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It would take five minutes for Bishop to drop off Ella’s luggage. Then Jay would confront him. A solid plan. He would explain that the situation was now under control. That conversation plus talking to Ella’s dad, whenever he managed to figure out what to say, would erase Bishop.
Five minutes crept by, and his muscles started to cramp. Each slow second took its sweet time to torture him.
Jay had left his phone in his car as the next five minutes, then ten minutes, he guessed, passed just as painfully.
What was happening in Ella’s condo?
Surely, his sweet Ella would not let that disgusting slab of meat put his hands—no. Of course not. But still. Chatting, laughing?
Jay’s molars could have fused coal to diamonds. His head killed. A massive headache begged to be a migraine.
He crawled against the car, pressing his body to the cool metal while kneading his temples. The man with the gun was alone with his girl. A problem Jay had caused, but one he could fix.
Soon…
Or later…
How long would this take?
He needed to scream, to escape, to put Bishop’s bullets through his own head.
A sadistic smile crept onto Jay’s face, which relaxed for the first few moments in a very long time. An easy breath coaxed its way out, and he pinched his eyes, controlling the spiraling attack that had seized him.
At war with the darkness, maybe the only thing that could help was to embrace more violence so he could find peace.
“Yes.” His heart beat slower. Everything calmed. His eyelids drooped with each deep breath in and out…
***
The ride from the airport had been quiet, but the tension was palpable. It was an odd combination of Ella talking to Bishop as if they were a couple and then running away from a deep conversation with him. Their unspoken truce about Brie remained intact.
Could she ever admit out loud that she had almost killed him by abandoning him when he needed her the most?TwoO’Kane deaths could have been her fault. Would he have enlisted if she hadn’t left him?
And if he’d died in war? After his sister died in that car? Ella would have died too. That was all she could think about.
Bishop guided her inside her condo building, and now that they were closing in on the small space of the elevator and then the very personal quarters of her unit, she felt eager for private time with him again as much as she feared the guilt he might ask her about.
Bishop rolled her bag, ushering her to a stop, and he called the elevator. “You’ve been silent since wheels down.”
“Have not,” she whispered.
They entered the elevator, and he backed her into the corner, dropping her suitcase handle the second he entered. With both hands on her cheeks, he brought her face to his and kissed her. His mouth immediately opened, hot and hungry, and she finally felt at home. His weight pressed her into the corner, and his tongue stroked hers. As strong as the kiss came on, he ended it, lingering. “Should have done that when I first saw you.”
“I…” had no words, apparently.
He stepped back, pressed the button for her floor, then moved back to the same spot and kissed her again. This time, she kissed him as ravenously as he had done her.
When the doors opened, he led the way to her unit and took her keys from her, unlocking the door and disarming her security system. “Stay put for a second.”
Back to reality.Ella’s stomach cramped at the thought that something might be there waiting for her return. But there wouldn’t be. The cameras, the doorman… This was a safe place. Instead, she focused on Bishop, not impending disaster. “I’m just going to watch the view.”
He turned to see her overtly gawking at his backside, but he went about his business, though shaking his head and smiling while checking for danger that lurked.
His back was broad, and his ass was tight. Bishop was a specimen of physical perfection. If someone was going to jump out of a corner and end it all, she was going to go out studying his butt.
Ella rolled her lip into her mouth. It hadn’t been a mistake to tell him how she felt, and his reaction had been… what? Good? Not bad. That wasn’t great. She’d kind of thrown it at him. Saying it had seemed brilliant in her sleepy head, until he stuttered through the rest of the conversation.Hell.
“Looks good, babe.” But he faltered. “What’s wrong?”