Page 9 of Deep (Chicago Underground 8)
“Please don’t hurt her,” I whispered. “She saved me.”
A slight frown crossed his handsome face. “Why would you say that?”
Oh shit, what if he didn’t know what she’d done? I couldn’t tell him. “No reason.”
Then he did something that surprised me. He laughed softly. “All right, Ella. I’m not going to hurt her. Even if she is fucking a cop.”
My throat was dry. “Please.”
Something dark flickered in his eyes. He reached for me, and I flinched. It didn’t stop him. He ran a finger down my cheek, barely a whisper, maybe not even touching, just moving the air. “So soft. You don’t even know what you’re begging for, do you?”
The air felt too thin. I couldn’t breathe enough in. “I’m not.”
He looked amused. “Not what? Not begging?”
I was definitely begging, but he was right. I wasn’t sure what I needed most. Leave me alone. Except that we’d come to his house. “Let us stay,” I said, my voice hoarse.
Someone would pay the cost of that. Shelly? Me?
He studied me for a long moment. Then he gently placed the blanket over me again, cocooning me in warmth. “Rest,” he finally said. “We’ll figure it out in the morning.”
And somehow I did rest—even knowing he was there, watching. It wasn’t a deep sleep, more like a haze of exhaustion that I let creep over me, a brief respite from the fear I’d known since men first stopped me outside the bathroom of the club. I was safe, for now. We’ll figure it out in the morning.
I was almost completely asleep when I heard Shelly stir.
“Good,” Philip murmured to her. “You’re up.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice thick and weary.
“For arriving uninvited in the middle of the night, or for ratting me out?” he asked.
“Both.”
I kept my eyes closed, pretending to sleep. Maybe it was wrong of me to eavesdrop when they didn’t know I was awake, but I was far past right and wrong, white and black. There was only safety, and I would do anything to have it.
“What are you wearing?” he asked.
She laughed softly, a tinkling sound that was somehow sensual. “Twenty bucks on the clearance rack. Sorry, babe. Not everyone keeps me in Dior.”
He grunted in response. “I take it you’re desperate, since you’re here.”
“Fishing for a compliment, Philip?” She laughed again. “Yes, you’re right. I wouldn’t have come back otherwise. I figured you’d have me strung up by now.”
“I would have, if I’d thought you wanted it too. Adrian’s made up rooms for the two of you.” My heartbeat quickened at the mere mention of me. “You’ll be safe for the night at least.”
“And after?”
I held my breath, waiting. Hoping.
“Don’t press your luck, Shelly,” he said. “One of these days, it’s going to run out.”
It wasn’t much of a promise for the future, but it was all he left her with. I heard his footsteps grow quiet, and then he was gone. Shelly touched my shoulder to wake me, and it wasn’t hard to pretend I was exhausted—because I was.
“Where are we?” I asked even though it wasn’t what I really wanted to know. How long can we stay? How much do you trust Philip?
“Somewhere safe,” was
all she said. “Come on, let’s put you to bed.”
