Page 39 of Fighting for Ella

Over and over again until the weapon was empty, and the body of the man who had slipped through their fingers more times than he liked to admit, lay riddled with bullets at her feet.

Still, she pulled the trigger, her eyes wide with shock, even as her body stood tall and straight, confident that it had done the right thing.

“You did it, honey,” Miguel murmured as he edged closer, wishing he had been able to take this burden from her before she saddled it to herself for life.

She made no protest as he slipped the weapon out of her hands, then folded her into an embrace, crushing her against him. They clung to one another, needing to hold each other as confirmation they were both alive and in one piece.

As her fingers curled into his shirt, fisting in the material, her wet face nuzzled against his chest, Miguel realized that she wasn’t the only one who had saddled herself with something she’d never be able to shake off there in the Mexican jungle.

He had, too.

Because wanted or not, this woman had wriggled her way under his skin and he had no idea what he was going to do about it.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

February 8th

4:38 P.M.

If she thoughtshe was exhausted in Mexico it was nothing to how Ella felt in this moment.

Completely wiped out.

Empty.

Like there was nothing left for her to give.

Just the thought of having to catch a cab or an Uber back to her house, cook herself some dinner—even ordering dinner—cleaning herself up, and falling into bed was more than she could handle.

Everything was too much.

She was overwhelmed to the absolute extreme.

“So I can go?” she asked Eagle and another man from some agency only he hadn't specified which one in particular. Even though the first words out of Eagle’s mouth when their plane landed at Prey’s private airfield, and she was transported back to the office where he was waiting for her were that she was not under arrest, she hadn't quite believed it.

Answering every question she was asked—the same ones over and over again until she was precariously close to screaming or bursting into tears—as honestly as possible, giving as much detail as she could remember, it had all felt pointless. Ella had been convinced that at the end they were going to change their minds, snap handcuffs on her and drag her away, locking her up in some tiny cell in some remote location and she’d never see the light of day again.

Eagle’s blue eyes met hers, open and honest, inviting her to search them and confirm her fears were for nothing. “Ella, you are not under arrest. Everything you said checked out. The vial of the Reactivator was in the locker at the airport, it’s already been tested. The bomb was found under your parents’ house. You have the wounds to prove you were threatened into doing what you did. I can't say I'm not disappointed I don’t have an emergency system in place that can be used in the event of a situation like this and you felt you had to go it alone, but that failing is mine, not yours.”

Tears welled in her eyes at her boss’ kind words, for his understanding, for his willingness to believe her, and for having everything corroborated so someone couldn’t twist things against her.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“For what it’s worth, Ella. I never believed you were guilty,” Eagle said. When she studied his gaze, she found it sincere and there was not a single thread of dishonesty in his tone either.

“Thank you,” she whispered again, knowing how lucky she would have been to have Eagle on her side if things hadn't turned out the way they had and she’d been arrested. He would have fought for her.

Unlike …

It hurt to think, but she’d seen the way Fox and the guys wouldn't meet her gaze directly. They hadn't believed in her, andit hurt more than she could express, more than she ever would have thought.

“Go home and rest, we’ll have people watching over you. Raul Castillo might be dead, but the mole is still out there,” Eagle said. The pride in his voice as he mentioned the dead weapons trafficker managed to drag a small smile out of her. If nothing else, her ordeal had wound up taking out a wanted dealer and that was definitely something.

Wearily, she pushed to her feet and opened the interview room door, kind of surprised to find it wasn’t locked.

More surprised to see who was lounging against the wall in the hall.

“Miguel? What are you doing here?” she asked. She would have thought after his debriefing he would have left, never giving her a second thought. Instead, he’d stayed, which somehow made things a little better.

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