Chapter 25 Ella
Ella
This is the calmest I’ve felt since the day Asher died.
I finally feel safe, and that makes no sense, but I hold onto it anyway.
Gable showered and ate, and we’re lying on the bed, facing each other, quiet.
Motor is sleeping between us, and I stroke his paw.
Gable is looking at Motor, dark eyes shining, his hand moving across the dog's head.
It feels like having Asher back. Like Gable is a reminder that Asher existed. Because there have been times I thought none of it was real.
“Want to hear something silly?” I ask.
“From you? Not really.”
I scowl and hit him. “Ass.”
He sighs. “Tell me.”
“I thought you were him,” I say quietly. “I thought he was going to walk into the yard and tell me he’d survived, and it was all a mistake.”
He searches my eyes. “I think that sometimes, too.”
I’m glad I’m not alone and that he doesn’t laugh at me, although the more I remember about Gable, the more surprised I am about that.
“Did you ever like me? Even a little?” I ask.
“Nope.”
My mouth drops open. “You couldn’t lie? We’re sharing a beautiful moment.”
“I can lie about a lot of things; liking you isn’t one of them,” he says, and I shove him. “Okay, that’s not totally true; I did like it when you called RoboCop a bro.”
I cover my smile. “I forgot I did that.”
“One of your rare likable moments.”
“Rare or only?”
He thinks for a moment. “Only.”
“Hey, I took care of your dog for six months!”
“Yeah, and he’s depressed as fuck,” he says. “Look at him. No sparkle. You ruined my dog.”
I scrunch up my nose. “He’s not ruined; he’s just … deflated. Aren’t you, boy? Such a good boy.”
Gable groans. “That’s why he’s depressed. I bet you’ve talked to him like a baby this whole time.”
I ruffle Motor’s head. “Not the whole time, have I? No, I haven’t. Maybe sixty percent.”
Motor sits up and gets off the bed.
Gable looks at me pointedly. “See what you’ve done?”
“He’s just tired of you already,” I say, pulling the blanket over my shoulders. “This is fun. It’s like a sleepover.”
“Yes, a sleepover with a wanted killer,” he says. “Remember that before you offer to braid my hair.”
“Your hair looks good.” I tug it again. “I did a great job.”
For the first time in such a long time, the knot in my stomach eases. I feel lighter, more at peace, like maybe I could actually sleep.
“So, are you going to finally tell me why you’re here?” I ask quietly. “There’s a reason you’ve suddenly appeared, right?” I saw it in his eyes when he walked out of the trees—the pain, the concern, the fear. Three things I’d only ever seen in Gable’s eyes once: the day we watched Asher die.
“You haven’t been safe, Ella. I’ve been keeping you safe.”
My eyebrows pinch together. “You mean … people have been trying to … kill me?”
“A lot of them. I kept them at bay for a while, but the bounty keeps getting higher, and I can only do so much by myself. That’s why Monty is here. She helped me, but I don’t know who will come next.”
The heaviness returns. I chew my lip. This whole time he’s been protecting me, and I had no idea. I’d gone about life as normally as I could, completely oblivious.
“What do we do?” I ask.
“I have to take you away from here,” he says. “I have somewhere safe we can go, and I can keep you there until I figure out a way to get them to lose interest in you.”
“Where?”
“It’s better you don’t know. You’ve got a big mouth.”
I scowl. “I do not.”
“Just trust me.”
“How long will we be gone?”
“As long as it takes. The client wants something Barnaby had, and I’m hoping if I give it to them or find out what’s on it, it’ll be enough to make them back off. Or we can use the information against them.”
I think for a moment. “The hard drive, right?” He nods, and I focus on my fingers. “I don’t understand why they want me dead. I don’t know anything about a hard drive.”
Gable shrugs. “Maybe they assume Asher and I checked the drive, and that because Asher and you were together, he told you. And because of who your dad is, the bounty is high. No one would pick up that job without a big enough incentive, and the longer you’re alive, the bigger the bounty gets and—”
I hold my hand up, nausea roiling through my stomach. “Please spare the details of how much my life is worth; I might throw up my dinner.”
