Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Morning, Ells,” Benny greeted brightly.
“Ooh, and you’ve brought two handsome men for me to drool over on this otherwise dreary Monday morning.
” He preened when Knox and Linus followed Ellie into the reception area.
He was wearing skin-tight black trousers and a silk multicolored shirt that somehow worked for him, his hair in that deliberately messy style.
“Good morning, Benny,” Ellie returned briskly, her voice containing none of the warmth he had heard the last time she spoke to the young man.
But Knox could see how hard it was for Ellie to speak at all.
In the end, he had been the one to tell her the name of the person who had repeatedly betrayed her while appearing to be her friend. Followed by Linus showing her all the proof he had, including photographs, as proof of the accusation.
The three of them had discussed the situation for a short time after that disturbing revelation, all of them agreeing that it would be better to wait until Monday morning to confront Day’s unsuspecting accomplice.
Ellie had seemed to shut down after that. She was present physically, but her thoughts and emotions were definitely elsewhere. All Knox had been able to do was make sure she was hydrated and ate when they ate. She had done both robotically.
Linus had offered to stay in a hotel, but both Knox and Ellie had objected to that idea. After all, the other man was only here at all because Knox had asked him to look into Andrew Day.
Even so, Knox had half expected Ellie would want to sleep in the spare bedroom last night rather than with him, and he had breathed a sigh of relief when she returned from the adjoining bathroom in sleep clothes and climbed into bed beside him.
When he tentatively turned on his side and placed an arm over her middle, she had turned into his arms and begun to quietly sob against his chest.
Knox had let her cry, knowing it was what she needed to do.
Day’s betrayal had been bad enough, but Knox knew this second one had come as a complete surprise and shock to Ellie.
She had accepted the arrangement when Knox told her he was coming into the office with her Monday morning. Linus had come too because he had all the digital and photographic evidence.
Not that any of that upset was evident in Ellie’s demeanor this morning. Once they reached Aragon Tower, a mask of haughty professionalism had fallen and was firmly in place by the time they entered the HERA offices to be greeted by a sunny Benny.
“Everything okay?” Benny prompted after no one had responded to his teasing comment.
“No Sally today?” Ellie asked instead of answering him.
Benny grinned. “She was here when I arrived twenty minutes ago, but went down to the bakery to get some of those caramel muffins you like but that they are always sold out of by ten o’clock.”
Ellie gave an abrupt nod. “When she gets back, could both of you come to my office?”
Benny frowned. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” Ellie bit out tautly. “I just want to talk to both of you when Sally gets back.” She swept through to her adjoining office.
“This other handsome gentleman is Linus Wynter,” Knox introduced when Benny continued to look concerned.
Benny’s blue eyes widened. “Are you a member of the Wynter family that owns the prestigious Wynter Security this guy works for?”
Linus nodded. “I’m in charge of all our company’s digital and online security, yes.”
“I don’t suppose you’re looking for a somewhat flighty but beautiful boyfriend to spend your vast fortune on?” Benny encouraged coyly.
“I’m afraid not,” Linus refused with a smile.
“Guess I’ll stick with the one I’ve got then.” The younger man gave another concerned glance in the direction of Ellie’s office. “I have no idea what’s going on,” he said softly, “but whatever it is, I’m counting on you to please make sure that Ells is okay at the end of it.”
“Will do.” Knox dipped his chin in agreement before following Ellie into her office. Linus came too, closing the door behind him.
Ellie sat behind her desk. She looked like the same Ellie Knox had met that first day in his office, and yet also nothing like her.
The big-framed glasses that had hidden half her face were gone, and she was now wearing contact lenses, revealing those electric aqua-blue eyes and sharp cheekbones.
She had blow-dried and straightened her golden hair so that it fell halfway down her back.
Her black business suit must have been a recent purchase because, unlike the other suits Knox had seen her in, this one fitted Ellie’s slender curves perfectly.
She wore a bright red silk blouse beneath the jacket, the same color as the soles on her four-inch black high-heeled shoes and the gloss on her lips.
This morning, she looked every inch Eleanor Hall, successful businesswoman.
Knox knew it was a shell, of course, having held Ellie through the night as she in turn cried and then fell into an exhausted sleep, before waking and following the same pattern over and over again.
Concealer beneath her eyes and a delicate blusher on her cheeks had taken care of her pallor this morning, and the clothes and the unsmiling expression on her face had taken care of the rest.
Whatever happened next, he had no doubts that Ellie was strong enough to withstand it.
* * *
Ellie was a bundle of nerves by the time she heard Benny and Sally talking in the reception as indication her PA had returned from the bakery.
None of them had spoken since they entered her office and Linus had closed the door behind him.
Ellie, because she couldn’t speak without losing the protective shield she had drawn about herself since waking up this morning.
She believed Knox and Linus were silent out of respect for the ordeal that she was gearing herself up to face.
If what Linus had told them was true…
Of course it was true. Linus had shown her the evidence he had on his laptop. It was totally…damning. Undeniable.
It was also heartbreaking to think that she had been so trusting of a friendship that, as it turned out, was nothing more than a mask hiding something far more sinister.
Her ability to find people she could trust truly was awful!
“Except for me,” Knox growled softly, indication that Ellie had spoken the thought out loud.
“And me,” Linus added brightly. “Don’t worry, Ellie, now that you’re one of us, I will definitely make sure to run a security check on anyone you might be thinking of taking as a friend.”
“One of us…?” she repeated.
“As I told you last night—” He broke off when there was a soft knock on the door.
“Come in,” Ellie invited briskly.
