“I lost my mission. It became personal for me. When I saw you in Beirut, all I wanted was to run to you, but I knew, I knew, Dresden would find out and come for you.”
“Dresden was a master manipulator. Much like the Piper. We have all been tools in this game they’re playing. But Ella, make no mistake…I never stopped loving you. I don’t care what you’ve done, where you’ve been, or how you came back to me. I love you. You’re the air I breathe, the food I eat. I’m so proud of you, lady, because you came back to me. You survived, and you’re here.” He picked her up and settled her in his lap, taking her place in the big chair. “I’m not going to let you go. Ever. If I have to follow you into death, by God, I’ll do it, because there is no life for me without you. I know. I’ve tried it and wasn’t very successful.”
She lifted a hand and traced his lips. “All I’ve known the last year is fear and longing. I didn’t think you’d want me once you realized what I’d done, no matter my reasons for doing it.”
“I won’t lie to you and say it doesn’t bother me that you didn’t trust me enough to come to me in the beginning when the Piper approached you,” Jude told her. “But I can’t equivocate over that. He’s good at what he does, and he’ll answer to me for that. But maybe part of the fault for that lack of trust is mine. I know I’m an asshole sometimes, taking more than I give.”
She shook her head. “This isn’t on you. I do trust you. I didn’t trust myself. And that’s what it comes down to. I haven’t made many bad choices in who I surround myself with. I’m a pretty good judge of character, but I didn’t trust myself enough to trust anyone else.”
He nodded. “I’ve been there.”
“You came for me, refused to let me go. I believe you when you say you love me. Can you forgive me?” she asked, unable to stop the tremor in her voice.
Her heart stuttered as she waited. Without his forgiveness, they couldn’t move forward no matter how much love was between them.
“There’s nothing to forgive. You’re the other half of me,” he murmured at her lips.
Ella sank her hands into his hair and held on. He parted her lips with his and drank her in. It wasn’t a kiss of need; it was a kiss of absolution. He soothed her soul and put balm on her heart.
He healed her.
“I need to talk to Brody,” Jude said when he released her lips.
“Be careful with him, Jude,” she warned.
“I owe him. He kept you alive and killed Dresden. You need to warn him to be careful with me,” Jude said with a laugh.
A knock sounded on the door, and Harrison Black stuck his head in.
“Nobody said to come in, Brit,” Jude grumbled.
“Whatever, Keeper. You want privacy, lock the door. Meeting in the war room in an hour,” he said before tipping his head and waggling his eyebrows at Ella. “Rook said there was a bet in Russia over you two. Since nobody won, there’s a new one.”
“Yeah?” Ella laughed around her reply. “What’s the bet?”
“Everybody’s giving it two weeks before they hear the headboard knocking against the wall,” Black told them, then snickered. “I put five on it.”
“Five hundred dollars?” Ella asked in disbelief.
“Ten dollars, Ella-Bella,” he said with a frown. “We Brits leave nothing to chance, including our money. I personally only give it a week. It wasn’t such a nasty hit you took, but you are a woman, so…”
Ella flipped him off, but she couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up. Harrison Black truly didn’t understand that women were universally the stronger sex.
Jude snorted, but she felt his chest rumbling with his own laughter.
“See you both in an hour,” Black called and then shut the door on his chuckle.
“Want to change?” Jude asked her.
“Nah, I think my pajamas are about all I can handle at the moment,” she said as she snuggled deeper into his hold. “In fact, I’m going to take a short nap while we wait.”
“Go ahead, woman. I’ve got you.”
Ella knew he absolutely did, so she closed her eyes. Surrounded by her man and all the love they shared.
Chapter 26
Jude placed Ella in a chair and took the seat beside her. Rook and Vivi were already in their seats. Black and Brody were across the war table from him and Ella. He’d asked Brody a few minutes ago for a moment after the meeting. He had some words to say to the man who’d saved Ella in that cell.
Because Jude had no doubt that had Brody not screamed, Savidge would have devastated Ella and she might have died that night. He owed Brody his life. Without Ella, Jude didn’t have one.
Vivi stood as King walked in and began to set up her boards. Allie Redding followed King, and behind her came Anna Beth Caine. Jude had only seen her once they’d returned to the States. She stayed holed up in her room and didn’t say much to anyone. Jude had no idea why Anna Beth was there. Normally, war room meetings were reserved for the team.
King, Rook, Knight, Chase, Black, and Madoc settled in their normal places. Jude reached for Ella’s hand and felt the sun shine in his soul. She was still so pale, but her gray eyes were clearing of the clouds she’d carried with her, and she was alive. It was more than
