30. Asher #2
I flex my jaw, irritated. “Yes.”
“We’re putting more security protocols into place,” Robert says. “And increasing our numbers. This won’t happen again.”
Alec runs his hand over his face. “I hope not, for her sake.”
A heavy silence settles over the car.
A few minutes later, Andrew speaks from the driver’s seat. “There are two cars following us.”
Robert cranes his head to look out the windows, then speaks to the other agents through his wrist cuff. “Jenkins, call the building and let them know to shut down entrance to the garage as soon as all three of our cars are inside.”
“Shit!” I hiss in surprise as Andrew takes a sharp, unexpected turn at the last second.
“Sorry, Mr. Langford,” he calls from the driver’s seat. “I’m trying to lose our tail.”
For the next thirty minutes, Andrew ducks and weaves through New York traffic, taking a winding, confusing route to the penthouse.
We manage to shake one of the cars, but the other stays with us, no matter how skilled Andrew is at shaking them.
I grit my teeth and hold Ella close, doing everything I can to keep calm.
But my patience and my nerves are shredding by the second.
Yegor and Sergei have officially gone too far.
It’s one thing to attack me. To threaten me.
It’s another to come after Ella. I thought they might have learned their lesson after the message I sent with Dimitri: they threaten my family, I take out theirs.
But I was na?ve. I should have expected a retaliation like this.
I can never let it happen again.
“Call the NYPD,” I bark at Robert. “I want squad cars surrounding the garage entrance by the time we reach it.”
A minute later, sirens wail through the streets as we all near the building of my penthouse. Finally, the black sedan tailing us slows and turns, obviously noting the dozen squad cars with their flashing red and blue lights, gathered around the entrance.
Andrew pulls in and the doors to the garage immediately shut behind us, then heavy locks click into place.
“No one is to come in or out of this garage tonight,” I order Robert. “I don’t care if they live in the building. It’s my building, and they’re out of luck until I know Ella is safe.”
“I’ll make sure it’s done, sir.”
The ride up the elevator is filled with silence.
Everyone is relieved but still anxious. We have been anticipating retaliation and more threats from our enemies, but they blindsided us with this one.
I knew there were security risks for Ella at work, but I never could have predicted this.
And I certainly never could have predicted that Sergei would dare to infiltrate a hospital.
It seems as though every time I try to anticipate what Sergei or Yegor will do, they surprise me.
I feel like I’m always on the defense, always on my back foot, and I hate it.
I feel like I’m going crazy trying to stay as cautious as I can to keep Ella safe while also trying to eliminate my enemies.
I can’t seem to balance the two and it’s fucking killing me.
I carry Ella into our bedroom, and Alec gets to work hooking her up to her portable leads as soon as I lay her down on our bed. He sighs in relief when her stats all look good, and he gets her IV bag set back up to hang from the bedpost.
“Since we’re not in the hospital and this has turned personal, I’m going to call Zahra,” he says. “She needs to know why I won’t make it home tonight.”
I nod. “I’m sure she’d welcome an update from you; she was beside herself when I spoke to her earlier. There are three guest rooms upstairs, take your pick.”
“I think Ella should be fine, but if any of her monitors sound off, come and get me. I’ll be in first thing in the morning to check on her.”
“Thank you, Alec. I mean it. I know Ella is important to you, so you would be there for her anyway, but it means a lot to me that you’re here.”
“You’re welcome. But, Mr. Langford?”
“It’s Asher. No formalities here.”
“Asher? Please take care of her. Whatever is going on, do what you must to protect her from it. We can’t lose Ella. She’s family.”
I swallow thickly. “She’s my family now, too.”
“Good. I’ve been worried about her since the two of you started dating. Forgive me, but your reputation wasn’t something that gave me a lot of comfort. I’ve been expecting you to leave her heartbroken, and with the spotlight she’s now in . . .”
“That won’t happen. I swear it. I know my past isn’t anything to be proud of, but it’s most definitely behind me. Ella is my future.”
“Then your future should be a bright one. And I guess that means we’ll be seeing more of each other.”
I’m surprised at how much the thought pleases me. “I’d like that.”
Alec smiles. “Me, too.”
He leaves the room, and I feel just a little bit lighter. I haven’t had a friend outside of my brothers in years. Too many men in my social circle just aren’t worth spending time with, and I’ve lost contact with most of my friends from my school years.
The thought of befriending my girlfriend’s friend’s boyfriend almost makes me laugh.
It’s something so mundane to normal people, but it’s almost exciting to me.
It’s not something I can typically do. I have to guard myself, always.
I can never trust that someone wants to be close to me to be close to me.
They want the mirage of who and what they think I am.
Not me as a person. But maybe that can be different with Alec.
I don’t know Zahra well, but what I do know of her from Ella leads me to think that she wouldn’t have stayed in a relationship with someone for so many years if he wasn’t a good man.
I put the thoughts of friendship aside and strip down and get in bed beside Ella.
I pull her sleeping body into mine and rest her head on my chest. It’s how she usually lays before we go to sleep, and I’ve grown used to it to the point where I have a hard time falling asleep if I don’t have that with her.
She’s my anchor, my lifeline, and the most important thing in my world.
She’s the reason my cold heart that was so set on a lifetime of solitude found a reason to beat.
She’s the reason the very axis of my life has shifted, because a life without her at the center of it isn’t a life worth living.
Every smile, every laugh, every word that leaves her mouth is a gift I’m unworthy of.
And yet I can’t stop myself from taking them.
From coveting every part of her—mind, body, and soul.
My hand shakes as I brush it over her hair, tucking it behind her ear. Everything that happened today and this evening is almost a blur, it’s so surreal. And the fact that it all centered around hurting Ella guts me.
“I’ll fix this,” I whisper to her. “I promise.”