The One Who Got Away (Wilde Ways #12) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,50

Look for Jacob to be at the door…”

Click.

“Well, I hope you have a good damn day, too,” Antony snapped. He tossed his phone on the bed so he could finish getting dressed. He needed to get moving. But…

Dex’s words played through his head once more.

You truly think your precious Ella doesn’t have secrets?

Antony had thought that he knew Ella, inside and out. Just what did Dex know? What could Ella be keeping from him? And—

Shit, is this the way she felt for the last two years when I was lying to her?

If so, the feeling well and truly sucked.

***

“So you’re the gaming guru.” The woman who’d just introduced herself as Niesha Grim swept her dark gaze over Antony. “My little brother loves your tech. Says the virtual stuff you have going on is miles ahead of the competition.” She offered her hand to him. Her nails were short and unpolished. No rings adorned her slender fingers.

Antony smiled at her as he closed his hand around hers. “Your brother sounds like a savvy kid.” He released her and glanced over at Ella. She was standing nearby and thumbing through the paperwork he’d handed her moments before.

“When did you get this material?” Ella asked without looking up.

The paperwork was all about Axel Walker. He’d given her the file right after he’d walked into the room. “Last night.”

Ella looked up, then passed the file to Niesha. “Last night?” Ella repeated. Her gaze sharpened.

“I was a little wired. Couldn’t sleep.” Kept thinking about you being shoved down the stairwell. “Decided I’d do a little research.”

“This is a lot of research, not a little,” Niesha pointed out. “How did you get access to all of these records?” Her suspicious stare darted to him.

He simply shrugged.

“He can do pretty much anything with a computer.” Ella moved closer to his side. “If you have secrets to hide, Antony will uncover them.”

Do you have secrets, Ella?

“Thanks for the warning.” Niesha had gone back to flipping through the files. “Axel had a parole officer. I think I’ll follow up with him and see what shakes loose.” Her attention shifted to Ella. “I’m guessing you’ll be Antony’s shadow today?”

A nod.

“I have some leads for us to follow,” Antony announced because he wasn’t planning to sit on his ass all day. “While you’re checking out the parole officer, Ella and I will investigate a different avenue of—”

Niesha blinked and stared at him as if he’d just said he had a pet tiger in the other room. “Uh, yeah…” A wince from Niesha. “The tech info is helpful. Thanks for getting it for us, but just so you know, we have people at Wilde who probably would have turned up the same intel.”

They did not have people at Wilde who were as good at tech as he was. He’d turned up his information in record time, and there was no way Wilde would have been able to access—

Ella squeezed his arm.

He released a breath.

“I appreciate you wanting to be involved,” Niesha continued carefully. She gave him a quick smile. Friendly but dismissive. “But understand that you’re not exactly cut out for doing the physical leg work on a case like this.”

He wasn’t cut out for it? He was more than cut out for it.

Ella gave him another squeeze before dropping her hand.

“Things get dangerous in the field.” Niesha nodded as she added, “Wilde agents take the job to protect clients. We don’t let guys like you walk into the crossfire.”

“Guys like me…?” He frowned at her. There was something familiar about her. About those glass-sharp cheek bones of hers. She stood at around six-foot-one, maybe six-foot-two in her flats. She was lean and held herself with a careful grace.

“Yes, sorry, but guys like you don’t belong in the field.” Her tone had turned more clipped. As if explaining shouldn’t be necessary. “Guys who don’t know how to handle guns. Guys who spend more time in penthouses than in bar fights. Guys who would shit themselves if danger walked up to them.” She motioned vaguely toward him and kept smiling her friendly but utterly dismissive smile. “Guys like you.”

Ella choked out a laugh.

Antony sent her a fast frown. “That is not funny.”

She shrugged as a smile tugged at her lips. “It kind of is. You know it is. Deep down.”

Niesha sighed. “Look, I am not trying to hurt your pride. I’m trying to be real. You think you’re going out to hunt down leads with Ella? Be all big and bad on the