Page 56 of Run

“I know,” he said softly.

“I never stopped loving you,” she confessed.

“I know that too, Ellie. Otherwise, I’d be in jail. You’ve always had more than enough information on us to put me away for a long, long time.”

“I couldn’t,” she whispered. “You’re my brother.”

“See?” His eyes shone with barely controlled emotion as he smiled at her. “You’re just as dumb as I am.”

“Nobody’s that dumb.” Elle wrapped her arms around the only family she’d ever truly had and held on tight as she wept. Shedding tears for everything she’d lost and for everything Marcus had just given her back.

Damn, she was so fed up with crying.

22

“I’m just not that into you?” Harvard mocked as they watched Elle laugh with her brother.

“Shut up.” David kept his eyes on Elle. They’d been in Marcus’ house much longer than he would have liked, especially when every extra minute increased the chances of one of Tommy’s men knowing where to look for his son.

“Hey, believe it or not, that line’s still a step up from you having mysterious reasons why you couldn’t get together. Have you met Elle? She lives for mysteries she can crack. You basically handed her catnip.”

“You know, normal people would have mentioned the phone was still live way earlier, instead of listening in. Benson Security’s had a bad effect on you. Which is my way of saying, I don’t believe this is any of your business, buddy.”

“And yet, I still have an opinion.” Harvard grinned at him. “Not only that, but I’m happy to share it.”

“Thanks, but think I’ll pass.” He watched Abasi check his watch for the third time in five minutes, letting David know he wasn’t the only uneasy one in the room.

“Nice try, but I don’t remember giving you that option.” Harvard clasped his hands in front of him, looking every inch the relaxed spy who could take everyone in the room—except David. “You’re screwing up,” he said.

David waited for more, but it didn’t materialize. “That’s it? That’s your big insight?”

“I figured it was enough, but if you need me to expand on it, try this: you’re hurting a woman who has at least ten combat-trained men in her corner. All of whom consider themselves her honorary big brothers. Not to mention those two.” He jerked his chin toward Marcus and Abasi. “Who, I’m pretty sure, kill people for fun. Which makes me think you either have a death wish, or you’re totally clueless. I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume clueless.”

“Thin ice, my friend, thin ice,” David warned.

“Don’t worry; I can skate.” The big man was every bit as fearless as David remembered. It had been years since he’d seen Harvard, and yet he still sauntered right into the middle of David’s personal business. That took balls.

Which he used to carry on speaking. “You ever considered your skills are just what that woman needs to protect her from all the crap swirling around her? You might think you’re putting her in more danger by being with her, but I don’t think that’s possible. She has her own enemies, and they are never going away. Even if we take Tommy out of the equation, there’s still the terrorist groups, the Russian Mob, the various agencies—all with an interest in your girl. It’s gonna be one long race to see who gets the prize first. My guess? It won’t be any of your enemies who win. Elle doesn’t need you to walk away to save her. She needs you to dig in and build a fortress around her.”

“You about done giving me unwanted advice?” Especially when each word struck a little too close to home.

“For now.” Harvard grinned.

“Did it ever occur to you that I’d figure that out on my own?”

Harvard’s eyebrows shot up his forehead. “Not in a million years.”

David was wondering which pressure point to hit on Harvard’s body when Abasi raised his voice. “Marcus, you’ve got a job you need to do.”

“I know.” Marcus stood and buttoned his suit jacket as he spoke to Callum. “You’ve convinced me you can take care of Elle, for the most part. I didn’t realize you had Knight on your team, which makes a difference. Plus, I might have overreacted when things hit the fan. You have to understand, I’m used to being my sister’s first line of defense when it comes to Tommy.”

“Next time,” Callum said, “pick up a phone instead of a gun if you have questions.”

“Or maybe don’t give me a reason to have questions,” Marcus answered. “You left her too exposed.”

“It would have helped if we’d known there was a threat to begin with,” Callum growled.

Before it could descend into another argument between two men who were both used to being in charge, Joe stepped in. “We’ve got this, but you know it’s time the threat was removed permanently, right? Are you gonna be okay with that?”