Chapter 16 - No Longer a Maid
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The cleanup was chillingly efficient.
Within two hours, the bodies were gone, the splintered door was removed, and a private cleaning crew was scrubbing the blood from the hardwood. It was as if the violence had never happened.
Ellie sat on the edge of her bed, staring at her hands. They were trembling.
Jack walked into the room, carrying a fresh cup of tea. He set it on the nightstand and sat beside her. He looked exhausted, the adrenaline fading to leave behind the heavy toll of a violent life.
“You stayed,” Ellie said quietly, staring at the tea. “You made them think you left to attack their warehouse, so they would come here.”
“It was a trap,” Jack admitted softly. “Viktor is a coward. I knew he would try to strike at my home if he thought it was unprotected. I couldn’t risk hunting him in the streets and leaving you vulnerable. So, I brought the hunt here.”
“You used us as bait?” she looked up, feeling a flash of betrayal.
“No. I used the illusion of an empty house as bait,” Jack corrected, taking her hands in his. “I had thirty men waiting in the sub-basement. I was in the vents above the study the entire time. I would never, ever let them touch you, Ellie. You have my word on that.”
Ellie looked at his hands, stained faintly with gunpowder. This was his reality. Death, strategy, and ruthless survival.
“I’m just a maid, Jack,” she whispered, tears finally spilling over her lashes. “I clean hotel rooms. I worry about grocery bills. I don’t belong in a world where people blow up doors to kill me.”
Jack reached up, his thumb gently wiping a tear from her cheek.
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“You took three bullets for a child that wasn’t yours,” he said, his voice thick with a reverence she had never heard from him before. “You stood up to me when every other man in this city cowers. You are not just a maid, Ellie. You are the strongest woman I have ever met.”
He leaned in slowly, giving her every opportunity to pull away. When she didn’t, his lips met hers in a soft, devastating kiss.
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