Entwined With You

up for lost time.”
    His laugh was husky from his orgasm. He held me for a while, his fingers sifting through my hair and gliding gently down my arm.
    “It ripped me apart,” he said quietly. “Seeing how hurt and angry you were. Knowing I was causing you pain and that you were pulling away from me … It was hell for us both, but I couldn’t take the risk that you might become a suspect.”
    I stiffened. I hadn’t thought of that possibility. It could be argued that I was Gideon’s motive to kill. And it could be assumed that I was aware of the crime as well. My complete and utter ignorance hadn’tbeen my only protection; he’d made sure I had an alibi, too. Always protecting me—whatever the cost.
    He pulled back. “I put a burner phone in your purse. It’s preprogrammed with a number that will put you in touch with Angus. If you need me for anything, you can reach me that way.”
    My hands clenched into fists—I had to reach my boyfriend through his chauffeur. “I hate this.”
    “So do I. Clearing my way back to you is my number one priority.”
    “Isn’t it dangerous for Angus to be put in the middle?”
    “He’s former MI6. Clandestine phone calls are child’s play for him.” He paused, then said, “Full disclosure, Eva: I can track you through the phone and I will.”
    “What?”
I slid out of bed and stood. My thoughts bounced back and forth between MI6—British secret service!—to geotracking my cell, unsure of what to latch on to first. “No way.”
    He stood, too. “If I can’t be with you or talk to you, I at least need to know where you are.”
    “Don’t be this way, Gideon.”
    His face was composed. “I didn’t have to tell you.”
    “Seriously?” I stalked to the closet to grab a robe. “And you said warning someone about ridiculous behavior isn’t an excuse for it.”
    “Cut me some slack.”
    Glaring at him, I shoved my hands into the sleeves of a red silk dressing gown and yanked the belt into a knot. “No. I think you’re a control freak who likes having me followed.”
    He crossed his arms. “I like keeping you alive.”
    I froze. After a moment, my brain rewound to look at the events of the last few weeks again—with the addition of Nathan in the picture. Abruptly, everything made sense: the way Gideon had freaked out when I’d tried to walk to work one morning, why Angus had shadowed me around the city every day, Gideon’s fury when he commandeered the elevator I was riding …
    Allthose times I’d almost hated him for being an asshole, he’d been thinking about keeping me safe from Nathan.
    My knees weakened, and I sank inelegantly to the floor.
    “Eva.”
    “Give me a minute.” I’d figured out a lot of it already during the time we’d been apart. I’d realized Gideon would never allow Nathan to simply stroll into his office with photos of me being abused and violated, then just stroll back out again. Brett Kline had only
kissed
me and Gideon had beaten him up. Nathan had
raped
me repeatedly for years and documented it with pictures and video. Gideon’s reaction to meeting Nathan the first time had to have been violent.
    Nathan must have visited the Crossfire Building the day I’d found Gideon freshly showered with a crimson stain on the cuff of his shirt. What I’d originally suspected was lipstick was Nathan’s blood. The sofa and sofa pillows in Gideon’s office had been skewed from a fight, not from a lunch quickie with Corinne.
    Scowling fiercely, he crouched in front of me. “Damn it. Do you think I
want
to micromanage you? There have been extenuating circumstances. Give me credit for trying to balance your independence with keeping you safe.”
    Wow. Hindsight didn’t just make things crystal clear; it smacked me upside the head and knocked some sense into me. “I get it.”
    “I don’t think you do. This”—he gestured impatiently at himself—“is just a fucking shell.
You’re
what drives me, Eva. Can you understand that? You’re my heart and soul. If something ever happened to you, it would kill me, too. Keeping you safe is goddamned self-preservation! Tolerate it for me, if you won’t do it for yourself.”
    I surged into him, knocking him off-balance and onto his back. I kissed him hard, my heart pounding and blood roaring in my ears.
    “I hate to freak you out,” I muttered between desperate kisses, “but you’ve got it real bad for me.”
    Groaning, he squeezed me tightly. “So we’re okay?”
    Iwrinkled my