11. Eliza

11

ELIZA

L eviticus walked me home, but his demeanor changed the closer we got to my flat. He'd gone quiet and cold, not even trying to hold my hand after taking the bag and carrying it with his opposite arm. When our fingers brushed, intentionally on my part, he widened the distance between us.

I couldn't help but feel foolish nor could I stop wondering what I'd done wrong.

When we reached my building after walking in silence for a few blocks, I was about to put my card in the after-hours reader when I saw one of the doormen approach.

"Thanks so much," I said, holding my hand out for the takeaway bag. When he didn't seem bothered that I wasn't inviting him in, I squared my shoulders. "Good night, Leviticus."

He nodded once. "Goodbye, Eliza."

Of course my disappointment was profound. However, I'd been in more than one toxic relationship where I was jerked back and forth, never knowing how my boyfriend might behave from one day to the next. After the second, I'd vowed never to get involved with someone like that again. The hard part was that it sometimes took a while before men like that showed their true colors. With Leviticus, it had been mere minutes. I should be thankful I'd dodged a probable bullet.

Instead, I ached. My mystery-man fantasies had kept me company in my loneliness. Especially when I crawled into bed each night.

Once inside my flat, I walked to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator to put my food away, but thought better of it and tossed it in with the rubbish.

I'd ask Niven how Harper was, but it would be another hour at least before he got home.

After toeing off my boots, I lay on the bed without removing another stitch of clothes, rolled to my side, and cried. Not over Leviticus, but the disappointment that someone was interested in me, enthusiastic to spend time with me, but changed their mind in such a short amount of time devastated me. What was it about me that no one wanted?

My mobile ringing woke me. I reached into my pocket to answer.

"Harper's in hospital," Niven said before I even said hello.

"Do you want me to come?" I offered.

"Could you?" he asked.

"Of course."

I had a decrepit old SUV that I kept in my building's underground car park. It worked most of the time. I just prayed it would now. I'd not be able to let a car this late, and hiring a car service would cost a bloody fortune.

"Stupid thing!" I shouted at my vehicle when the engine turned over a couple of times but didn't start. What a night this turned out to be. I had to get to Alfriston, though. It didn't matter what it cost.

I raced up the stairs rather than wait for the lift and asked the doorman to arrange a ride, saying it was an emergency and a lengthy distance, but I would make it worth the driver's time if they'd agree.

After telling me it would be ten minutes before one arrived, I hurried back upstairs to grab a bag in case I needed to stay over. When I returned, the doorman was outside, speaking with Leviticus .

"What's this about?" I snapped after pulling the door open and stalking in their direction.

"I asked Freddie if he'd be so kind as to deliver these to you," Levi said, holding up a bouquet of flowers.

"Thanks ever so much, but now isn't a good time. I'm leaving town," I said without taking them.

"I'm sorry for earlier," he leaned closer and said. "There are things about me, about the work I do, that I am unable to talk about. Starting a relationship with lies of omission seemed…wrong."

I folded my arms when he held the bouquet closer. "No need to apologize. It was a walk home, not a bloody marriage proposal," I said, looking beyond him, then at my watch. My ride should be here by now.

When I turned to ask the doorman, who I now knew was named Freddie, I saw him on his mobile, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, Miss Fox, but the first I hired said he couldn't make it, after all. I've been ringing every service and haven't had any luck."

"You made it clear I'd pay a premium, did you not?"

"Yes, miss, but Alfriston is a great distance?—"

"Why do you need to go to Alfriston?" Leviticus asked.

"It's none of your concern," I spouted, angry about my vehicle not starting and about being unable to hire a car far more than at the man attempting to give me flowers. "Sorry. Not your fault. I just really need to work out how I'm going to get to…"

I pulled my mobile out when it pinged with a message from Niven. "To, um, Royal Sussex General Hospital."

"I'll take you," he motioned to a car parked in the loading zone.

"No. Thanks, but, no."

"Miss, I'm having no luck," Freddie said again.

"I cannot. I appreciate the offer so much, but I don't even know you."

He reached into a pocket and pulled out a billfold. When he opened it, I saw a badge and an ID card. I glanced behind me to make sure Freddie wasn't close by.

"You're with SIS?" I leaned forward and whispered.

"I am, and I can assure you, you are safer with me than any car service. In fact, I wouldn't have allowed it."

I raised a brow. "You wouldn't have allowed it?"

