The One Who Got Away (Wilde Ways #12) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,35
Her brows lowered. “Tulips started showing up in the office every two weeks. I just thought you were doing something nice for the staff.”
“I was trying to do something nice for you.” Because he liked her smiles. He liked her. He needed her. “After our night together, I knew I was going to come after you. And, yes, I used my resources to track you to Atlanta and discover that you were working with Eric.”
“And while you were doing this…someone broke into your place.” Her voice was careful.
Hell. This was where things were about to derail. “While I was doing that, I realized I needed a way to get back in your life.”
She backed up a step.
“You were working as a bodyguard.”
“Antony…”
“I figured hiring you would mean that I could spend time with you.”
“Twenty-four, seven,” she whispered.
His chin angled up. “There was no break-in at my condo. You were right to be suspicious of my original story.”
Ella didn’t speak.
“I lied,” he said flatly. “I lied to you and Eric. I wanted a shot at getting you back, and I would have done anything for that shot.”
“Instead of just coming to me and…oh, I don’t know, asking me out on a date, your first instinct was to pretend that you had a break-in? That you or your company might be under attack?” Her gaze blazed at him. “Didn’t you think that was a bit dramatic?”
“You moved to another state. I figured that was your way of saying that, no, you weren’t exactly interested in dating me.” He raked a hand through his hair. Not wet any longer. The flames had dried it. “When you walked into Eric’s office and turned me down, I thought you saw right through me. Just so you know, I offered to pay any price to Eric, but he told me taking the case would be your call.”
“The attack on the street in front of Wilde…” Ella began.
“That was real. Hell. I actually thought it was just a weirdly timed mugging. It helped my story, so I went along with it.”
“Antony.”
“Yeah.” He grimaced. “I’m that kind of asshole. The insane bastard who was using a would-be mugging to get you back. Not my greatest moment, obviously.” Her scent wrapped around him. “I needed to be sure it just was a regular criminal, though, and not something related to my work with Dex. That’s why I tracked the guy. A one-on-one talk would have cleared everything up.”
“Because you normally talk to muggers for fun?”
“I’ve had plenty of encounters with criminals. People a whole lot more dangerous than a mugger.”
She swallowed. Didn’t speak. But the gold in her gaze was still burning brightly. “There was no chance for you to talk, though,” Ella finally said.
“Right. Because the shooter was there. Axel was killed when we approached, and I think he was killed because someone didn’t want him talking to me. His death changed everything. I knew you couldn’t be involved any longer.” Not when bullets were flying. Not when he didn’t know what enemy he was facing. “I lied to you.”
“Over and over.”
“Yes.” He held her bright stare. “I am sorry. It was fucking stupid to think that I could somehow win you back.”
“Win me back? I’m not a prize for you.”
No, of course not, she wasn’t a prize. She was…
“And you don’t win anything by lying.” She shook her head, and her hair slid over her shoulders. “That’s it. The last one.” Clipped. Furious.
“The last—what?”
“The last time you lie to me.”
“Uh, Ella…”
She moved so that she stood toe-to-toe with him. “I’m furious with you.”
“You have a right to be.”
“I’m hurt.”
“God, baby, I am so sorry that I—”
“And I…I don’t know what in the hell to do about us.”
He knew. It wrecked him, but Antony said, “You should walk away. You were right before when you left me.”
She sucked in a fast breath.
“I’m not good for you. You’ll find a guy who will never tell you lies. A guy who will treat you like a princess and worship at your feet.” A faceless guy that he already wanted to kick the ever-loving-shit out of…
“Will he bring me tulips?”
“What?”
“Will he know they make me smile?”
“I—”
“Will he drive me as absolutely crazy as you do?”
Was that a trick question? “Probably not.”
Her stare searched his. “The first day at Wilde, I was walking behind you when you left the lobby. I was on my way to the case I’d been assigned to handle, and then…then I saw that guy with his knife.