Cowering like the well-groomed pussy he was, the crooked bastard coughed. He had to suck in several breaths before he was finally able to speak again.
“You know the man I work for.” His voice shook as he rubbed his bruised throat. “What he’s capable of.”
“I do.”
“Then you also know what will happen to both of us if you fail.” In an attempt to regain his composure, the dick ran his hands along his chest, smoothing the front of his suit jacket. “She’s one helpless woman, Walker. Honestly at this point, I don’t give a shit how you do it. Accident or not, you need to take care of her soon. Otherwise, we’re both done.”
Without another word, the man left, and Adrian went back to the window where he’d been standing before. The one overlooking San Diego’s Naval Medical Hospital.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, Adrian opened the tracking app to check his target’s location.Perfect.
A plan began to form. One he prayed would work.
As he gathered his things, Adrian thought about the best way to proceed. He’d have to be careful. Very careful.
Because despite what that asshole and his employer thought, Ellena Dawson was far from helpless.
* * *
Ellena slid her ID badge along the card reader. When the tiny light turned green, a loud click let her know the employee access door was unlocked.
She reached for the metal handle, but Gabe stopped her by placing his hand over hers. “Let me go in first.”
Her heart did that little thing in her chest again. The way it always did when he touched her. No one else had ever made her feel that way.
Only him.
It was so irritating, knowing the man still had such a strong effect on her.
“Seriously?” Ellena raised her brow. “You really think someone’s waiting for me in the hallway on the other side of this door, hoping I might decide to stop by my office at”—she glanced down at her watch—“nine twenty-seven on a Sunday night?”
Her tone and incredulous look did nothing to persuade him. Not that she actually expected it to.
The frustratingly handsome man simply shrugged one of his broad shoulders and said, “Stranger things have happened.”
Reminding herself that he meant well, Ellena stepped to the side, biting her tongue to keep from popping off another smartass reply.
The corner of Gabe’s mouth twitched. “Thanks.”
With a wink that caused a familiar tingling in her lower abdomen, he opened the door and looked ahead. Pausing to check for any boogie men that may be lurking around, he held the door so she could go past.
“You still in two twenty-two?” He asked from behind her.
Ellena’s step faltered slightly. “You remembered my office number?”
“Of course, I remember.” He slid her a sideways glance. “It was our lucky number.”
To most, two hundred twenty-two would probably be a strange number to consider lucky. But it was theirs all the same.
For starters, February twenty-second was the day they met. Gabe had been texting someone on his phone when he ran into her—literally—as he was walking into the hospital to visit a teammate who’d been injured on an op.
As if it were yesterday, Elle could still remember the funny way her insides swirled around when she’d caught her first glimpse of him. That and the way his deep voice reverberated through her when he’d apologized.
Once he learned the number on her office door was two-twenty-two, he’d officially declared it their lucky number. When she asked him why, he’d explained it was the day they met, her office number, and his old locker number in high school.
He’d said fate must’ve known even way back then that she was the one he’d end up with. Elle had laughed and told him he was crazy, but deep inside she’d found it sweet and endearing.
When they’d checked into their hotel the night of their wedding and she discovered he’d reserved room two twenty-two, she fell in love with him even more than she already had.
