What he’s done is unforgivable.
Gerard really doesn’t like her, though—he merely suggested he look the other way while he’s in the office with Ellie, and the guard laughed and walked away as soon as he shut the door.
He’ll have to do something about him later.
He doesn’t know how long he has before Ellie leaves Green Woods forever—and he has to have a plan before that happens.
Part of that plan is uncovering her secrets.
“Why were you so scared when the alarm went off?”
As soon as he says it, he knows he went too far.
She snaps out of her stupor and gasps as the realization hits her. She glares at him with a look of horror and betrayal, her features eventually fading to sadness.
But she doesn’t stand up and leave, nor does she yell at him.
Instead, she sighs, then looks back at him, resigned.
“I was in a car accident,” she says quietly. “The car caught on fire after it flipped. I barely made it out.”
The thought of her in danger makes his blood boil. “Fuck,” he mutters. “That’s horrible.”
Her scent softens with a muted sadness, and she nods. “Yes. It was.” To his surprise, she chuckles, looking down at her lap. “I never found the asshole that hit us. He just slammed into us, then drove off.”
There’s more to her story, he can tell by the look on her face.
“Us?”
She cringes. “My mother and sister.”
He doesn’t ask what happened, because he already knows.
They didn’t make it out.
Her scent is tinged with the sourness of sorrow and grief. Guilt cuts through his hardened heart like a knife.
“I wish I could find him for you,” he says. “I’d kill him.”
She barks out a laugh as she stands up, moving her chair back to the desk. “Right. Me too.”
And suddenly it clicks.
He recalls her words from the other day, when he admitted to her that the murders were not random but were for revenge.
I understand, she had said, even though he could tell she instantly regretted her admission.
“I’ve tried, you know,” she continues, her voice small, barely above a whisper. “To find him. There were witnesses, but the police didn’t have enough to go on. They only had the type of truck, but nothing else.”
She takes a long pause, and he sits and absorbs her words.
Her scent has changed again. Underneath the sweetness, there’s a shame that floods her.
“You have survivor’s guilt, when you don’t need to,” he says, and she gives him a sad smile, one that doesn’t reach her eyes.
She looks so tired.
“I was the reason we were in the car, Erik. I had just presented as an Omega and we were on our way back from my doctor’s appointment.”
He puts the pieces together in his mind, recalling their first encounter.
“That’s why you hate being called an Omega. It reminds you of the reason you were in the car.” He pauses, and she looks up at him again, her eyes shining. “You think it’s your fault.”
She clears her throat and looks away from him; her gaze finding the window, staring out into the trees. They sit there in silence, and his heart aches for her.
He wants to tell her it’s not her fault, that she’s a fucking angel, and too good for this world.
He wants to promise her he’ll avenge her and her family, and she’ll never have to suffer again.
He’ll burn the fucking world down for her, if only he could tear her grief from her soul.
But he merely watches her observing as the light illuminates her face, taking in her beauty and sorrow.
The clock ticks behind them, the minutes going by, both of them sitting in silence, their scents entwining.
It’s just enough to be around her, he decides.
“Why did you turn yourself in?” she asks, still looking out the window.
The question catches him off guard. “You’ve been researching me, Winters?”
A corner of her lip turns up. “Of course. You had no reason to turn yourself in. You weren’t even a suspect.” She swivels the chair back to face him. “So, why? You want to be here for the rest of your life?”
He stays silent, and she grows angry.
“You could at least tell me that, after you intruded on my private thoughts,” she snaps. “After you had the gall to demand to know my secrets.”
He knows she’s right, and her anger is so beautiful, so sexy, that he just…
“They had someone else,” he says simply. “They arrested an innocent man. I turned myself in so he wouldn’t spend a lifetime behind bars.”
Her eyes widen, then she chuckles, shaking her head. “Wow. Your moral compass is something else.”
“I could say the same for you, baby,” he says, a smirk forming on his face. “Such a professional during the day, yet you spread your legs for me at night.”
Her face flames. “Yes, and it was a mistake,” she snaps. “Something that won’t happen again.”
He grins. “I heard those words last time,” he says. “I don’t think they’ll be the last time I hear them, either.”
She scowls, but he can smell the arousal on her, the scent speaking directly to his cock.
But his victory is short-lived as she glances at the clock and stands up from her chair. “We’re done for the day,” she says. “I need to meet with Doctor Porter. Do you want me to relay any message from you?”
“Yes. Tell him I require around-the-clock behavioral analysis, or else we won’t make progress.”
She glares at him. “You’re a psychopath.”
At that, he barks out a laugh. “You already knew that, baby. But I thought you weren’t supposed to use such harsh judgments on your clients?”
She huffs then stops at the door, her hand on the lock.
“And Erik,” she says, giving him one last look. “Use Influence on me again, and I’ll fucking kill you.”
He doesn’t stop laughing as she leaves.
