Page 24 of Forsaken

“Can you get someone over here to sit on his place?” I asked, ignoring Ronan’s question.

“You’re there now?”

I nodded and then said, “Yeah.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Ronan finally said. “You good there for a bit?”

No.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll call you back in a few.”

I nodded. “Ronan.”

“Yeah?” Ronan asked softly and I didn’t miss the curiosity and concern in his voice.

“Can you talk to Memphis about putting me on a case?”

Ronan was quiet for a moment before saying, “Seattle no longer appealing to you?”

“You know me,” was all I said. Within seconds of hanging up on Ronan, I saw Eli’s door open, but instead of Dom leaving the apartment, it was actually Eli himself who was trotting down the stairs. It had been less than five minutes since I’d left.

I kept my distance as I followed Eli’s car and I was surprised to find that he was driving much more aggressively than he normally did. I felt my heart drop out of my chest when I finally realized where he was going.

My hotel.

I pulled the rental car to a stop along the curb across from the hotel and shook my head in disbelief. Having Eli search me out was the last thing I’d expected. I waited several minutes to see what would happen when Eli realized I wasn’t in my room, but instead of seeing his little sedan sputtering out of the parking garage, there was nothing and after fifteen minutes, my concern started to ramp up and I got out of the car and hurried into the hotel. It took just minutes to get to my room, but I was on edge the entire time as I worried that I might have missed something. What if Eli had been intercepted between my room and his car? What if his stepfather had confronted him again?

But all my panic dissipated when I saw Eli sitting on the floor in front of my hotel room door. His head was hung and he was resting his arms on his bent knees. The position reminded me of the day I’d found him in the stairwell. When he looked up at my approach, I saw a mixture of relief and concern go through him and he scrambled to his feet. I came to a stop within a couple feet of him, but I couldn’t find my voice.

“I…I thought you might have left town,” Eli murmured.

“What are you doing here?” I finally asked as I searched out the room key.

“I wanted to tell you how sorry I was-”

“You did that,” I cut in and then moved past him to open the door.

Eli shifted back and forth on his feet. “I didn’t mean what I said.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said, but to my surprise, Eli moved between me and the door, grabbing the handle from me, but not pushing the door any farther open.

“I don’t believe you,” Eli whispered. “I think it matters more than you want to admit.”

I didn’t respond as I studied Eli, but he never took his eyes off of me. I braced my hand against the door and added enough pressure to force Eli to release his hold on the handle. I leaned down just enough so I could keep my voice low as I said, “Make sure you understand what happens if you walk through this door…what you’re agreeing to.”

I nearly groaned when Eli parted his lips just a little bit so his tongue could dart out and wet them. “You’ll want answers,” he finally said.

“For starters.”

Eli’s breathing ticked up a notch before he turned and walked into the room. I felt my cock swell with anticipation as I followed him inside and closed the door. He jumped a little when the door locked, but then he turned to face me.

“Sit,” I murmured as I motioned to the couch.

Eli did as I told him which had my body ratcheting up with need so I went to the fridge and got him a bottle of water. Because I didn’t trust myself to sit next to him on the couch, I sat in the armchair after handing him the water. Since my warning to him about other things besides just talk happening between us had been an empty threat meant to scare him off, I willed my body to settle down. I’d get the answers I needed, pass the information on to Ronan and get the hell out of this place.

“Tell me about your stepfather,” I said.

---