“Elias Hart bribed someone?” Gabriel bangs the table with glee. “This is bloody brilliant.”
“It was terrifying,” George shudders. “We needed to sneak Eli’s phone into the prison to record their conversation. But it worked – we got confirmation from Walter he worked with Brutusandwe found out he’s been visiting Walter in prison. His last visit was the day he disappeared. That got me wondering if Walter Hart had helped Brutus somehow, so I went digging into his property portfolio and found most of it sold off except a dilapidated ranch about an hour from the city.”
I remember Noah telling me he and Eli had a place they went when they needed to be alone. It makes sense that it could be this ranch.What if Eli’s going there right now and Brutus gets hold of him?I drum my fingers against the counter. We need to hurry up and get out there. “Does Eli know?”
“I haven’t told him yet,” George says. “He’s acting so strange. I was afraid if he knew he’d do something stupid—”
I hear the door to the garage creak open. “Noah, is that you? You need to hear what George —”
Noah leans against the door frame, his arm back in its sling and a faint smile playing on his lips. “I have a surprise for you.”
I roll my eyes. “Please tell me it’s not more of your cuisine.”
Noah grins and steps aside. I hear a weird noise, like a cat meowing with excitement, but it’s not Queen Boudica’s howl. It’s—
A strange black-and-white tuxedo cat careens around the corner. It sees us and tries to about-turn, but it’s got too much momentum so it skids across the tiles, collapsing into a ball at my feet and immediately sitting up to wash a paw, trying to convince me it meant to do it all along.
This cat almost looks like—
“That’s Gizmo. I told her I’m not going anywhere without her.”
That voice.
The frying pan slides out of my hands. Bloody steaks slide across the floor. I do not give a shit.
I step forward on shaking legs. “Eli?”
He’s here. My golden boy, looking anything but as he hovers behind Noah, staring everywhere but at me. I itch to throw my arms around him and pull him close, to inhale the warm, summer scent of him and to feel the safety of his arms.
My feet won’t move. I can’t do it, can’t throw myself at him again to have him push me away. He’s too important. The whisper of his kiss dances on my lips – the kiss from the party that he freely gave but now hangs around his neck like a noose.
He’s here.
He may still hate me, but he’s here. I can protect him.
Noah nods to his friend. “Eli says he’ll stay here if it means he’s away from Nero, but that doesn’t mean he’ll speak to you.”
“I’ll take it.” A smile spreads across my lips as relief floods my body.He’s here. He’s safe.
For now.
“Mew.” Gizmo spies the ruined steaks and barrels over to inspect the remnants of our dinner.
“Nice to see you again, mate.” Gabriel embraces Eli, who looks a little shellshocked as he pats Gabriel’s back.
“What convinced you to come back?” I ask as I pull more steaks from the freezer.
“We had words,” Noah says.
Eli shakes his head. “Actually, it was George.”
I raise my eyebrow at my friend, and she winks. With George in my corner, I truly am invincible. She shuffles some of her papers aside and gestures at Eli to sit down. “Welcome to the madhouse.”
Eli slides into the seat. He still won’t look at me, but I can’t help doing a little dance of joy as I slap the meat down into the frying pan. The last piece of my secret heart had returned to me.
Now, I had to protect them all, at any cost.
39
