20. Adam #2
"Then you do it more gently and lovingly," I threw at him in a 'no-duh' kind of way.
"It's the intention behind the actions." Of course, that was easier said than done, but if he was serious about this woman, then he'd pull it off.
"Or just stick to what works with you two.
I mean, if you've pushed her away before with your bullying, then pull her towards you with the same methods.
Bully her into loving you. Problem solved. "
Grumbling to himself, Rowan sulked for a good while before directing his attention to me. "What are you going to do with Eliza and the information?" He sounded a little too interested in my diabolical plans for a man of the law.
Keeping quiet, I stared at the stacks of paper for a quick minute before letting out a defeated sigh and running a hand through my hair. "I don't know." It was the honest answer.
"Are you going to confront her about it? I mean, she's been lying to you this whole time," Max commented with a lopsided frown, clearly not envying me.
"But for good reason." Surprisingly, Rowan took a side rather than stay quiet. "I'm not saying it's right, but she kind of has a right in this situation. If she's hiding from that piece of work and trying to start anew, then I kind of don't see too much harm."
"Oooh, someone's becoming a bad cop," I teased with a snickering chuckle. It was a bad attempt to displace myself, but I felt like a floating boat in the middle of nowhere.
I was torn and confused.
A part of me wanted to be upset at her, but the reasonable side of me, the half that loved her dearly, made it impossible to hold any ill feelings towards my darling Eliza. Rowan also had a good point, not that I'd admit it out loud.
What harm did Eliza's omission cause?
It wasn't as if she hid it because she had some malicious intent. She hid things for her sake and Asher's. I mean, if I had a past like that, I'd want to forget it ever happened.
The only reason why I was even remotely upset was the fact she didn't trust me enough to let me in.
Also, I was upset because I had no idea what to do in this situation.
Should I confront her about it? If I did, then how would I even go about it?
Things like this didn't pop up with a simple Google search, so I'd have to figure out some lie or elaborate story of sorts as to how I even found out despite her efforts to hide it from me.
On the other hand, leaving this alone didn't feel completely right, either. Something had to be said, no? Even if it was her past, it was still a huge part of her life that I deserved to know about.
"Don't even think about dusting the bastard. He's a lieutenant in criminal investigations over there, so if you try anything, someone is going to notice," Rowan commented with his flat eyes trained on me. "Not that you should be doing that shit in the first place."
"As if you're one to talk," I remarked, glaring at him smugly. "Don't forget who you're associated with and what we've done for you." Not trying to blackmail him or anything, but I wanted to knock him back down to my level.
He may be a damn man of the law, but his actions have bloodied his hands as much as mine.
Directly, he's never murdered anyone, but he's called on many favors from me over the recent years by having people implicated for his cases or straight up asking me to get rid of some scumbag.
So, the good ol' police captain wasn't oh so lawful.
"Well, knowing you, you're not going to let the poor sap live." Rowan rolled his eyes and scoffed at me.
"Oh, as if you're going to let your girl's husband get away with beating her black and blue," Max commented, shooting a knowing look at his cousin.
Scowling, Rowan turned his head at Max, burning his beady green orbs into Max. "Don't sound like you're innocent in any of this either. You have any idea how paranoid I was after covering up for you?"
Clearing my throat loudly and purposefully, I garnered both of their attention.
"Listen, we're all in the same boat." Rowan's tense shoulders earned him a pointed look from me to keep him quiet.
"Whether we like it or not, what's done has been done, so there's no changing any of that fact.
All we can do now is think of what to do moving forward. "
"You mean plan another murder?" Rowan snarked in a very sarcastic voice.
"IF!" I hardened my glare at Rowan. "If it comes to that, then yes."
Alright, it wasn't a matter of if but when, because like hell would I let this bastard get away with harming Eliza.
I just didn't know how I'd do it yet. The fact that James was quite high in ranking with the police department and probably had a very well-known presence would make his murder trickier to pull off.
