The Mogul and the Muscle: A Bluewater Billionaires Romantic Comedy(81)

Eyes locked with mine, he stroked my cheek.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the video,” I whispered. “I was embarrassed, and I didn’t want you to find out.”

He nodded. “I’m sorry I lashed out at you. And you’re not just a job.”

Tears stung my eyes again—damn it, that kept happening—and one slid down my cheek.

He glanced down for a second and when our eyes met again, his were filled with emotion. “I left the CIA because a fellow operative was killed.”

“Oh god, please don’t tell me you lost the love of your life in a tragic mission gone wrong, because there’s no way I’ll ever compete with that.”

“No, I didn’t lose the love of my life. I’m looking at her.”

I bit my lip and nodded.

“His name was Micah Strickland. I’d worked with him for years. It shook me up when he died. I decided I needed a different life.”

I touched his face, feeling his rough stubble against my palm. “It’s hard to lose people.”

“Yeah.”

“We shouldn’t be having this conversation now, should we?”

His lips hooked in a small smile. “Probably not.”

“I’m in love with you.”

He leaned in and planted a hard kiss on my lips. “I’m so fucking in love with you. We’re going to talk about this later.”

“Yeah.”

“First, I’m going to get you out of here,” he said, clasping my hand again.

We continued downward. Several of the floors were blocked off, the doors boarded up. Another had no door at all, but a pile of debris spilling onto the landing made it impassable. Jude took us down to what I assumed was the ground floor, although most of the floor signs were missing.

“What do we do now?” Nicholas whispered.

Jude leaned close to the door, like he was listening. “We’re going to walk out.”

“You guys obviously have this covered,” Bobby said. “I can take my own car and head home.”

Jude leveled him with a glare.

He swallowed hard and nodded. “Right. I go with you.”

“Now,” Jude said.

He opened the door and led me through, gently grasping my hand. I walked tall beside him, my hair a mess, my wrists and ankles ringed with rope burns. The fear that had threatened to overtake me was gone. Not just the fear of being killed by the mob. I wasn’t afraid of that either, not with Jude at my side.

More importantly, I was no longer afraid to love him.

Jude pulled us up short as a group of armed men ran in from both sides, forming a line in front of us, blocking our way out.

“Oh god,” Bobby whimpered.

“Don’t piss yourself,” Nicholas said.

Inda was behind me. “Stay with me, Nick.”

“I’m with you,” Nicholas said. “Love you always.”

The boss man strode out in front of his men, flanked by two more. He stopped, his dark brow furrowing, his eyes on Jude.

“Ellis,” he said, a slight lift in his intonation. Was he surprised?

“Novakoff.”

“I did not expect to see you here,” Novakoff said. “You have an interest in this situation?”

Jude subtly moved in front of me. “She’s mine.”

Novakoff gave a slight nod, his eyes still on Jude. He angled his face toward one of the men next to him and spoke softly. “Why wasn’t I told of this?”

The man closest to him said something quietly in Russian. Jude didn’t move. He stood straight and tall, facing forward, my hand clasped in his.

Finally, Novakoff turned his attention back to Jude. “It appears there has been a misunderstanding. We were unaware of your connection to Ms. Whitbury. I can assure you, it will not happen again.”

“Good,” Jude said.

“However, he and I have unfinished business.” Novakoff pointed to Bobby. “He has caused me a fair bit of trouble.”

“We have that in common,” Jude said.

“Nah, dog, we’re good,” Bobby said. “I’ll just pay you the rest of what I owe you and we can all move on.”

“I’m afraid not, Mr. Spencer,” Novakoff said, his voice smooth. “We had an arrangement and you’re no longer able to uphold your end of the deal.”

“Do you want my car?” he asked, fumbling through his pockets. “Take it. It’s a Lambo. It’s worth a quarter of a million, easy. That plus the money I owe you. It’s wiping out my trust fund, but seriously dude, don’t kill me.”

“That covers a portion of your debt, but not all of it.” Novakoff paused for a moment, as if considering. Then his eyes shifted to me. “Ms. Whitbury, a proposal.”

My heart was in my throat, but I kept my expression still. “I’m listening.”

“As recompense for the trouble my men caused on his behalf, we will take care of Mr. Spencer for you.”

I glanced at Jude. His eyebrows twitched. This was my call.

“May I speak frankly?” I asked.

“Of course,” Novakoff said.

“That’s very generous, and he deserves everything that’s coming to him.” I looked back and shot Bobby a cool glare. “But I don’t want to have anyone killed. Even him.”