CHAPTER 10 #3
My woman stiffens in my lap, not much but enough for me to notice. It’s the way her cheeks pink slightly because she’s remembering last night and the fact that I already know he found pictures of me. The knowledge of it makes me want to kick my brothers out of my office to bend her over my desk.
I don’t.
But the control I exert to stop myself makes my jaw ache.
He nods toward the screen again and he’s blown up the images of Bobby, the carnie, and the dog. What I couldn’t see on the small screen of Ezra’s camera becomes very clear now.
The dog is practically feral, the intensity in the way he’s biting at the cage is visceral. It’s just an image, but it has sound. Depth. Fear.
It’s not the first of Ezra’s work I’ve seen, even if this wasn’t captured for anything other than evidence. Magic happens when she’s the one holding the camera.
“I said it wasn’t some pet thing,” Ezra sighs, sadness coating her words.
“You were definitely right about that,” Whiskey agrees, shuffling through the rest of the pictures including a close up of the envelope, which is sealed, Bobby, and the carnie.
The images, even clearer, don’t give us more of the story.
And they sure as fuck don’t tell me if Ezra is in danger.
“Stay on it.”
My voice is a hard demand; one I know my brothers will rise to. They nod, feeling my dismissal for what it is. On their way out, they all acknowledge Ezra in their own way, and it does something to my heart I don’t think I’m entirely ready to examine.
“I’ve got your back, Teach,” I tell her, my voice sliding down her spine again as she tries to hide the way her body is trembling slightly.
As much as my dick is insistent that now is the time to take away her worries by being buried inside her, it isn’t the time. The ringing of her phone is loud in the quiet left behind by all the things we don’t know about what is going on.
Ezra cringes when she looks at the screen to find her dad calling. She doesn’t reject the call, but she doesn’t answer either.
“You won’t be able to put him off forever,” I tell her.
“I know,” her voice wobbles slightly, the joking from earlier gone as the weight of the unknown presses down.
“But you can put him off for now,” I offer.
She rests her head on my chest as a soft smile plays on her lips. Her fingers twist in my shirt like she doesn’t want to let go. She might as well be twisting my soul around those same fingers.
“Okay,” her voice is small. My hand keeps rubbing up and down her spine and I feel some of the tension slide from her shoulders. Not all of it; not yet. But enough. “I’m scared,” she whispers the words, a raw confession without any artifice.
“We know something shady is going down. There’s no way Bobby earned that money without something hinky going on,” I try and soothe her.
“Did you just say hinky?” She giggles the question as she looks at me, some of the fear receding in her eyes and being replaced with mischief.
“Was it not applicable?” I counter the question with a question while completely ignoring the way the tops of my ears feel hotter.
“Are we now locked in a battle of wills based on our use of verbose and esoteric language?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me, and I can’t help but grin.
“At what point will either of us acquiesce if we let this continue?” I narrow my eyes at her while I ask.
Her laughter fills the room before she mutters, “Since we’re in your office, I suppose the only right thing to do is concede to you, Prez.”
Fuck, my cock fucking throbs, and I’m not sure how much longer I can have her on my lap without taking her again.
She snuggles against me and I let out a soft humming sound I don’t think I’ve ever made before in my life.
Then she cracks my heart wide fucking open, her words whispered against the cotton of my shirt, “Thank you. For listening. For believing. For stepping up.” She looks at me from underneath her lashes, “For chasing away the fear.”
I kiss her forehead, unsure about why I have a lump forming in my throat with her words. But I do.
“I have some paperwork to deal with,” my words are muttered against her skin. “Do you want to go out to the main room, our room, or stay here?”
She sucks in a breath and holds it for a moment, like she’s expecting me to walk back the words. I’m not going to.
I know what I said.
Our room.
“Can I stay here?” There’s a softness in her question and I nod.
When she climbs off my lap, I feel the loss of her immediately. Then she curls up on one end of the couch and that feeling is replaced with warmth. She pulls something up on her phone, but she doesn’t scroll. I’ve seen Opal do the same thing and my lips stretch into a grin.
I can’t help but ask, “Are you reading?”
Her eyes flick up to me and she nods. “Yes,” her answer has a hint of hesitancy.
“Are you reading porn?” Her eyes widen and her mouth drops open. “Aren’t you part of the book club with Opal? She’s always teasing Graycie about it.”
Ezra clears her throat and even though she’s blushing, she doesn’t look away. “Yup,” she pops the p and then snuggles into her seat a little deeper and bites her lip.
My laughter fills the office, the is sound richer and layered in a new way. I hate that there may be a threat to her safety, but I’m damn glad she trusts me to protect her.