Chapter 24 Elizabeth #2
It’s not the sweet comforting gesture he made downstairs. This is about possession as his mouth slants over mine full of heat. His fingers fist my hair to hold me in place. When he pulls back, I’m breathless and trying to remember what we were talking about.
“You’re too smart to say stupid shit,” he growls. “He was too weak to recognize what a gift a strong woman is. I’m not.”
My hands come up to grip the front of his shirt. Part of me wants him to stop, uncomfortable with the words, but a bigger part needs to hear them. To be told that there is nothing wrong with me.
Brady’s eyes bounce between mine. “You’re sharp and you can be bitchy…
” My mouth opens to retort, but he kisses me again.
“But I love it. I love that you’re intelligent and quick, and you aren’t afraid to say what you think.
” His lips curl up. “Even when it’s putting me in my place.
Which I probably shouldn’t admit…” He leans forward to whisper in my ear, “makes me rock hard and desperate to get inside you.”
A surprised puff of air slips out when he smirks down at me. I lick my suddenly dry lips and tease, “So, you’re saying you like me?”
His expression morphs into something more serious, and he lifts a hand to stroke the back of his fingers down my cheek. I do my best not to shiver, and totally fail.
“I’m saying you make me believe in something I never thought was possible. I want to tell you things that I don’t tell anyone, because I know you won’t run screaming.”
“I’m not really a screamer,” I breathe, my heart hammering in my chest.
His lips quirk. “We both know that’s a lie.”
My gaze falls to his mouth, but a sharp knock on my door jolts both of us.
“Rhodes wants to run through the plan for tonight,” Sera’s voice calls.
Brady shoves a hand through his hair, mutters something that sounds like “sister cockblock,” and looks ruefully at me. “I’ve got to go.”
I force my fingers to uncurl from his shirt even though letting him walk out of the room is the last thing I want to do. He’s going straight into danger—for me—and that makes me want to pull him close and never let him go.
He pulls the door open, revealing Sera tapping her foot impatiently in the small common room.
I ignore her disapproving look. Brady opens the outer door, and I can’t keep the words from spilling out. “You’ll be careful?”
His mouth softens into a smile, and he gives me a cocky two-fingered salute. “Always.”
The second the door shuts behind Brady, Sera’s gaze locks on mine. “He cares about you.”
I don’t say anything because I have no idea what he would want his sister to know.
She lets out a sharp scoff and starts toward the door, her boots clicking against the tile. Apparently the conversation is over.
“Wait,” I call after her. “Let’s say it’s true. You don’t approve?”
She stops, and turns back, dark brows arched like she’s surprised I’m challenging her. “Not even a little.”
“He’s a grown man.”
Her hazel eyes narrow. “And you don’t know the first thing about him.”
“Maybe not,” I say, “but I’m guessing you’re not worried about me getting my heart broken. You’re worried about the other way around.”
“Your heart?” she mocks. “You’re playing some damsel-in-distress game because your life imploded. And Brady? He’ll fix it for you, because that’s what he does. But when it’s all over? What then? You swan off back to your life with a story to tell your friends?”
My mouth opens, then closes. I take a step toward her. “That’s a hell of an assumption to make about someone you barely know.”
Her gaze sharpens. “You don’t know anything about me either.”
She’s only partially right, but regardless, I’m not just going to stand here and take her attitude.
“I don’t,” I admit quietly, guilt gripping me by the throat—because I do know some of her story and suspect it has a lot to do with her mistrust of me. “You’re right. I don’t have a fucking clue what it’s like to be you. But you also have no idea what I’ve been through.”
Her chin jerks up, defensive.
“Let me introduce myself: Hi, I’m Elizabeth, and the person I trusted the most betrayed me in multiple ways.
And that was before he set a bunch of killers on my trail.
I built my business from nothing only to have it ripped away in a very public way.
Everything I thought was true and important turned out to be bullshit.
And to top it off, I’m judged because I survived and thrived instead of curling up in a ball and rocking in a corner. ”
My breathing has picked up, and I have to make a conscious effort to hold onto my temper. “And I’ll tell you something else. Your brother knows all those things about me. I’ve never hidden any of it from him.”
Her lips press together, but her eyes… There’s something raw flickering before she masks it.
I take a breath, aware that I’m letting my emotions run away with my mouth. “I’m sorry about what you’ve been through.” I mean it. I don’t want to imagine what she’s suffered. “But your brother and I are a separate issue. I have no intention of hurting him.”
“You say that.”
My spine stiffens. “Are you sure this is about your brother?”
Her eyes flash. “Excuse me?”
“It just seems like you’re—”
“You don’t know anything about my life,” she spits, the words sharp as a blade. “Or how I feel.”
I hold her gaze. “What happened to you was unfair. Horrific. But before you judge me…” I lean forward slightly, refusing to break eye contact. “Remember, everybody has their scars. Not all of them are visible.”
The air between us stills.
We stare at each other for a long beat, both refusing to blink first.
Her expression shifts—anger, then something more dangerous. “He told you.”
“Not the details,” I say immediately. “He didn’t betray your privacy.”
Her nostrils flare, and she glances away like she needs to look at something that isn’t me. “Good,” she says finally. “Because if he had…” She trails off, but the implication hangs in the air.
“You’ve been through hell, I get that. And whether or not you believe me, I’m not here to make his life harder—or yours.”
Sera tilts her head, studying me with an expression I can’t quite read. “You say it like that, I almost believe you.”
“That’s because I mean it,” I fire back.
Her mouth curves—not quite a smile, but close. “I’m still not convinced.”
“I don’t need you to be. I just need you to not make his life more difficult because of me.”
Her eyes widen like she hadn’t expected that response and then narrow again. Finally, she blows out a breath. “He doesn’t let people in. But if he told you about my…” She gestures at her scars. “He trusts you.” Her eyes harden. “But if you hurt him, I won’t just hurt you. I will destroy you.”
“Noted.” I keep my tone even, but I don’t back down an inch.
We stand there for another beat, locked in an unspoken test of wills. It’s a shame she hates me because I think, under different circumstances, we could be friends.
Without another word, she leaves without slamming the door, which I take as a minor victory.