“Any time, brother. I mean that.”
Damn, he loved his team.
Clearing the emotion threatening to clog his throat, Gabe opened his eyes and got his head back in the game. “I’ll call you when I have more to go on. In the meantime, keep digging. Walker’s message to me was cryptic as fuck, but I got the feeling there are some big players in this latest game of his.”
“Copy that.”
Gabe shoved his phone back into his pocket and filled his lungs with a long cleansing breath. After holding it a few seconds, he blew it out as he contemplated his next step.
He could hear the water running and did his damnedest not to think about what it meant. But the harder he worked at trying to ignore it, the harderhebecame.
Despite his Herculean efforts, the image of Ellena upstairs, lathering up her wet, naked body…
Jesus.
With his cock feeling like a fucking steel rod shoving against his zipper, Gabe adjusted himself as best he could. Desperate for a distraction, he decided to take another look around the place while he also tried to figure out how he was going to convince her to let him play bodyguard for the foreseeable future.
Try to remember that’s why you’re here, asshole.
Once again, the voice of reason was right. No matter how much he’d missed Elle, or how badly his body still yearned for hers, he needed to stay focused on protecting her, rather than remembering how combustible they’d always been between the sheets.
Several minutes later, Gabe had gone through every room on the main floor. Using a skill he’d fine-tuned during his time with the SEALs, he’d mentally catalogued the placement of the furniture, picture frames, houseplants…anything he or Ellena would likely notice if they were moved.
When that was finished, he opened the set of French doors leading from the living room to the secluded space outside.
Overlooking the San Diego Bay, the small patio and fenced back yard offered a beautiful, private oasis. It was also the perfect spot for someone to enter the home without being seen by the neighbors.
Set on the coastal end of a quiet neighborhood, Ellena’s two-story townhome was cozy and full of charm, but as far as security was concerned, it didn’t have jack shit.
Adding to his list of mental notes, he thought about the number of cameras needing to be installed as he made his way back inside. That and one of R.I.S.C.’s state-of-the-art alarm systems.
Christ, just thinking about her being in this house alone and vulnerable all this time scared the shit out of him. It also pissed him the hell off.
Protective instincts running in full gear, Gabe headed straight for the stairs. He could no longer hear the water running, which was good. Because after he pointed out how fucking foolish it was for a woman to live alone in this day and age without so much as an alarm system, they were going to discuss the changes he was planning to make.
This should be fun.
When they were still together, he and Ellena hardly ever fought. In fact, the guys on his SEAL team used to constantly give him shit about how well he and his wife got along.
The only time theydidargue was when Gabe’s overprotectiveness would clash with Ellena’s independent nature. Those arguments were few and far between, but damn.
When they disagreed about that shit, the sparks flew like fucking Fourth of July. Then later, when they’d make up, their entire world would become a magnificent explosion of pleasure.
Ellena definitely wasn’t a ‘my way or the highway’ type of woman. She’d gracefully accept his help when she thought she needed it.
The problem was he sometimes thought she needed it more than she actually did.
She was right when she’d said he couldn’t help himself. From the second they met, Gabe had felt an instant, almost primal need to protect her.
Being a psychologist, Ellena would try to get him to talk each situation out rationally. The issue with that was when it came to her, his rational thinking flew right out the goddamn window.
Gabe was so afraid of losing the best thing that had ever happened to him, he was constantly doing everything he could to keep her safe.
The one time he ignored his gut and let his guard down, they’d lost their baby. He also came damn close to losing Elle, too.
You did lose her. Just in a different way.
By the time Gabe made it upstairs, he’d remembered she’d just been released from the damn hospital. They’d definitely have to have a talk about everything eventually.
