Chapter 25
Mrs. Bates hovered over me as I opened my eyes.
The night before, I planned to talk to Will about London before we got out of the bed, but he’d gone down to the gym without waking me.
“I’d rather have breakfast with the girls this morning,” I told Mrs. Bates.
She stared at me with her hands on her hips.
“With the children…in the kitchen?”
The beautiful little Irish woman was as stubborn as she was traditional, and she didn’t take backtalk from anyone. Perfect for Will and his brothers. Not so much for me.
Her eyes softened, surprising me.
“Go on then, dearest. The lads should be cleared out by now.”
I dressed quickly and rushed down to the kitchen, and then the girls and I finished up the pancakes after making smiley faces with fruit and pats of butter.
Eastridge’s warm kitchen created an inviting space that helped make the mansion feel like home for Lissie and me. But as comfy as it was, I had to find Will.
I kissed the girls on their heads and hurried from the table. As I pushed through the door leading out into the hall, I bounced off Will’s chest.
“Oh Will, I was just?—”
He grabbed my ass and jerked me up into his arms.
Desire surged through his body, and the fire in his eyes burned onto mine.
I held on, my arms clinging to his neck, my legs around his waist, as he swept us into the drawing room. And in another flash, he had my back against the wall, and his mouth covering mine.
Will took the kiss we’d both wanted the night before.
I surrendered, falling deep into his fierce affection.
He pressed his lips against my skin, on my neck, and kissed my butterfly.
“You’re avoiding me, Elle.”
I panted, working to catch my breath.
“No, I was just looking for you.”
“We should talk about London.”
Our bodies were connected, his erection the only thing between us.
I nodded.
“Yes, but I can’t think like this. Put me down.”
He allowed me to slide down his front, and I ducked beneath his arm to get across the room by the sunny windows. He watched me touch my swollen lips.
God, I wanted more of his brutal kisses.
Will stared at me for a minute before sitting on the sofa with his stack of newspapers.
“You’ll do as you’re told if you go to London with me,” he said.
His sharp tone had resolve layered in it. So he was giving in, even though he didn’t like it.
My head still spun a little from his kiss, but I was pleasantly surprised.
And annoyed.
He would read that on my face, so I looked out the window at the landscape, hoping to see my favorite little doe.
A newspaper thumped as it hit the table, and his scent creeped up behind me.
“Elle, you must agree.”
I faced him then, and he edged closer.
“Well, maybe first you could define ‘do as you’re told’ for me.”
“Of course. When I tell you to do something, obey me.”
“Oh, I see. I think what you really mean is, trust your direction if we’re in danger.”
His brows furrowed.
“The threat is substantial, though you still want to deny it.”
But I wasn’t in denial, not after all that had happened.
“No, I don’t,” I whispered.
We stood there, not moving at all, with our stares locked into an even match, and allowed our eyes to beat into each other. In moments like those, words meant nothing to us. They didn’t exist.
In my eyes, beneath the cover of his fear and mine, he found something neither of us could live with. Someone killing me, killing us both, terrified us, but beneath that lurked something else that could also hurt us…
Being locked away would alter me.
It would make me suffer a slow, emotional death, leaving me like an empty shell. And we knew in our souls that we couldn’t make it through that as a couple. Together, without words, we found an understanding about something we couldn’t reconcile as individuals...
Being alive was more than just keeping our hearts beating.
We had to find a way for me to live freely. We knew what we were up against. We knew the risk of future encounters with assassins existed. Still, we chose to fucking live.
Will broke our silence.
“All right, baby. I’ll do whatever it takes to give you more freedom.”
His ability to decode the messages hidden on my heart’s pages, that he could reach me where no one ever had, was a true gift. It made me vulnerable to him. And it made me fall harder for him.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. Words and tears choked me up. I buried my face in his shirt, and he protected me and my bared soul with his strong arms, waiting with me, whispering to me.
“Thank you, Will. You see me. Thank you.”
“I see you, baby, and now you see me.”
I lifted my chin and kissed his lips.
“The thought of someone hurting you again takes me to a dark place,” he said.
I nodded.
“I know. We’ll keep each other away from the darkness.”
He smiled, and before he could say anything else, Ethan popped into the room.
“Who won?”
“Fuck off, Ethan,” Will said.
Ethan grinned.
“So the intractable king learns to compromise. I quite like it.”
Will kissed the top of my head, his arms still around me.
“Don’t press me, Ethan. You won’t get the same.”
Ethan went to the bar and opened some whisky. He raised the bottle, looking at me.
“Ellie?”
“Not for me, thanks. I’ll go tell Lissie and get my things packed.”
He nodded.
“Right. So let’s get on with the security plans, brother.”
Will nodded and took his glass.
“We’ll drive…you take the helo back.”
Excited, nervous, I kissed Will on the cheek, squeezing his hand for a second, and then I ran upstairs to Lissie’s room.
He texted me twenty minutes later.
We leave in one hour. Hope for the best, baby.