Notanaccountant or eventheaccountant.
Ash was pretty goddamn certain Ellory’s job description came with capital letters.
As they entered the mansion, she drew her shoulders back and lengthened her strides like she had an agenda.
He took note of the change the way he’d taken note of her breakdown after the shooting. He noticed everything about her…including the fact that kiss had changed them too.
As they progressed down the hallway to the war room, doors opened and people stepped out to watch them pass.
“Ash. You good?” Sinner called from the kitchen.
“All green.” His words meant they were functioning normally, but he wasn’t so sure it applied to the woman walking a step ahead of him.
Steele stepped out of Con’s office. “Con says he’ll be with you two in ten minutes.”
“Copy.”
Steele faded back into the office, and in one step, Ash placed himself in Ellory’s path. She almost barreled into him. Her hair swung forward as she jerked to a stop, and her hand hovered over his chest like it needed a place to land.
He curled his fingers around her elbow, steadying her. Leaning in, he searched her face. “Are you okay?”
“Of course.” She started to pull away, to move around him, but he held her firm, forcing her gaze back to his.
“This is my job, Ash.”
He studied her for another heartbeat, then let her go. She stepped around him and entered the war room.
He hesitated for a moment before following her. Sophie and Opal were poring over documents spread across the table, and they looked up as Ellory entered. Sophie let out a small noise and rushed toward her.
“We heard.” Sophie shifted her attention from Ellory to Ash. “Thank god you’re both okay!”
He gave her a brief nod. “Con will be here in ten for the debriefing.”
He felt more than saw Ellory turn her head ever so slightly like she was just as aware of him now that he’d pinned her to that wall and stolen a kiss.
He circled the table, watching her from the corner of his eye to make sure she didn’t crumble. But she was speaking in calm tones to Sophie and Opal with no indication at all that she’d clung to his arm like a life raft back in the van.
He stared at the maps of Cipher’s holdings still plastered over the big screens, but he’d already memorized the locations. Instead, he tuned in to the rise and fall of Ellory’s voice as she conveyed what she’d seen on that computer.
“You don’t have to dive into the data right now.” The concern in Sophie’s tone had Ash’s own instinct to protect rising sharply. “Take a minute to regroup. I can get you some coffee, or water. Something to eat.”
“I’m fine.”
“Everything that just happened—” Sophie tried again.
Ellory cut across her. “Is over. I’m ready to work.”
Sophie locked eyes with Ash. Understanding passed between them. They both knew Ellory wasn’t okay, but work was her norm, and she needed that right now.
Accepting that she wasn’t getting anywhere with her argument, Sophie drifted over to the laptop. “Let’s have a look.”
Ellory slipped into a seat with the grace of a queen settling in front of her subjects.
He studied her for a long heartbeat, noting how pale she was despite her composure on the surface, before lifting his gaze to Opal.
She was watching him.
In slow steps, he rounded the table, and she met him near the door. He pitched his voice low. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
