Page 33 of Fighting for Ella

“Up there.” He tilted his head up to look at a huge tree beside them.

“Up a tree?” she groaned.

“Yep. After seeing your tree climbing skills earlier, I thought it was the perfect place.” He chuckled and she swatted at his shoulder.

“You were watching me, so you know I did a terrible job. I was shaky and almost fell a dozen times.”

“Two dozen,” he corrected. “I was counting.”

“I don’t like heights, and I'm not very outdoorsy,” she huffed, defending herself.

“But you did it anyway,” Miguel said, more seriously now. “Because you're brave, Ella. You do the things that scare you.”

Ella pondered those words as she followed Miguel to the tree and copied his movements as they worked their way higher and higher. She didn't feel brave, but she agreed she did the things that scared her because she’d had no choice.

When she came to Mexico, she had been prepared to suffer whatever consequences she had to to ensure her family was safe. Now it sounded like they were out of danger so it was time to face those consequences.

Was she brave enough to do that?

February 8th

12:00 A.M.

It wastime and he should be a whole lot happier to get out of Mexico than he was.

Miguel wanted to get Ella safe, wanted to make sure her name was cleared, and wanted her to be able to move forward with her life. He’d lost his comms somewhere along the way, maybe while he was in the river searching for Ella, so he wasn’t able to check in with his team anymore.

Before they’d left the country pretending to have Ella with them, he’d asked them to fake an arrest or something in her parents’ street. A hostage situation or something that could believably be passed off so the mole wouldn't be suspicious and set off the bomb. It was a big ask but Eagle Oswald owed Ella for being quick thinking enough to get the Reactivator someplace safe and walking into the lion’s den to get the notorious dealer off their backs once and for all. He had no doubt that Eagle could pull off something that would get her family safe.

While he hadn't been able to communicate with his team since they left the country, the distance too big for their comms units to work, he knew that Eagle would have prioritized getting Ella’s family out of that house. The man took good care of hispeople, and even though Prey had doubted Ella, Miguel hadn't spoken to the CEO, so he didn't know if that included Eagle.

Somehow, he couldn’t see the former SEAL doubting Ella.

How anyone could was beyond him.

Yet he’d been the only one who hadn't readily believed the worst of her, and he knew that was hurting her deeply.

She was too sweet for her own good, that was the problem. Because she wouldn't have doubted her friends if their positions had been reversed meant that she was genuinely surprised to learn they hadn't afforded her the same courtesy.

He was worried about how she was going to handle things when she got home. Was she going to feel alone and abandoned? She didn't have the support of the people who should have been there for her, and while she’d have her family this was all classified information that she wouldn't be able to share with them.

Who was going to be there for her?

To support her and make sure she was okay?

And why did he feel the need to stay by her side? Protecting her from the people she should have been able to trust just like he’d protected her from Raul’s men.

Maybe it was for the best that he wouldn't see her again once they got home. When he was with her, he wanted things he knew he could never have. There was no way he was going to risk tainting Ella and her life with the darkness that ran through his veins.

Best to get her away from him as quickly as possible, she’d been through enough and she didn't need his family demons getting their tentacles into her.

“You ready to go?” he asked, nudging the woman curled up against his side.

“Do we have to?”

Knowing her fear of heights made her anxious about climbing down the tree, he ruffled her hair. They’d grown close over the last twenty-four hours, between bouts of sleep Ella had shared bits and pieces about her life and he’d done the same. While he was sure they were both selective about what they’d shared, he could feel a bond forming and solidifying.

If he didn't get away from Ella soon, he might do something stupid.

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