Benny entered the office first, followed by Sally carrying the bag of muffins.
Sally grimaced when she saw the other two men in the office with Ellie. “Sorry, I only bought three muffins.”
“That’s okay, Linus and I are happy to share the third one,” Knox answered her.
Sally frowned. “But that means someone else will have to share too.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Ellie took charge of the conversation. “Because in two minutes’ time, one of you is going to leave this building and never return. You will not receive a final paycheck, nor will I provide you with a reference. This level of disloyalty does not deserve either of them.”
“I— But— Ells?” Benny looked deeply hurt.
Ellie’s expression softened slightly as she looked at him before hardening again as she turned to Sally.
“I trusted you. I confided in you. I believed you were my friend. But all the time I thought those things, you were having an affair with my private and professional partner. You have continued to have an affair with him since the partnership was dissolved six months ago. I can only assume that was because you were of more help to Andrew here than at his new offices.” She snorted.
“I believe it allowed you to make copies of the keys to my apartment, which you no doubt ‘borrowed’ from my bag one day. You gave the copies to Andrew so he could defile my new apartment and attack me. You gave your security pass to him too, so his hired thugs could enter this building and wreck these offices.”
Ellie knew all these things because Linus had found the evidence on the recordings from the security cameras in her apartment and the log of who had entered Aragon Tower the previous week and caused such damage to her office.
Knox had also confirmed that on the morning Sally had worked for him, she had several times made suggestions that implied she was available if he was interested.
He wasn’t, and he had considered her behavior to be less than professional.
The only reason he hadn’t mentioned it to Ellie at the time was that he didn’t want to cause her any more stress than she was obviously already under.
Ellie, Linus, and Knox had surmised that Sally had obviously realized Knox was a much wealthier man than Andrew, and she had behaved accordingly. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
Except Knox’s good will.
Knox had also told them he had noticed, on the day he visited Andrew’s new offices, that the other man’s current PA also had short red hair and pixie-like features, implying he might have a type.
A type that was completely unlike Ellie, with her height and blond hair.
She had cried all the pain of the betrayal out of her system as Knox held her in his arms last night. This morning, she was no longer a woman scorned and betrayed but one who had weathered that storm and now stood tall and proud.
As far as Ellie was concerned, both red-haired women were welcome to Andrew. To fight over him if they still felt inclined once Andrew had been charged with breaking and entering these offices and Ellie’s apartment and physically attacking her on three separate occasions.
It was going to be far from pleasant to face Andrew in a courtroom once he had been arrested and charged, but Ellie was determined to see that happen. Andrew had betrayed and hurt her for the last time.
No doubt Sally would be arrested as an accomplice to those crimes, but that was for her to deal with. Ellie was finished with both Sally and Andrew.
“I want your desk cleared,” she told the other woman dismissively. “You will then hand in your security pass and leave the building in the next two minutes.”
“Don’t you want to know why I did it?” Sally challenged scornfully.
“No,” Ellie answered flatly. “It’s enough that you betrayed every bit of trust I placed in you.”
Sally’s top lip turned back in a sneer. “Andy always said you were frigid and cold—”
“It’s time for you to leave, bitch,” Benny cut in angrily before turning to Ellie. “Can I go down in the elevator with her, boss, and have the pleasure of kicking her out of the building?”
Ellie’s laugh was spontaneous. Benny’s humor never let her down. “I thought you liked her?”
“She’s lazy and thinks she’s the boss of me,” he dismissed. “I also think she stole my lip gloss last month,” he confided with an accusing glare at Sally.
“I’ll come with you,” Linus offered, following them from the room. Again, he shut the door as he left.
Leaving Ellie and Knox, and a charged silence, behind them.
* * *
“You were magnificent.” Knox crossed the office to pull Ellie to her feet before kissing her.
Hard.
Possessively.
He rested his forehead against hers, long and passionate minutes later, his arms about her waist, her arms up about his shoulders. “I’m not sure if this is the right time, but I love you to the depths of my soul. Will you marry me?”
“As I love you to the depths of my soul, my answer is yes, of course I’ll marry you,” Ellie accepted emotionally.
He pulled back slightly. “You will?”
“I will— Knox!” she gave a squeal as he picked her up and spun her around as he held her in his arms.
“I love you. I love you. I love you,” he chanted as they continued to circle.
Ellie was openly laughing by the time he finally lowered her back to the carpeted floor, glad to have his arms about her still as her knees threatened to collapse beneath her.
“Today has been the worst day and the best day of my life.” She moved her hands to cradle either side of his face.
“I really do love you, Knox,” she told him intensely.
“You are the kindest, toughest, most honorable man it has ever been my good fortune to meet.”
“And you are the bravest, kindest, and most honorable woman it has ever been my good fortune to meet.” He stared deeply into her eyes. “I promise I will love you for the rest of our hopefully long lives and beyond.”
Their words, spoken so honestly and with such love, became part of their marriage vows to each other at their wedding a month later.
A wedding where Ellie met Angel and all the Wynter family and their close friends. A beaming Benny was also present, wearing an engagement ring of his own, his boyfriend having proposed two weeks ago.
Ellie was surprised to learn that another of the wedding guests, a tall blond Russian, was second to the head of the London bratva.
Despite Nikolai Volkov’s urbane appearance in perfectly tailored clothing, it wasn’t too difficult to imagine him wielding power over life and death in regard to people he considered to be his boss’s enemies.
Almost nine months to the day after Ellie and Knox’s wedding, Ellie gave birth to their gorgeous son, Adam Linus. A year after that, their beautiful daughter, Genevieve Millie Rose, to be known as Evie, was also born.