“I’m glad,” Celica said around her first bite of sandwich that was minus the chicken. “Those assholes need to learn to keep their hands to themselves. Look at El’s face! Are you hurting?”
I grimaced. “The skin feels tight and tender. But the swelling has gone down in my eye a little.”
“After you eat, grab some ice and relax for the rest of the day,” Hudson instructed. “Sleep will be good for you.”
“I need to study, and I have over two dozen papers to finish grading.” Stuffing the last bite of food into my mouth, I licked pesto from my thumb and stood. “But I will be in my room if anyone needs me.”
Walking up the stairs, I checked my phone. The ringer wasn’t off, and I hadn’t heard an alert, but I couldn’t keep from looking to see if I’d missed something. As expected, I had no notifications.
Determined not to obsess over Judge, I spent a few hours studying before settling in to grade English papers. The next time I looked at the clock, it was after midnight.
On a Saturday.
I was such an exciting college student.
Rolling my eyes at my mental musings, I stacked all the papers into a pile and placed them on the bedside table. There was still no attempt at communication from Judge.
Deflated, I curled up under my blanket and closed my eyes, leaving the light on.
I guess I had my answers.
Chapter 51
Judge
Every cop in the state was looking for Gwen. How that stupid drugged-out bitch was able to evade them all, I had no idea, but no one could find her. Every favor I was owed, from every branch of law enforcement, was called in. But they couldn’t find one little cokehead?
Frustrated, I paced Howler’s living room. Josie was with her grandmother for the night, and Lyla was upstairs sleeping. But I was too hyped up after Gwen had so brazenly slit Howler’s tires and carved the word whore across the driver’s side door.
We knew she had a gun, whether she used it or not was still questionable, but I wasn’t going to take chances. I put men outside Howler’s mom’s house and then doubled up on the protection for my sister. What I wanted was for both Lyla and Josie to come back to the mansion, where security was tighter and Gwen would never dare try to get to either of them.
But of course, every woman I loved was too stubborn for her own good. Lyla was such a pain in the ass, but if staying at Howler’s was what she wanted—and my best friend wouldn’t force her to leave—I could only work with what I had.
Back and forth, back and forth, I walked from one side of the room to the other. Prowling as my agitation increased by the minute. Howler was passed out on the couch, but if I woke him to go to bed, he would have been wide awake again, so I left him alone.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I muttered a vicious curse when I saw it was dead. My nonstop calls to so many people from the time Howler had alerted me to what had happened at the mall must have drained it.
It took some searching, but I finally found a charger in the home office. I plugged it in and dropped into the chair behind the desk as I waited for the damn thing to power on. It was close to one in the morning. I should have been home in bed with Ellianna. Countless times, I’d started to type out a text to her, wanting to let her know what was going on.
Each time, I would get distracted and not send it. As sick as she had been, I didn’t want to stress her out by causing her to worry about Lyla. I wanted to be home to take care of her, but this shit with Gwen was potentially life-or-death. And I sure as fuck didn’t want my angel pulled into this and have Gwen turn her ire on Elli as well. If anything happened to her, I’d lose my mind.
Trusting her to call me if she needed anything, I’d stayed focused on the issue at hand all evening.
Now that things had calmed down and I was left alone to catch my breath, all I wanted was to hear Ellianna’s voice.
“I don’t do booty calls,” she announced with a heavy exhale.
Feeling the tension drain out of me at the sound of her voice, I smiled. “You’re awake.”
“Not by choice,” she complained.
“Are you still feeling sick?” I gripped the back of my neck with my free hand, that damnable helpless feeling returning. “Do you need anything? I’ll send one of the men over to the house now.”
There was a long pause on her end before she spoke again. “What’s going on, Judge? You weren’t home when I woke up, and I haven’t seen you. I thought… But now you’re calling, and you sound so tired. And maybe like…you miss me a little.”
I didn’t want to imagine what she had thought. It would probably drive me crazy. And I wasn’t going to fixate on how she’d avoided the subject of how she felt. I had to be patient. She would tell me when she was ready. Until then, I would let her have her secret. “Fuck, sweetheart. I do. I miss you so bad. Just hearing your voice helps. But I’ll be home tomorrow. I just need to be here tonight.”
“Where is ‘here’?”
I leaned back in the chair, stretching out my legs. “Howler’s.”
“Can I ask why?”
I gave her a quick rundown of everything Gwen had done since the night Mia Armstrong suspected Josie was being physically abused. My precious goddaughter’s confession. Lyla beating Gwen so badly she broke the other woman’s arm. Gwen buying a gun from a drug dealer. The photos of her apartment. And finally, the mall incident from earlier in the day.
Ellianna listened patiently, her soft gasps the only noises she made as she gave me time to vent all my frustration and fear for my baby sister. By the time I was done, I felt as if a little of the weight had been lifted off me.
And all she did was let me talk. There was no cajoling, no empty promises that everything was going to be okay. Just her slight change in breathing that was all I needed to know she was there for me. Her presence alone was enough to bring me peace.
“Is Josie okay?”
“She’s doing great. With Lyla living here now, she’s thriving. I haven’t seen her so happy before.” I smiled. “I’m going to let Howler marry my sister, Elli.”
She snorted. “Pretty sure she wouldn’t ask for permission if they decided to get married. Lyla does what she wants.”
“True,” I laughed. “But I will allow it.”
I heard her shift in bed. “I miss you.”
My heart squeezed. “God, I miss you too.”
“You already said that,” she teased.
“I’m saying it again. I miss you. I’ve missed you so goddamn badly, I couldn’t think straight. Even now, with you home in our bed, I’m struggling,” I confessed.
“Um…about that…”
I groaned. “You aren’t home, are you?”
“I’m at my home,” she defended.
“That isn’t your fucking home, Elli.” I squeezed my neck harder. “Why did you leave our bed?”
“I don’t know.”
“Elli,” I warned.
“I was testing you,” she admitted after a small hesitation, her voice small, weak. Hurt. “Seeing if you cared enough to chase me.”