Page 19 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

FBI West

Same Time

Late Morning

All in all, today was going rather smoothly, and Ethan was more than grateful for that. They all had their spaces, and the employees there hadn’t been nearly as hostile as he’d expected them to be.

After all, he had a history here.

Some of them had been his to monitor, and he hadn’t always been an easy boss to work under.

That was for damn sure.

Only, he was seeing it was more water under the bridge than animosity. Maybe that was because he wasn’t a director anymore, but the shrink they’d all need help from at some point.

Who knew, but either way, he was grateful. Hopefully, everyone was having an easy time.

When he finished with his office, he headed down the hall to talk to his wife, basically to ensure that she was doing okay herself.

If anything, someone broken could recognize another person experiencing the same thing. Oh, and Elizabeth was definitely struggling.

There was no doubt in his mind that she was about ready to break, and Ethan needed to be there for her.

In Philadelphia, she’d had his back, and now, Blackhawk would have hers.

That’s what made their marriage strong.

They were the foundation in which everything was built. Now, he had to support that, so they didn’t crumble under the pressure.

Knocking on her door, he saw Vivian sitting behind her desk, and she was efficiently working. The woman was turning out to be a blessing while they were here.

That was for sure.

It wasn’t long before Ethan heard his wife call out to him.

“Come in.”

When he opened the door, his wife was at her desk, which ironically had once been his.

She was sitting in her chair, her fingers steepled as she stared out the window at the mountains not far from where they were.

Yep.

Elizabeth was definitely troubled.

“Hey, Baby.”

When she looked over, there were tears in her eyes, and he knew why.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know my father shouldn’t have done this. I just don’t know how to fix it. Maybe you should head home, and Callen and I will kick his ass a little, so he gets the point.”

Elizabeth wiped her eyes with a tissue that was on her desk.

“He’s going through enough,” she admitted. “We don’t want to make this harder, but I’m troubled, EJ. Seriously troubled.”

He moved closer and sat on the edge of his old desk, exactly like she once did.

Oh, how times had changed.

She was now driving the bus, and he was never more grateful that she was. Elizabeth was damn good at a job he’d simply managed to pull off. There was no doubt in his mind that they were all where they needed to be in their careers.

“Want to talk about it?” he asked, holding out his hand for her.

As the doctor there, he was always in if his wife needed him.

When she took his hand, Blackhawk knew that was exactly what she needed.

While he’d floundered in Philly, his wife had held him up. Between her and Gene, they were what had kept him afloat.

Add in Chris and Callen, and he’d gotten out alive.

Oh, he was still shattered inside over finding out about his assault, but now, at least, he could focus—somewhat.

That was better than the other option.

Now, he’d help her find her footing like they’d done for him when he’d needed it.

When he led her to the couch, she sat down, and he was next to her.

“What’s on your mind?”

She was honest.

“Do I just let him do what he wants and get us all back home? Or do I fight for him, and risk our family? We all know I’m in danger anywhere I go.

We don’t have a fortress to keep the scary out.

We can’t hide our kids at the White House if something happens.

Do I just give up or do I stay and fight? ”

He understood the dilemma she was facing, and it was the same one they were all facing. Only, they deferred to Elizabeth when it came to certain things.

The children…

That was one big area that they let her handle. If it wasn’t broken, why fix it?

Also, if he wasn’t falling apart in his own world, he’d be more focused on Wyler and this hide-and-seek game he was playing.

Honestly, he simply didn’t have the energy to parent his actual parent.

Wyler was a grown man, and if he didn’t want to have chemo, so be it. It hurt that he was going to be losing him, but what he’d learned long ago with Wyler was that if push came to shove, the man would bail.

Always.

He’d experienced it when his mother died.

He’d experienced it when social services came to take him away and they couldn’t locate his actual parent.

They’d experienced that with his alcohol benders.

This was just one more ghosting that he’d perpetrated at their cost, and there wouldn’t be a way to talk him out of it. Ethan would bet his next paycheck on it.

“You have to make that decision. We can figure it out, one way or the other. I'm good with being back. I’m not good with Wyler pulling this.”

She leaned against him.

“I worry about our children more than anything. What happened to Charlie...”

Oh, he understood the situation.

