the stairs?”
“That,” Antony responded quietly, “is what we are going to figure out.”
Jacob raised a dark brow as his gaze swept down to Antony’s arm as it rested along Ella’s shoulders. “I was told that Ella was acting as your girlfriend, but her real job was being your bodyguard. But seeing you together makes me wonder, just what exactly is going on between you two?”
She didn’t answer. Ella was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that her cousin was in front of her. Her cousin, the spy. She didn’t just have one spy in her life, she had two. Two men she trusted who’d been lying to her. Jacob was just standing there with his hands now shoved into the back pockets of his jeans, as if he were just stopping by for a nice, casual visit. As if he hadn’t just dropped a major bombshell on her.
As she stared at him, or maybe glared, his expression softened. “Ella? What’s wrong?”
“Wrong?” The word was brittle. The same way she felt. “You just admitted to lying to me.”
“I have never lied to you. I just didn’t tell you everything.”
OhmyGod. The men in her life were obviously trying to drive her crazy. She pulled away from Antony. “I need five minutes.” Five minutes alone. Five minutes alone so she would not start screaming. Five minutes so she could just get her head together.
But when she tried to march for the stairs, Jacob jumped in her path. He’d moved way faster than she’d expected.
“Ella, look, I’m sure your boyfriend or client or whatever he is—I’m sure he’s explained that you don’t exactly get a choice with this life. You want to tell your family. You want to tell those who are important to you what is really going on, but if you do that, missions will be jeopardized. People will die.” His lips thinned. “I didn’t like pulling away from you and everyone else. You were one of the only things that ever kept me sane. But I had to protect you. Secrets keep other people safe.”
“You’re blocking her path.” Antony’s voice. Low. Measured. Mildly threatening. “Ella wants five minutes. You will give her what she wants.”
Jacob blinked. He didn’t move out of her way. His attention did shift to Antony. “Or…what, exactly?”
“There is no ‘or’ in this situation. You will give Ella what she wants.” Flat.
Jacob studied Antony in silence. Then, after a tense moment, he moved to the side.
Exhaling, Ella strode past him. “In five minutes, I’ll be ready to leave with you, Antony.” They had plans. An investigation that waited. “I just have to get my gear.” And get my mind back on track.
She hurried away and didn’t look back.
***
“What’s the deal with you and Ella?” Jacob asked as he sized up Antony. “Pretend girlfriend or the real deal? Because my money is on real deal. I saw the way you looked at her. I also heard your voice when you were trying to figure out just why the hell she was hugging me.”
Ella had disappeared up the stairs. “You hurt her.”
“That was not my intention, I can assure you. I am here because Dex said you were in danger. That she was involved. He gave me the go ahead to tell her that I was in a similar line of work. Probably because he’d already given you clearance to tell her what you were doing. Otherwise, he never would have let me tell a family member about my work. You know how he can be. You carry your secrets to the grave or he puts you in a grave.”
Had there been tears in Ella’s eyes? She’d been so happy to see the other man at first. Then, everything had changed. Antony’s hands clenched into fists. “She thinks we’re both liars.”
“I did get that impression.”
He shot Jacob an angry glare. “Dex didn’t have to send you. He knew this would be the result.” What he wouldn’t give to have Dex in front of him right then and there. Dammit. He’d been working so hard to make things up to Ella. To try and earn back her trust. Now, she was probably doubting everything in her world.
Dex did this shit deliberately. Always has to be two steps ahead…
“I also got the impression,” Jacob continued carefully, “that your relationship with my cousin is personal. Do correct me if I’m wrong. And, yes, I just headed back to that shit because you ignored me the first time when I asked