Worrying about me.
About what this sudden appearance meant.
About what kind of trouble I might be in.
How much should I actually tell her?
How much could I safely tell her without making an already complicated situation demonstrably worse?
"Can I bring her to the Sanctuary?" I asked directly.
"Of course," Ellsworth said immediately without any hesitation whatsoever. "I'll bring the car around directly. Three minutes maximum."
He turned and walked away with that same measured, purposeful precision.
I walked back inside, every operational sense heightened now to maximum awareness.
Scanning faces. Exits. Threats.
Ella looked up the exact second I sat back down across from her.
"Everything okay?" she asked quietly, voice carefully controlled.
I shrugged, trying for casual and probably failing completely. "Maybe. Maybe not. Honestly hard to say yet."
Then I forced something closer to a genuine smile, trying to ease the worry in her eyes. "Good news is, now I can actually tell you everything properly. And give you a real tour of where I'm staying."
She brightened slightly at that possibility, but the concern didn't completely leave her expressive eyes.
Smart woman.
Reading the situation correctly even without full context.
"What does that mean, exactly?" she asked carefully.
"It means you probably won't get to see Étienne and Sabine tonight like we'd planned."
I deliberately didn't add the rest of what I was thinking:And maybe not for a while, depending on how quickly this situation develops and how dangerous it becomes.
I signaled efficiently for the check, paid quickly with the black card, and helped her into her coat with perhaps more urgency than the moment required.
Moments later Ellsworth pulled up smoothly outside in a sleek black sedan with professionally tinted windows.
Discreet. Professional. Exactly what you'd expect from someone in his carefully constructed position.
Shit,I thought with genuine concern as I helped Ella into the comfortable back seat, sliding in closely beside her.
What have I gotten this poor, wonderful girl into now?
27
ELLA
The car door shut with a soft, expensive thud.
I sat back into the leather seat, Rose’s sweater wrapped around me, Kane’s thigh pressed warm and solid against mine as the sedan pulled smoothly away from the curb outside Maison de Verre.
Three streets from my sister’s apartment.
