Falling With Grace

Such a damn fool.

I shouldn’t have…

…and the door opened, granting him entry. He scanned the room from left to right until his gaze settled on me.

I yanked my sight downward, fingers toying with a solitary strand of jean fiber protruding from my knee, my rosary secured in my pocket.

He closed the door behind him, striding in my direction, and halted in front of me. His polished shoes hovered close to brushing against my toes as he crouched down on his haunches.

His large palms landed on my knees, halting my relentless picking. “Is this about what happened thismorning?”

Heat flooded my cheeks, his touch grounding and electrifying, tethering me to the present moment. His chocolate brown eyes, a blend of softness and intensity, held mine.

I gnawed on my inner lip.

What would it be like to have him for a night?

Would he be kind or take like all the rest?

I shrugged, words abandoning me.

“I understand if it is.” He sighed, his finger slipping under my chin, coercing my gaze upward. “Witnessing someone’s death is never easy, especially in the beginning.”

My stomach plummeted, a sickness that propelled my heart into my throat with a sharp pang.

He thinks it’s about Carlos?

His thumb traced a path across my warm cheek. “When my papa died, I’d already glimpsed death a million times over, but he was particularly shocking, and not just because he was my papa.” He paused, withdrawing his reassuring touch. “Do you want to know why?”

Elias flicked his tongue over his lips, setting my heart aflutter in my chest like a herd of wild horses charging toward the cliffside.

I gulped down the dense lump lodged in my throat and offered a subtle nod.

“Because I’d watchedmi tiopull the trigger.”

I frowned, my brows converging with an insistent urge to comfort him coursing through my bones. “What did you do to him?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. He’s still on the run.”

“I’m sorry. That’s got to gnaw at you.” My head met the corner wall behind me as I leaned back, my shoulders slouching. “Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t tracked him down by now.”

He held up his index and thumb, keeping them an inch apart. “I’m this close. But the only one who knows where he’s at is keeping his whereabouts close to her chest.”

Air rushed from my lungs, my heart pounding in my throat, bile eating at the back of my throat.

Of course.

“But that’s not why I came up here, Grace.” His fingers grazed against my jeans, sending tingles down my thighs. “I wanted to apologize.”

My eyes widened. “A-apologize? For what?”

He closed his eyes and shook his head before meeting my gaze again. “I shouldn’t have killed him in front of you. For that, I’m sorry, but you have to know he would have died last night anyway.”

“Apologies should never come with a ‘but’ attached.”

A smirk danced on the corner of his lips. “You’re right.” He leveraged my knees as he pushed himself up to a standing position. “Are you coming down for breakfast?” He extended his hand, and I stared into the lifeline running through the middle, a tale Mom would recount before bedtime.

“I’d rather…”