Her near abduction had been a wakeup call, and they had added extra layers of protection to ensure it didn’t happen again.

Out here, those extra layers were non-existent.

The other side of this was also just as difficult to navigate.

If they left them back in DC, they wouldn’t get to see their grandfather before he died. If they kept them here, she and her team would have to go without protection to ensure they were safe.

It wasn’t an easy choice.

“I’m just frustrated,” she said. “He should have faced us and had a conversation with us. This feels foul.”

On that, he agreed.

Then again, Wyler would always watch out for Wyler. Even after ten years of being on decent behavior, that still reared its ugly head.

Like when he’d married Maeve, and left them all in the dark. That had stung, and was just more proof of the whole situation.

“Then, let’s go home. You’re not happy here,” he said. “We all know we left here because of the situation. Coming back isn’t easy.”

No, it wasn’t.

But then again, life wasn’t easy.

“I need one of those Magic Eight Balls to figure out what to do.”

Because he could see she was struggling, he lifted her chin, and kissed her softly on the mouth. The gentle kiss went deeper, intensifying.

In that mating of mouths, the lust rose up, and it caught them both off guard at its timing.

The last three days had been a sexual wasteland—as in no one was getting laid because it had been chaos. Now, that need was there, it was a good way to refocus.

The bottom line was that he needed her, and she needed him. Why not find each other in the storm?

Instead of backing off, Ethan pushed further into the mating of mouths.

Going deeper, trying to distract her, and make her forget, he hoped she’d find peace. In fact, he was also trying to forget.

It had been a rough few days for all of them, and what he needed now was to reconnect with his wife.

She always calmed him, and he hoped that he could do the same.

Taking her mouth, and plunging deeper into the kiss, he did battle with that need and the desire to comfort her.

Ethan wanted to do both.

Because he couldn’t help himself, and it was rare in the last three days that they were able to be alone, he took that moment as his own.

He enjoyed the return to where it all started.

In this office.

With this woman.

As he devoured her with a kiss, Elizabeth held on. Truthfully, they’d all been neglecting their sex lives. It had just been way too crazy.

Now, it appeared Ethan’s libido was back, and Tala wasn’t here.

Ethan was.

So, she held on for the ride, more than happy to let him take care of her.

As he slowly broke the kiss, his eyes were filled with love and need.

“Care to rechristen an office that saw plenty of action years ago?”

She laughed.

“I mean, lock the door, Doctor Blackhawk. I have a couch and all.”

He grinned wickedly.

Oh.

Hell.

Yes.

Why not take this couch for another spin? In fact, he was betting it was the same couch they’d fornicated on those times before.

If these walls could talk...

Moving off of the couch, he went to the door and locked it. As he did, she went to the desk and pushed number three on the phone.

“Yes, Elizabeth?” came Vivian’s voice over the speaker.

She was going to take a break.

With Ethan.

“I’m in a meeting with Doctor Blackhawk and need some privacy. If anyone needs me, buzz me first. We’re going over profiles of potential agents to move to my division, and he’s giving me psych evals.”

The woman was fine with that.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m going to order lunch. Would you both like some?”

Ethan was taking off his shirt, and she was getting one hell of a show. It was tattoo city, and it was one hell of a destination.

“Yeah, order whatever.”

Honestly, she had her hands full.

He was watching her, and the look said it all. They were about to have some office fun.

“Yes, Ma’am,” she said, right before Elizabeth hung up on her.

Then, she moved back toward Ethan. When she reached him, he pulled her toward him, and found her mouth again.

It was just like their younger years here.

Fire.

Heat.

Need.

There was no way she was saying no to that. Face it, she wasn’t insane.

This was familiar territory that she absolutely loved.

As he finished devouring her mouth, hungrily, he was getting her out of her clothing. The suit jacket was gone first, and then, he dropped her skirt to the floor. She was in heels, and thigh highs.

It made him even hungrier.

Now, this was how he liked to remember their time here. It wasn’t lost on him that some things never changed.

This was one of them.

When he felt his dress pants drop, he knew that they were going to make some memories, and in the process, cling to each other.

They were, after all, the core.

As they made love to each other by way of that kiss, Elizabeth’s bra hit the floor. It was the rough tearing of her panties that got her wet.

God.

This man could undo her.

Slowly, he broke the mating of mouths.