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She placed her small palm against my chest. “I would love that.” Her expression flickered with a hint of something I couldn’t pinpoint, and once again I wondered what was going on with her. Maybe she would tell me soon.
Guiding her to the kitchen, I made her a drink and grabbed myself a cold one before I led her back to the living room, where we settled on the brown leather sofa. “There’s a coaster for you.” I pointed to the coffee table in front of us.
“Tell me what you can about your trip.” She took a sip of her drink and laughed. “Sebastian Fletcher, are you trying to get me drunk so I can’t drive?”
“Should I add more Coke?”
“No, it’s fine. I was just teasing you.” She grew serious. “Why was this business trip so difficult? Did something happen?”
I cleared my throat and set my untouched beer down. “A lot can go wrong when we’re out there. Neighbors could be watching the house. The spouse could come home, like when Stephen caught you when we were moving Sarah and the kids.”
Her body stiffened, but she didn’t say a word. Had he been around, and she hadn’t said anything? Fuck. I should have been there to make sure she was safe.
“Ella, tell me the truth,” I ordered. “You’ve seen Stephen, haven’t you?”
Her face froze, panic-stricken. “It’s fine. There’s nothing you need to worry about anymore.”
“What exactly does that mean?” I leaned closer. “Ella, if he’s threatening you, I can take care of it. You have my word that he won’t ever bother you again.”
She shook her head. “I’ve not seen him in weeks. He did stop by my house, but I told him if he didn’t leave me alone that I would call the cops.”
“That’s not enough to scare off a man like him. Let me hire a bodyguard for you.”
She clenched her jaw. “No need. Plus, if some of our clients sniff out a bodyguard, it could cause issues. I swear to you that I’m safe, and he hasn’t been back around.” She took my hand in hers. “Thank you for worrying about me. It means a lot.”
“I care about you, Ella. If anything happened to you because of me, I would never forgive myself.”
She leaned up and pressed her lips to mine. “As you can see, I’m in front of you and perfectly fine.” Ella sat back and rested against the arm of the couch. “It’s your turn, mister. What’s going on?”
A powerful urge exploded in my chest, and it took everything inside me not to pick her up and hide her away from all the bad in our fucked-up world. That wasn’t reality, though. Not to mention, Ella was strong and would refuse to let anyone coddle her.
I took a deep breath, my thoughts returning to the first family we’d relocated. Since Ella had experienced what I did firsthand, I knew I could trust her with what happened.
“The boyfriend had recently been released from prison, and even though the woman had broken things off with him a year ago, he was determined not to let her go. The same day he was a free man, he showed up at her house and beat the shit out of her right in front of their six-year-old son. The kid was the one who called 9-1-1 for his mom.”
Ella’s hands flew over her mouth as tears welled in her eyes. “Oh god. That poor baby. Even for an adult that’s a lot to try to process.”
“I hate fuckers who take out their anger on a woman and kids.” My pulse thundered in my ears, and I reminded myself the family was safe.
Anger simmered in her gaze. “Me too. I wish you’d caught that guy in the act and pummeled his face in.”
I cracked a grin. “If I’d tied him down, would you have beat the hell out of him?”
She laughed. “That’s a strange question, but yeah. I’d take you up on that offer. I wouldn’t kill him, just give him the same level of pain that he’d inflicted on his ex.” She shot me an impish grin. “I’m an equal opportunist.” Ella took a drink and propped her arm up on the back of the couch, peering at me over the rim of her glass.
Unable to help myself, I stared at her. “You’re so beautiful.”
Her cheeks flushed with my compliment. I hadn’t meant to embarrass her, but she would eventually get used to the praise.
“Thank you. But back to the story.” She giggled behind her hand.
“Yeah, that.” I rubbed my jaw. “We were able to reach her while she was in the hospital and arrange a safe place for her and the kid. Once she was discharged, Dope and I wheeled her out and to the pickup lane, but that sorry bastard was waiting for her. We had our disguises on, but he spotted her. We had to turn around and run through the building, hoping we could lose him while Dope called the police. The cops searched for a few hours, but they never found him. After we reached the van, Dope drove like a bat out of hell to get the son who was staying with a friend. She was terrified that her ex had gone after the kiddo while we were trying to get out of the hospital. Apparently, he’d used their son to manipulate her before, including holding a knife to the boy’s neck.”
Ella’s mouth dropped open. “That’s horrible. What the fuck is wrong with people?”
Dammit, I like this girl. We were on the same page in so many ways, but this—her protective nature with the ability to inflict some damage, when necessary, had both my heart and dick begging for her.
“We got the son, but as we were pulling away from the home, he showed up. Once he realized we had his kid, he came after us. He was hard to shake the second time, but Dope can drive that van like no one’s business. He’s got skills for damn sure.”
