air of a frat house, with Beck, Ryker, and a newish guard named Holt, plus Mauz and Ford, ordering dinner in and watching the Cubs play the Dodgers.
Logan was happy to see them having a good time. Tomorrow everyone would be working except for August and Max, who’d be sleeping off their night shift, and Holt, who would be a floater deployed as needed.
Their jobs were stressful. They deserved to have some fun.
But Logan’s conversations with Ella had still been rattling around in his mind. He’d wanted quiet, and if he was honest with himself, wanted to check on Beck and Ryker. It was a waste of time. They were professionals. They didn’t need anyone checking up on them, and even if they did, Logan could have called.
Those were the things he told himself when he grabbed his jacket and keys, when he told the men he was heading out for a bit, when he started back through the rain toward Lake Forest.
He’d thought about Ella through every mile. He would call her Gabriella to her face, but he couldn’t help the fact that in his mind, his heart, she would always be Ella to him.
She’d looked angry when she’d first opened the door to him that afternoon, but that expression had quickly given way to something softer and more vulnerable. She’d never been one to hold a grudge. She forgave the way she loved, fully and with her whole heart, which was why losing her had hurt so damn much. It had been like having the sun snatched away just as he was getting warm.
It hadn’t been as hard to apologize as he’d expected. He’d been wrong to come at her the way he had in her office. However strong she was, she’d been shaken. Anybody would be. He’d let his fear take over and that was something he couldn’t afford to do.
But jesus… he had been afraid.
It had been years since he’d been scared, since high school, the last time he could remember having something to lose.
The thought of some thug with his hand over Ella’s mouth, with a fuckinggunpointed at her face, had made him come undone. It made him come undone now, sitting in the car hours later. And since the Russian thug hadn’t been present after the attack, Logan had directed his anger at Ella who, to be fair, had always been able to out-stubborn even Hawk, albeit without the accompanying rage.
He couldn’t let it happen again, not only because it was unprofessional, but because he’d put to bed any illusion that he was going to leave Chicago, that he was going to leave Ella in the hands of Mauz’s men.
They were perfectly capable, but after what had happened that morning, there was no way Logan was leaving until after the trial.
Until he knew Ella and Leo were safe for good.
A knock on his window pulled him from his thoughts and he looked through the rain-streaked glass to find Ella, holding an umbrella over her head and standing next to his window.
He shouldn’t have been happy to see her. He should have been annoyed to see her actually. She was supposed to stay in the goddamn house.
Still, his heart swelled at the sight of her face.
“Everything okay?” he asked when he’d retracted the window.
“It’s fine.” She shook her head. “But what are you doing out here? I thought you said Max and August were on duty tonight?”
“They are,” he said. “I was just checking in, making sure everything was good.”
She glanced at the takeout bag in the passenger seat, and he wished he’d had time to hide the extra-large coffee he’d bought on the way.
“You’re not planning to leave, are you?” she asked.
He forced himself to suppress the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips and shrugged instead. “First night. Want to make sure everything’s running smoothly.”
She glanced behind her, then turned back to look at him. “Would you come inside at least? Please?”
“I’m fine. Really,” he said.
“I’m sure that’s true, but I won’t sleep a wink knowing you’re out here in the car for another night.” He started to say something and she continued before he got a word out. “Come on, Logan. You can’t see the house very well from the street in this rain anyway. I have a guest room. You can stay there, and you’ll be that much closer if there’s a problem.”
