The One Who Got Away (Wilde Ways #12) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,32

skin. She’d left the upper two buttons of the pajama top undone, and he could see the tempting dip where her—

Antony jerked his eyes up. “You know what? Probably doesn’t matter what you wear. I’d think you were sexy in anything. My problem, not yours.”

Her head cocked to the right. “You worked with me for two years and never had an issue with anything I wore.”

If only. “I think it’s time I was brutally honest with you.” He motioned toward the couch. “Want to sit down?”

“Is it gonna be that bad? So bad that I need to sit down?”

Antony considered things. “Yes.” But he had to do this. He couldn’t tell her everything, but he’d give Ella as much honesty as he could. She deserved that.

She deserves everything. If he could, he’d put the whole world at her feet. But…

No, not in the cards for them. No matter how much he might want otherwise.

God, when she finds out about my latest lie…She was going to be so pissed.

She moved slowly across the room. Her steps were graceful. Careful. She always moved that way. With a flowing, lithe movement. “From your ballet training,” he said, musing out loud. “Back when you were in high school. You always move so beautifully.”

She paused. “You know I took ballet in high school?”

“I know you were Clara in the local production of The Nutcracker. Got rave reviews. But you stopped dancing shortly after that.” What he didn’t know was why. He knew lots of facts about his Ella. Lots of pieces that went into the puzzle that was her, but he didn’t know why she’d done certain things. He had the pieces, but they wouldn’t go together properly in order to give him a full picture.

He wanted a full picture.

Who was he kidding? He wanted her.

“You really did dig into my past.” She began walking again. When she settled onto the couch, the silk slithered over the cushions. “Why?”

“I investigate everyone I work closely with.” He was staring at her feet. Bare feet. Red toenail polish. She had freaking adorable feet.

“You investigate people because you’re a control freak.”

He met her gaze. “Guilty, but, in my defense, you were my head of security. I had to be absolutely certain that I could trust you. You were gaining access to my inner circle. You had full access to my life. My home. My office. If there were red flags in your past, I needed to know about them.”

“Especially given your extracurricular work,” she murmured as she brushed back her hair. He noticed that it was mostly dry. Soft. Beautiful. “For all you knew, I could have been an enemy spy planted to learn all of your deep, dark secrets.”

“That was a possibility.”

“One you explored?” Her voice was carefully emotionless.

She wasn’t going to like his answer. She probably wasn’t going to like most things that he had to tell her that night. But they were past the point of no return. They’d gone past that point when Axel Walker had died beneath her hands. “I’m sorry.”

“For what this time? Can you be more specific?”

“Death is brutal and cold. I never expected the night to go that way. The last thing I wanted was for you to be in a situation like the one at the bar.”

“I was going to be an FBI agent,” she reminded him. “I’ve had plenty of security training. I understand—”

“Handling corporate security—where some shady asshole is trying to steal gaming tech—is a far cry from watching a man get gunned down right in front of you. I saw your face out there, Ella.” He took a lurching step toward her. Stopped himself. If he got too close, he’d want to touch her. If he touched her…

Keep your ass focused. “It gutted you,” he added gruffly. “I don’t like seeing you in pain.”

Her gaze darted toward the fire. “Well, I don’t like being in pain. So there’s that.”

“Ella…”

“Let’s get back to the part where you thought I was a secret spy who’d come to worm my way into your life.” Her stare returned to his. “If you thought I might be bad, why hire me?”

“Because I believe in keeping my enemies close. By giving you the job, it gave me a chance to…” Aw, hell. “If you were working against me, it would have been easy to take you down.”

“I see.” Her hands fluttered over her silk-clad thighs. “Why, exactly, did you think I was a spy? I mean, do enemies knock on your door