why do you even care?” she hissed. “Why are you here? You’ve made it very clear that I rate lower than scum in your estimation, so why the sudden concern?”
“It’s a habit I seem to have gotten into,” he said mildly. “Saving your ass. At the rate you’re going, it’s going to be a full-time job.”
She whipped her head around and glared at him. “Get it through your head, Sterling. I am none of your business. What I do or don’t do isn’t any of your business. You have no right to hold me against my will.”
He shrugged. So it was back to Sterling. Good, in the manner that for the moment she’d regained the fire he was so well acquainted with. Bad, because he liked the sound of his first name on her lips. He liked it a lot. He’d like it even better when they were in bed and he was deep inside her.
“I don’t really give a fuck what you think, Eliza. Get that through your head. You’re not getting rid of me, so get over it. Maybe we should call Dane and get his opinion. What do you think? I’m sure he’d be interested in your choice of vacation destination.”
The color leeched from her face and for a moment he thought she was going to pass out. Fuck. Yeah, this was as bad as it got. He’d been ninety-nine percent sure that Dane had no fucking clue what was going on with Eliza, and with that reaction, the one percent still out for jury made it unanimous.
“You can’t,” she whispered. “Wade, please. You don’t understand. He will kill every single one of them. Are you hearing what I’m saying? Because I’m not making this shit up. I’m not exaggerating nor am I overreacting. Anyone and I mean anyone I care about, anyone who has had any part of my life in the last ten years will die. I am the only one who can stop that from happening. You have no idea what he’s capable of. If you call Dane, then they’ll all rush up here and go straight to their graves. But it won’t end there. He’ll go after Ramie, Ari and Gracie. And I’ll die before I let that happen. Do you want Gracie to die because you’re being an interfering asshole?”
Wade laughed. He couldn’t help it. “Have you lost your mind? Do you honestly think this asshole, whoever he is, has a chance against Ari? She’d kick his candy ass to hell and back. That’s provided he ever got past me and the rest of DSS.”
Why the fuck was Eliza so goddamn afraid of one man? She kept saying “he.” Over and over. Like he was God, an unstoppable force. Invincible. Untouchable. And why did Dane or any of the others not know anything about someone who was a threat to everyone Eliza cared about? He was seriously starting to consider that Eliza had been more emotionally traumatized by her ordeal than anyone—even Wade—realized, because this—she—the whole damn story just sounded . . . crazy. And Eliza was anything but crazy. She was smart, could take care of herself and her teammates and she had confidence in spades.
Or at least she did.
But now, the Eliza he thought he knew, was nothing like the woman staring at him with grief, sorrow and fucking fear in her eyes that gutted him every time he witnessed it. And he realized he didn’t know her at all. It was also apparent that none of the people she worked with, trusted, risked her life to protect and had their back no matter the risk to herself, didn’t know fuck all about her either. They only saw what she wanted them to see.
She had secrets, deep secrets she’d never shared with anyone, and worse she had demons she also had never shared with another living soul. And if it was the last thing he did, he was going to ferret out every single one of those secrets and demons and then he was going to do whatever it took to remove the fear and the shadows so evident in her eyes and he’d personally take care of the demons that haunted her and he didn’t give a damn whether she liked it or not.
TEN
GRACIE pulled into the parking garage of the downtown building that housed the offices of DSS and recklessly slammed on her brakes, opening her door before she’d even got her car into park. Clutching the envelope