At that, he stood, lifting his jacket and whirling around, ready to leave this bar and this man and this life that he had left behind once before and now wanted to never see again.
Nearly blind with his rage, he began to stomp out of the tavern, so focused on his exit that he didn’t notice until too late that a woman had stepped into his path. He almost knocked her over, managing to catch her just in time to prevent her falling.
She let out a cry and slapped at him.
He blinked in surprise.
He knew that cry. In fact, it did something to him that he would never have thought was possible in a place like this.
He leaned forward, eyes narrowing.
“Ada?”
Chapter Nineteen
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Jonny’s accusatory tone made Ada forget all about the warm, relieved feeling that had rushed through her upon seeing him here, the light that made her feel like she wasn’t alone, that she had someone to face her troubles with.
Her face and her heart hardened. “Pardon me?”
He came closer to her, his face within inches of hers. “I said, what the hell are you doing here in this tavern? Do you know what this is?”
“I know exactly what this is,” she said, her eyes darting past him to Sharpe, who was walking away from the table. “I need to speak to Sharpe.”
“You sure as hell don’t.”
She poked a finger into his chest. “I don’t know who you think you are, but I have had quite enough of you telling me just what I can do and who I can do it with. If I want to talk to Sharpe, I will talk to Sharpe.”
She caught the flash of panic in his eyes. “No,you will not.”
“And just why not? My name has been dragged through the mud long enough. This needs to end.”
“I agree with you about that, but this isn’t the way to do it. You talk to Sharpe, and that will only make him all the more interested in you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
“How?”
“Because every time you open your mouth,Iam all the more interested in you, and I have a feeling any other man would feel the same.”
That captured her attention.
“Who are you?” she ground out.
“Isn’t that the question?” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Let’s get out of here.”
“I told you, I?—”
“Please, Ada?” he said it so quietly, his tone losing all of that anger and authority, that she couldn’t help but soften. She nodded quickly.
“Fine.”
“Thank you,” he said, and she didn’t protest when he reached down and grabbed her hand, intimately interlacing their fingers before he tugged her out of the bar, the staring glances and the thick smoke hiding more than just the faces of those within.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
