Page 14 of Provoke You

“You’re not exactly homeless, Ela.”

“You just don’t get it, do you?” She picked up the handcuffs off the bed and threw them across the room. “You’re gonna want those back. Go do your marine thing and make all the plans and strategies you want because you’re gonna need those too. The minute you turn your back, I’m gone. Dad doesn’t have everyone in his wallet. I’ll find someone to help me.”

Why did I think I could get Ela to agree to go with me, or to see reason for that matter? I ran a hand through my hair, making a mental note of all the exits in the carriage house.

“Wipe that knowing look off your face. You don’t know New Orleans the way I do. Once I leave here, a hundred marines won’t be able to find me.”

Where Ela had the ability to make me want her to the point of insanity, she also had the ability to make my blood boil with frustration. I dropped my head in my hands and took a calming breath. I had to focus and stay in control. A woman like Ela was used to having her way.

Whatever the hell happened to the simple life with no melodrama this job promised? A part of me knew that leaving the corps would take some getting used to, that civilian life was more chaotic. But I never imagined it would be this roller coaster of unfortunate events that Ela thought of as just another Wednesday morning.

When my heartbeat slowed down to a normal pace, I glanced up to find an empty room. “Goddammit, Ela.” I jerked to my feet and ran out of the house.

In all the time I’d spent pouring through Ela’s Instagram photos, not once did I see her in active wear and running shoes. This had been her plan all along. She waited until I had my guard down to sneak out. I literally had my eyes off her for twenty seconds.

Ela was a lot of things, but definitely not a liar. If she said I would never find her after she left the property, I believed her. I kept my gaze on her as she ran toward the gate. Her red top became the only thing I could see, the bullseye. I took long strides until I was close enough to wrap my arms around her. When I squeezed her tight against my chest, she yelped. Before she could kick me in the shins, I dropped to my knees and held her there. First she was all over me, and now I couldn’t keep her in the same room as me.

“You can’t keep me here.” She shoved against my forearm.

After a minute, she stopped struggling and relaxed against me. She smelled of my shampoo. Her perfume sent a flurry of images through my mind, memories not just pictures, of her on the screen. Like previews in a movie, images of Ela kissing me, sleeping in my bed, and showering in my bathroom played in my head. None of that mattered now. She was the job and couldn’t be anything else.

When she caught her breath and her body didn’t tremble anymore, I released my tight hold on her. She didn’t move from where she rested on my chest, and a calm washed over me. How could someone take me to the brink of insanity in one moment and complete serenity the next?

I kept her in my arms and buried my face in the soft curls of her hair. “I may not know New Orleans as well as you, but I do know that I’m fucking good at my job. I promised I’d take you to Paris, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

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