His arsenal bested hers because he’d ensured it had before tracking her ass down halfway across the country. He knew he’d have to be convincing and, even then, it wasn’t as if Eliza was going to say okay you win. Yours is bigger and better than mine so I give up and you can protect me.
He almost snorted at the thought. It was amusing even if unrealistic. But proving he did know somewhat of how her mind worked her reaction didn’t surprise him.
Her eyes narrowed as her gaze filtered back to Wade and she scowled. “What next? Are you all going to whip out your dicks to see whose is bigger?”
He sent her a lazy grin, refusing to rise to her lame attempt at baiting him. “You’ll know my dick size soon enough.”
“God you’re an asshole,” she hissed out between clenched teeth.
And she almost looked like his Eliza. So much so that he felt an unexpected jolt of relief and something else altogether.
Something warm. Something that felt good when he had felt nothing but fucked-up shit for the last week. It made what he had to do next suck. Because they’d already fucked away enough time since he’d tagged her at the shithole house she’d been staying in that was so dilapidated and indefensible that even her arsenal wasn’t going to help if any heavy shit went down, and he already knew whatever the fuck Eliza was tangled up in, it was heavy.
And it was obvious that she sensed the change in his mood and intention, because she paled and all her anger fled, leaving only a stark hollowness that made his already shitty mood even worse.
He dismissed his men with a single motion and when they left to resume their posts, he turned back to the table to release Eliza. Her cuffed hand was curled so tightly around the leg of the table that the tips of her fingers were white. And when he gently unlocked the clasp and her hand fell away, he caught it, felt it tremble in his grasp and he tightened his hand around hers.
Before he even said anything, she closed her eyes and it made the shadows underneath them more pronounced, which in turn made her look even more vulnerable and he hated it all.
“Eliza—”
He was interrupted by his cell phone ringing and he glanced down, pulling it upward from his pocket just enough to see who the incoming call was from.
Fuck. And hell no. Dane was calling. After Wade had told him to step back and that this was his show. Dane had made it his show by making the call to Wade and the rules weren’t changing now. He hit the button to decline the call, sending it to voicemail and then shoved it back in his pocket. Then his hold on Eliza’s hand that had loosened slightly when he’d been distracted by the call tightened again and he fixed her with the full force of his gaze.
“Eliza, it’s time we talked,” he said in a tone that said he meant business.
This time he didn’t flinch at the fear or the shadows that immediately leapt in her eyes. He was prepared for them. It didn’t make it any easier to witness, though.
His phone went off again, this time indicating a text.
“You have got to be shitting me,” he growled.
Keeping firm hold on her hand, noticing how small it felt in his much larger one, he reached for his phone again, knowing he couldn’t afford to ignore any call or text. Or at least ascertain whether he needed to respond.
He yanked the phone up and when he read the text, his blood chilled.
“You have got to be shitting me,” he repeated, his pulse accelerating.
Situation critical. Check in ASAP.
That was it. Nothing more, which meant it was detailed and it wasn’t good.
With a sigh, he gave Eliza’s hand a squeeze and guided it back into the cuff, once more securing her wrist to the table.
“I have to make a call, baby,” he said softly, giving her a gentle look. “When I get back, we talk. Finish eating. I’ll have one of my men come in. There’s dessert too.”
He caressed the cuffed hand, soothing and ensuring it wasn’t causing her any discomfort.
“This won’t take long. Then you get me and my undivided attention.”
Her startled look told him she hadn’t missed the inference in his statement. That she wasn’t getting his attention. She was getting him. And his undivided attention, which meant two separate things entirely.
TWELVE
“I thought I made it clear that I call you. You do not call me,” Wade said, his voice enough to lower the outside temperature by another twenty degrees and it was already cold as fuck and drizzling.
He’d stepped out of the house, not wanting to chance Eliza overhearing what was likely to be a very unpleasant conversation with her precious team leader. Or partner. Whatever the fuck they were to one another.
“Tell me you have Eliza,” Dane said curtly. “Don’t fuck with me, Wade. Tell me you have her.”
Wade blinked at the chilling fear in the other man’s voice. The first time he’d called he’d sounded merely worried. What the hell had happened to upgrade the status to the terror in Dane’s tone? Dane sounded as though he was precariously close to losing his shit. Well, join the crowd and get in line because that made two of them.
“Goddamn it, Sterling, there are things you don’t know,” Dane snarled. “Now is not the time to have a fucking pissing match. Now tell me if Eliza is with you.”
“Yes. Currently she’s handcuffed to the table I just made her sit down at and eat the first meal she’s likely had in days, if not weeks.”
“Thank God,” Dane whispered and Wade could practically see the man sagging in relief.
“She’s safe. She’s covered. Now if that’s all you wanted?”
“No the fuck it isn’t,” Dane exploded. “Fuck. Fuck! We’ve got a huge fucking problem.”
Dane went silent as though valiantly trying to pull himself together and Wade frowned at the frenzied, out of control, completely uncharacteristic outburst from DSS’s front man. His frown turned to a vicious scowl because there was a hell of a lot he didn’t like about this impromptu telephone chat.
Dane was clearly unhinged, worried out of his mind, but it was the last that put Wade on full alert. We’ve got a huge fucking problem. Cold, stark fear vibrated through every single nerve ending until he was battling the very thing Dane Elliot was.
“Since you don’t seem inclined to share anything at the moment, perhaps you can start with the cryptic text you sent saying situation critical,” Wade snapped. “I need to know what I’m dealing with here because Eliza isn’t exactly being cooperative, so if you have intel, particularly information that keeps her alive, then you need to start fucking talking and do it fast. Eliza’s reserves are gone, have been gone for a long time, not that you or anyone else noticed,” he said in a voice full of derision. “She’s currently handcuffed to a table because it was the only way I could force her to eat. She’s a fucking mess, Dane. Imagine the worst-case scenario of Eliza falling apart and shattering into a million pieces and then multiply that by a hundred and then you’ll start getting close to her current state of mind. Now, I have to have a serious come-to-Jesus meeting with her so I know what the hell has her so fucking afraid when she’s never had the goddamn sense to be afraid of anything.”