Sighing heavily, I ran a hand through my hair before standing up. "Well, you two go make yourselves at home. I'm going to get some business done while Eliza and Asher are still napping," I told the two before walking away with Eliza's papers in hand. "I'll be in the office if you need me."
I needed some time to myself to mull over this new information and formulate a plan to get rid of her soon-to-be ex-husband.
Also, I needed to figure out what to do about Eliza and her past. I debated mentally whether or not to pry at her or just let it slide.
Either way, things could or would get messy; it came down to which mess I wanted to clean up.
God damn it, Eliza darling…
I wasn't frustrated or upset with her because there really wasn't anything reasonable to hold against her.
There had been no harm in her keeping all of this from me.
Unlike my secret, which I intended to never lether in on.
The moment a word about Eliza got around, my enemies would make her a target to get at me.
Reasonably, I should let her know so she could decide if she wanted to stay in this relationship or get out…
But I was never reasonable when it came to Eliza, so too fucking bad, for her that was.
I mean, if worse came to worst, locking her away in the house was always a viable option. She didn't need to work, and she could get plenty of fresh air and sunlight through an open window.
No way would I ever let Eliza go. If it came down to it, I'd deal with her hatred for me controlling her life. She could be mad at me all she wanted if it got to that point, I'd gladly take it to keep her alive and happy.
Just as I managed to pull myself out of my thoughts long enough to focus on Eliza's actual files, my office door opened following some soft knocks.
Irritation furrowed my brows for a split second before the sight of Eliza dissipated it.
Her small and tired voice barely carried through the air.
"Bub? Can I be with you right now? I'm lonely.
" Slipping in, she rubbed her eyes lightly as she waited for my response.
Relaxing with a smile, I nodded and waved her over.
"As if I can ever say no to you." Call me a fucking simp for her, I didn't care, but as long as she was satisfied, that was all that mattered to me.
"Is something bothering you, little rose?
" I could feel concern weighing my face down as I watched her shuffle over to me.
Eliza chewed at her bottom lip for a minute before sighing heavily. "I feel stupid for being bothered by it, though, so I don't want to trouble you when you're working," she admitted with a small frown before plopping herself down in my lap.
Slipping her legs around me, she straddled my body and fitted herself right into me, relaxing after burying her face into my neck. "You smell so good, like wood and hot chocolate," she murmured against my neck. "And like fresh laundry."
Chuckling, I stroked the back of her head a bit before wrapping an arm around her, leaving a free one to work. Was it kind of risky to be going through her file with her literally right on my lap? Probably, but it wasn't as if she’d paid any attention.
Turning my head, I kissed the top of hers.
"Take my cock out and sit on it, darling," I spoke against her, making her squirm a little in my lap.
Nudging my nose around, I found my way to her ear, nipping at it playfully before whispering, "I want to feel you around me while I work, and I want to be ready to throw you on my desk to fuck and fill you after I'm done. "
Her tired hands were quick to scurry down my body to my pants, pulling the waistband down to pull my soft cock out. While she hovered over me, I carefully pulled her panties off from under her outfit—one of my shirts on her fun-sized body.
My arm around her waist tightened at the feeling of her hot tightness surrounding my cock. It was a bit of an awkward struggle for a moment, to get my soft cock inside her, but she managed. " Brava ragazza ," I praised her sweetly, kissing her neck some. "I won't be long, promise."
Humming softly and nodding, Eliza kissed my cheek before leaning against me again.
Soon, her soft and even breaths tickled my neck, and I had to look down to check if she was awake or not.
A small frown of concern pulled at my lips when I saw her sleeping face.
How tired was she to fall asleep so easily against me like this?
Usually, she stayed awake for her fucking whenever I had her warm my cock.
Oh well, more fun for me.
I studied her profile for a long while until I felt the words blur in my mind.
As much as I wanted to keep chugging the information in, nothing stuck.
So, that was a clear indicator to stop for the day.
Besides, it was not like it was anything dire.
Knowing about Eliza's past was more of a personal thing that satisfied my curiosity.