With Every Breath (Slow Burn #4) - Maya Banks Page 0,76
time accepting such an abrupt about-face when before, from all appearances, they couldn’t stand to be in the same room together. Had she ever wondered why he harbored such animosity toward her?
He’d known from day one that she spelled trouble for him. He had known from the start that she was a complete game changer for him and he hadn’t liked that one bit. He’d fought it and he’d done plenty of denying, but there was no disputing the fact that she was it for him. He was drawn to her like a magnet, not wanting to be caught in her web but not having any damn choice in the matter.
Wade Sterling, ultimate lone wolf, cold and uncaring, unfeeling, completely unhinged by a petite blonde-haired, green-eyed temptress. Oh yeah, Eliza was his kryptonite. His one and only weakness.
“You think I’m an idiot,” she protested. “You think I’m careless, stupid, trying to get myself killed. You were pissed when I was abducted, pissed that I was tortured and livid when I wanted to be included in the takedown of the monsters who did that to me. Like I was too stupid to live for wanting to get vengeance on the bastards who rendered me powerless instead of sitting on the sidelines like some helpless twit while my big bad coworkers took care of business so poor, helpless Eliza could sit on her hands at home and wait for others to seek revenge that was rightly mine to seek. And now you lie here saying you admire me? Is this some kind of bullshit you’ll say in order to get me to comply with what you want so I’ll tuck myself away and play the hapless damsel in distress and expect others to do my dirty work for me?”
“Did you not hear a word I just said to you, woman?” he roared. “I care about you. I care a hell of a lot! Do you think I was pissed at you because you were abducted and fucking waterboarded and God only knows what else because you never shared exactly all you endured? Do you think I was pissed at you because you wanted to get back your own in the takedown? Jesus, you are an idiot.”
Her mouth gaped open and then shut and he put a finger over her lips before she could say anything further. He leaned in close so that their noses nearly touched.
“I was pissed because someone took you. I was pissed because those bastards put their hands on you. They tortured you. They hurt you and there wasn’t a goddamn thing I could do to stop it. I wasn’t pissed that you wanted in on the takedown. I was pissed because you were in no condition to be going anywhere except to bed and I was sick to my soul imagining you being hurt or killed because you’d just gone through hell and had no business going into a high risk op. And I was pissed as hell that you nearly fucking died because a bullet meant for you would have gone right through your pretty neck and if it had hit you there wasn’t a goddamn thing anyone could have done except watch you bleed out. And lastly I was pissed because you refused to take any downtime after your abduction and torture or after the op was completed and it was over. You were and have been running on fumes for a fuck of a long time and now I know why. I’m worried about you, Eliza. I’m sick with worry because I care a hell of a lot about you and what happens to you, and if I can prevent anything else from happening to you then by God I’m going to do just that whether you like it or not. Whether you hate me or not. Because at least you’ll be alive to hate me.”
He took a deep, steadying breath, trying to regain control of his raging emotions. Her eyes were round and wide with absolute shock. Maybe he was finally getting through to her.
“As for admiring you? Jesus Christ, woman. You are the most infuriating, exasperating, brave, tenacious and loyal person I’ve known in my life. Other people can’t hold a candle to you. I don’t think there’s another person like you on this earth. And by God, you’re mine. I’ve laid claim and I’m not letting you go, so get over whatever problem you may have with that because you’re stuck with