The One Who Got Away (Wilde Ways #12) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,68
there could be no uncertainty. “I have to do more digging.”
Eric inclined his head in a slow nod. “Do what you need to do. I’ll make sure she’s protected.”
No more arguments? Good. Antony marched for the SUV.
“I haven’t seen you like this before.” Eric was trailing him. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
He was as far from okay as he could be. He grabbed the handle on the vehicle’s door. “If Ella had been shot, I think I would have killed him. I’m not sure I could have stopped.”
Silence.
He yanked open the door. Jumped into the SUV. He needed to call his lawyers. He knew it. Had to call his partner Sebastian and let him know what was happening. Had to do a million things—
His gaze darted back to Ella. She was walking around the lot. Frowning.
Looking for me?
He started the engine. Reversed. Got the hell out of there before he gave into the fierce need to go to her. Because if he went to Ella as he was…if he touched her again when he didn’t have his control…
I can’t have her afraid of me.
Ella had told him that she wanted to see him without his control. He’d warned her to be careful what she wished for. Ella didn’t understand. He had to keep this part of himself hidden.
Tomorrow, he’d go back to her. Tomorrow, he could come up with a new plan.
Tomorrow.
***
“Well, sonofabitch.” Ella gaped after the SUV’s disappearing taillights. “He left me.” She shook her head because she had to be mistaken. After everything that had happened that night, there was no way that Antony had just driven away without her.
“Ella!”
She tensed at Eric’s call. Her boss hurried to her side.
“How about a ride?” he said with a quick smile. A smile she didn’t buy. “I’ll take you home because I’m sure you’re ready to crash. I think the cops are done with us for now—”
“Antony just left.” Her stomach had knotted.
“Yes, he was going back to his place. He wanted to do some tech work on our mystery perp.” He cleared his throat. “You know how he is. Guy won’t rest until he gets the intel he wants. Antony wanted to make sure there were no loose ends left in the wind.”
She knew exactly how he was. And what he’d done. “He left me.”
“Technically, he fired you.”
Her chin whipped up. “The hell he did.”
“He fired us,” Eric clarified. “Said Wilde had done its usual top-notch, outstanding performance. Well, maybe he didn’t use those exact words, but I got what he was implying.”
She shivered.
“It’s cold out here. Let’s go, Ella. I can take you home and—”
“Why did he leave me?”
Eric glanced around. Almost as if he wanted to make sure no one else was close enough to hear him say… “I haven’t seen him like this before.” Low. “There was a tension riding him that I didn’t like. I think you need to stay away from him for a little while, Ella. It will be safer for everyone that way.”
Safer? What an odd word choice. “Antony would never physically hurt me.”
Eric took a step closer to her. “I know a man at the edge when I see one. Hell, I’ve been one. Everything that went down tonight chipped away at his walls. He’s running on emotion, and I don’t think that is something a man like Antony normally does.”
She didn’t argue. She also didn’t agree. There was so much more to Antony than most people saw. “He’s not going to be able to run from me.” That wasn’t how things would work. Did Antony think she couldn’t handle this side of him? If so, he needed to think again. “I want a ride, but not to my apartment. I want to go h—” Ella stopped. She’d almost said home. Home—meaning where Antony was. “I want to go to his place,” she corrected.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
No, but she was going anyway. She’d slipped up in that factory. Her emotions had been out of control, too. She’d been crawling around on her hands and knees as fear pounded at her. She’d put up her phone to catch the attention of the perp she’d known was still inside. She’d wanted to protect Antony and drawing the shooter’s fire had seemed like a good way of figuring out the guy’s location.
The first time he’d shot at her and Antony, he’d fired just after she’d turned on the light from her phone.