Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
She double-blinked. “What?”
“I heard you shouting. Well, cursing. I came over just in time to watch you take the psychic hit. I stepped in and killed the fucker that assaulted you.”
“But … why … why didn’t you … ” Ella shook her head, struggling to gather her thoughts. “Why would you come to my rescue and then vanish?” That made no sense. Unless … She narrowed her eyes. “Or were you up to no good at the time? You couldn’t afford to be seen in the area?”
He ran his tongue over the front of his teeth. “Something like that.” The hand cinching her hip breezed a thumb over her hipbone. “I’m telling you this because I don’t want you hunting the wrong person. Whoever’s writing the notes isn’t the fucker that assaulted you. He’s long gone from this world,” he added, his voice dropping, sheer menace threaded through each word.
Something told her that her attacker had died hard.
While it was annoying to only learn of this now, she couldn’t really blame him for keeping it to himself. He hadn’t known about the notes; hadn’t realized how hard she was searching for the identity of her mugger. Once he did learn of it, he chose to be upfront with her … even though it meant revealing something he’d apparently prefer to keep quiet.
Okay, so he hadn’t been upfront with her straight off the mark. He could have told her this morning but hadn’t. She was guessing he’d wanted to speak with his club about it first.
Ella sighed. “How am I supposed to tell this to my family and Luka? They’ll want to know how you could possibly have known about the notes. I mean, there’d be no other reason for you to admit to being at the scene.”
“Belinsky already knows. I paid him a visit earlier.”
Yet again, she rapidly blinked. “You did, what?”
“You said you wanted to keep us on the downlow. That meant I needed to handle this a different way. I told him I’d overheard that he was searching for information on who’d assaulted you that night. I admitted to him what I just admitted to you. He hasn’t called you?”
“He might have done. I was in the bath. I left my phone over there on the nightstand.”
“He’ll want to let you know about our conversation, because he’ll have no reason to assume that I’d be the one to tell you.”
“Thank you for being honest. You could have hid it from me to conceal your whereabouts that night. You didn’t. I appreciate it.”
“I told you, you’re mine. I protect what belongs to me.”
She probably shouldn’t like it when he used the M-word, but she did.
“Is there no one else who could be sending you these notes? No enemies, old or new?”
She blew out a breath that slightly rattled her lips. “Not really. I mean, I recently fired someone. But that was after I’d received the first two notes, and she didn’t actually want to work for me, so she doesn’t care.”
He kissed her forehead. “We’ll eventually find out who it is.” His brow creasing in concern, he breezed the pad of his thumb beneath her eye. “You look a little—”
“Tired. Yeah. Normal for me recently.”
“Why?”
“I rarely wake feeling like I’ve slept well. It’ll pass.”
He bumped his nose to hers gently. “I’ll make sure you get a good night’s sleep tonight.”
“If that means you intend to fuck me to sleep, I’m all for it.”
“Glad to hear it.” The hand on her hip tugged her closer as he glided his free hand up her spine to settle on her nape … smoothly pulling her into a hug.
“You’re good at this.”
A wolfish smile tipped up his mouth. “You said that last night. I was going down on you at the time, wasn’t I?”
Her belly clenched at the memory his words conjured up.
“Now, it’s fucking with my head that you’re wearing nothing beneath that robe,” he said, his voice dropping to a whisper; need blooming in his eyes. “I want to see it on the floor.”
Smiling, Ella opened the tie. “I think I can accommodate that wish.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Everleigh stared up at him, biting her lower lip. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
He held her gaze, his expression grave. “I’m sure.”
“I just don’t want you to have any regrets. I’d understand if you later did, and I’d even understand if you came to hate me for—”
“I could never hate you.” He framed her face with his hands. “I love every fucking inch of you, inside and out. And I would never regret falling to be with you.”
“Even though you’ll have to survive partly on blood?”
“Even though. I have been alone for a very long time. Alone and numb. I didn’t live, I existed. Until you. I’m not going to let you go, and I’m not going to leave you. I fucking refuse to be without you.”