Gabe’s eyes found hers once more. “The situation,” he carefully clarified.
“There is no ‘situation’. I was in a car wreck caused by a careless driver.”
“From what I understand, you can’t remember what caused the wreck. So there’s no way you could know that.”
It wasn’t just the wreck. She’d nearly lost an entire day. “It was an accident Gabe. End of story.”
He shrugged. “I disagree.”
“Well you can disagree all you like, but that doesn’t mean you’re right.”
Jenna interrupted their bickering with a gentle side-hug. “I’m going to give you two some time to catch up.”
Despite Ellena’s continued objections, her friend bid them both a goodnight with a promise to come by before her shift the next afternoon.
Seconds later, Jenna was gone and Ellena was alone in a room with her husband for the first time in what felt like forever.
For several, long seconds neither said a word, the awkward silence in the room deafening.
Part of her knew she shouldn’t be so angry with him. After all, he had clearly dropped everything to come here because he thought she was in danger.
On the other hand, that was one of the biggest reasonswhyshe wasso upset.
While it was true Gabe didn’t come to California to end their marriage, he sure as heck hadn’t come here because the accident had made him realize he still loved her…as she’d first hoped.
No, the only reason he’d stormed back into her life was because he thought she needed his protection.
Didn’t he get it? She didn’t need nor did she want his protection. She only wantedhim. Or at least she used to.
God, she hated feeling like this. Truth be told, Ellena didn’t have a clue what she wanted, other than to nothurtanymore.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a medication on the market that could ease the chronic pain in her heart.
The sound of a chair scraping across the tile floor drew her attention back to the object of her frustration. Sitting next to the bed, now, Gabe leaned his elbows on his thick thighs and let his loosely connected hands hang between them.
“Look, Elle.” He spoke more softly than before. “I know my being here isn’t easy for you.”
Um…understatement, much?
At least he didn’t go on about how hard it was for him, too. He made his bed, then he left her alone in it.
“Then I’ll ask you again.” Ellena stared back at him. “Why are you here? And why did you arrange for a guard? I mean, I know Jenna means well, but I promise you, she’s blowing my almost-bike-wreck way out of proportion. You know how she is with all her conspiracy theories.”
“I’m not here because of the bike,” he interrupted. “Although I do want to take a look at it later.”
Gabe hesitated, then. Something the man only did when he was either nervous or about to deliver some bad news.
Great.“I know that look, Gabriel. Just say whatever it is you came here to say.”
Drawing in a long, deep breath, he slowly released the air from his lungs before locking his gorgeous, tormented eyes with hers. “I have reason to believe someone is trying to kill you.”
Ellena laughed, but then winced when her reaction caused the throbbing in her head to return. “Come on, Gabe. Just because I had a couple of accidents, that doesn’t mean someone’s intentionally trying to hurt me.”
“It’s not just that.” He shut down her attempt to rationalize the situation. There was another slight hesitation and then, “I had a visitor earlier tonight, Elle. Just before the hospital called. This person who came to see me is…well connected.”
She started to furrow her brow, but a quick, sharp pain reminded her of the cut on her forehead. “Connected how?”
Gabe shook his head, his tone serious when he told her, “You don’t want to know.”
