CHAPTER TWELVE
Ella
I return to the table right after Dad, and a moment later, our food arrives.
Over the meal, Dad bores Balor with a little of his background. I can tell by the way my new boss barely responds. But when Dad talks about my mom, Balor’s interest piques.
He lifts sympathetic eyes to me. “My mother is very sick. She’s in Ireland right now.”
“Were you born there?” I ask, wiping up left-over marinara sauce with the most scrumptious bread I’ve ever tasted.
“Aye. She wanted her last days to be there.”
My heart tugs for him. My mom died in a car accident. It was traumatic but quick. To watch your mom die must be so much more painful.
“Mr. O’Rourke,” my dad interrupts us.
“Corvin, call me Balor. Mr. O’Rourke makes me sound old.”
“Balor,” my dad says humbly. “I hate to lay something so vital on you. And Ella, do not hate me.”
My breathing stops. “Dad, no...”
“Ella suffered abuse at the hands of her previous boyfriend.”
“Oh, God.” I cover my face.
“What?” Balor utters, his tone sharp as a blade. “Who?”
“That’s not important.” I shake my head. “But it’s true and why I went to Australia with Dad on his assignment for the bank.”
“This ex of yours hurt you so bad, you had to escape to the other side of the world?”
I hesitate to respond because he sounds so deadly. “I just needed to get away,” I whisper .
“It is why I want her to work for you,” Dad interjects.
“You are working for me, in my command center every day where you’ll be safe. I appreciate the honorable career you want, but your father is right. Until...”
“Until?” I’m stunned, my stomach twisting.
“Until we know Wesley will not bother you again,” Dad clarifies.
“Wesley?” Balor says, his cyber brain clicking on.
I assume he’s a hacker like my dad. Balor will go home and hack away until he finds Wes. I tremble at the idea of him finding out my ex is a cop. I don’t want Balor to do anything that will put his mafia family’s secrets at risk.
“Let it go. It’s done.” My eyes plead to Balor. “I’ll work for you. Just tell me when to report and where your office is.” Working in a command center sounds daunting.
Balor smiles and sits back because he’s won. “You’ll find out.”
The check comes and even though my father tries to pay for it, telling Balor it’s the least he can do after the incredible salary and a signing bonus I knew nothing about, Balor takes care of the bill.
Seeming happy, Dad stands up and excuses himself to tip the waitress, something he always does when dining with a colleague who pays.
As soon as my father is out of earshot, Balor slides closer to me.
“What did he to do you?” His eyes roam my body. “I didn’t see any scars. Thank fuck, I might have lost it. Especially when I thought you were...”
Because Johns and pimps beat up hookers.
“Black eyes. Busted lips. Cuts.” I refrain from showing him all the places, but each body part Wes hurt tingles in pain when I mention them.
“Black eyes . Both or more than once?”
“Both... And more than once.” My throat goes tight .
“Cuts.” He fingers my shoulder. “The tattoo under your left collarbone?”
I’m not broken, just mending and ready to live...
“And my wrist.” I raise my hand to show him the butterfly again. “The heart on my hip. The spiderweb on my thigh. All my tattoos cover the scars from his abuse.”
“He let you tattoo over his scars?”
I shake my head. “I got them all in Sydney. It was a way to heal. To blend the pain of the needle and watch evidence of my weakness vanish.”
“You weren’t weak. Men who abuse women are.” Balor looks ready to murder someone.
“I felt so trapped. And scared. I know...who you are. Dad told me about your family.”
His eyebrow raises. “Did he now?”
“You can trust me,” I whisper. “My father isn’t exactly on the up and up.”
Balor leans in. “Last name of your ex. Now.”
I exhale. “No.”
He growls. “Not many people tell me no. I have a first name. I can find him. And—”
“It will come back to me. He’ll...”
“No one is getting near you again. You’re living in a secure building.” How he knows that can only mean he vetted Dad. “You’ll be working for me. And one whiff of that scumbag coming close to you, you’re getting a bodyguard.”
Overwhelmed, I hold my chest. “I don’t want to live like that.”
“Better than being dead.”
“I never thought he’d kill me.”
“Most DV abusers don’t intend to kill. It’s all about controlling their victims.” His fists tighten. “All too often when the victim fights back that’s when they end up dead. ”
“You sound like you have experience with this.” I clear my throat. “Did you have another girlfriend who—”
“No. I never had a girlfriend.” He rolls his eyes. “Second grade. Maybe. She never answered my note.”
I snort into my hand. “Thank you for making me laugh.”
“I’m serious. Your father told you who I am. Who my family is. We respect women.”
“He also said you’re loyal to those who offer their loyalty in return.”
“That’s correct. Will you be loyal?” he asks quickly, but bites back a frown.
“I’ll be loyal. In every way.” My hand reaches for his leg, but he grabs it.
“Ella... It’s not that I don’t want to fuck you again because I do.” Shockingly, he presses my hand on his groin. “Feel that? That’s how much I want you.”
“I’m not looking for a relationship. Especially now,” I say. “I’m only twenty-seven.”
“I told you I only...”
“...screw escorts. Got it.” I sit back and pick up my water glass.
“That and I’m your boss.” With a final once-over, he slides away and doesn’t touch me for the rest of the night.