“Aren’t you curious?” he asks, a small grin on his face.
“Not really. Is it higher than your bounty?”
He falters. “A little.”
I click my fingers. “Ah! I’m worth more than you.”
“In death, Gibson. Death. Nothing to brag about.” He pauses. “Besides, it’s only like, one fifty more than me.”
“A hundred and fifty more? Bucks?”
“A hundred and fifty thousand more.”
My mouth drops open. “Okay, now you have to tell me.”
“Half a mil.”
“Fuck you!” I shout. “Oh my God, I’d kill me too!” I move onto my back, my mouth still open. My life is worth half a million dollars. Ella Gibson. A nobody who sometimes forgets to lock my car door.
“Gibson,” Gable says. I turn my head to him. “Will you come with me?”
I stare into his eyes, my heart thundering fast against my rib cage—because this isn’t just a case of running for my life. This is me running with a wanted killer. This is leaving the safety of my home and putting my trust in a murderer.
But without Gable, I’d be dead already. He’s spent this whole time keeping me safe and expecting nothing in return. He’s stayed in the shadows and saved me time and time again, and this is a side of him I’ve never seen.
Like he said, he’s never liked me. I’ve never liked him. Our only connection was Asher. Gable could have left the country, started a life somewhere else, and forgotten all about the girl his brother had fallen for.
But here he is. Wanting to help, wanting to rescue me.
I nod. “I’ll come with you.”
He exhales. “Good.”
I turn back onto my side. “What’s the plan, then?”
“We leave tonight.”
“Tonight?” I say. “I can’t leave without saying goodbye to my dad; he’ll hunt us both down. We have to wait until he’s back.”
Gable frowns. “Fine, but we go right after. Tell him you’ve booked a house up north to, I dunno, get your writing head back on.
But we’ll go to my safe house and stay there until we get the hard drive or the information.
And hopefully, at the same time, find out who killed Asher. And then we kill them.”
My breath catches at the thought of it. Of finally knowing who changed our lives that night and took Asher from us.
I nod. “And what then?”
“What do you mean?”
“What are you going to do once this is all over?”
He’s quiet for a moment, his eyes locked on mine. When he finally looks away, I almost want to reach for him.
“I do what Asher and I planned to do after this job. Leave. No more killing. No more work. I get out.”
“Wait …” My heart lurches. “This was your last job? Why didn’t you just leave after you killed Barnaby?”
“The drive.”
“But … you stayed for weeks. Almost a month. Surely there was a point that you realized you’d never find it?
Why …” Pain and grief and agony and everything hits me.
Tears burn my eyes and the weight is back tenfold.
Asher’s final words suddenly make sense—“You were worth waiting for.” “Did he stay for me?”
Gable looks almost lost for words, like he’s protecting me. Again.
“He wanted to stay,” Gable says. “He wanted more time.”
I sit up and run my fingers through my hair, panic and guilt gripping me, choking me until I’m sure no oxygen is left in my lungs. “He’s dead because of me. I knew it; I knew it was my fault.”
Gable sits up. I tremble, not even bothering to wipe away the tears that quickly fall. My throat feels thick with grief and regret, and I let out a sob.
“How can you even be here? How can you want to protect me when this is all my fault?”
“Because it isn’t your fault,” Gable says. “Asher wanted to stay with you. I’d never seen him that happy before, Gibson. He wanted more of that before we left.”
“But it’s my fault,” I whisper, closing my eyes. “I took him from you.”
“They took him from both of us. And we’ll make them pay. Okay?”
I nod tearfully and he pulls me to him, lying back down and holding me close. But the guilt still weighs heavy, because Asher should have left. He should have escaped while he still could instead of holding onto someone like me. I wasn’t worth him dying.
And I’d switch with him if I could.