He put his hand on my upper arm. "I would've strongly advised against it."

I looked at Freddie once more, but he was still shaking his head.

The phone I held in my hand vibrated again.

They're taking her into surgery , read Niven's message.

On my way , I responded.

Thanks, luv. Worried frantic.

"Okay," I said to Leviticus. "I'll accept your offer of a ride, but I insist on paying you."

Rather than respond, he walked over and opened the door. I was momentarily confused by the steering wheel on the left rather than the right.

"It's German," he said.

"I've seen cars like this before," I responded, perhaps a bit defensively.

Once behind the wheel, he requested directions from the vehicle's computer, then sped off. It responded that the expected drive time was one hour, forty minutes.

"It won't take me that long." He wiggled his brows.

My worry over Harper prevented me from saying anything at all, especially a pithy comeback. "I appreciate this," I said after a few seconds.

"Do you want to tell me why it's urgent you get there tonight?"

"My cousin's wife is in hospital. Surgery, in fact."

He nodded once. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Niv is frantic, of course."

"The two of you are very close."

"He's like a brother to me. Neither of us has siblings," I explained.

His eyes scrunched, but he didn't respond.

"You're with SIS."

He nodded. "I am."

"Do you know Niven?"

He sighed. "Did he say he knew me?"

It wasn't an answer to my question, which irritated me, but the man was driving me over one hundred kilometers from London. "He did not," I admitted.

"It's been several years, but, yes, we knew each other." His grip tightened on the steering wheel.

"You don't care for him."

Leviticus glanced over at me. "The feeling is mutual, Eliza."

"He's not well-liked at MI6. Or at least, that's what he told me one night after having a pint too many."

"I really can't say."

"I was surprised to hear him say he was visiting their headquarters earlier." I looked down at the bouquet of roses sitting on the console between us. "They're lovely, thank you."

His eyes lit up, perhaps relieved at my change of subject. "They say the two colors of roses in a bouquet are the combination of passionate red, signifying sorrow over past mistakes, and pure white, which represents the desire for a fresh start."

"What happened? Was it something I did? Something I said?" I hardly remembered talking at all.

"It was nothing you did. You're perfect, Eliza. I got spooked."

I opened my mouth to say I was hardly perfect, but he lifted his hand, and I closed it.

"It's difficult for those in my line of work to form close bonds with those outside of SIS. I'm sure you know this from your cousin."

"A bit."

"My code name is Typhon," he blurted.

When I glanced over at him, his expression was sheepish, and I smiled. "It's fitting."

"No one calls me Leviticus. Not even my parents."

"Would you prefer I call you Typhon?"

He shook his head. "I like Levi."

Since we still had a long drive ahead of us, I figured there was no time like the present for me to share how I felt. Especially given the flowers and that we were both being flirtatious. "I realize we've just met, but sadly, I've been in relationships with men who have jerked me around and made me feel like I was forever doing something wrong. I vowed I never would again."

Levi reached over and took my hand. "I am sorry. Profoundly so. I too know that we've finally met and you have no reason to trust me or believe me or agree to give me another chance, but I swear on my mum's life, I will not jerk you around, as you put it."

I thought about all he'd said, but part of it stood out to me. "What did you mean by ‘we've finally met'?"

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I noticed you at the Fumoir."

"That was merely a glance in passing."

"I've seen you again. More than once."

"Where?" I asked.

"Walking in the city one afternoon. Another time, I thought I saw you looking out the window of an inn when I was entering a pub." He shook his head. "Seeing things, I'm sure. It happens every night when I close my eyes to sleep."

"Where was the pub?"

He glanced at me again. "Surrey."

"Shere?"

His eyes opened wide. "It was you."

I nodded. "I think I may have seen you walking in the city the same day you saw me." I rested my head against the seat and closed my eyes. "I see you now too. Awake or asleep, you're there."

Levi weaved his fingers with mine. "And we finally met."

"I approached someone I thought was you."

He raised a brow. "And?"

"I had a very lovely dinner with a man from Spain, and when we parted company at the end of the meal, we did so without sharing contact information."

"Thank you for telling me the last part." He squeezed my fingers, then let go. "What are my odds of getting a second chance? Please don't say the same as that bloke."

"I don't think he was any more interested in me than I was in him."

"His stupidity is my good fortune."

"Levi?"

"Yes?"

"Why don't you and Niven get on?"

"Ancient history. No point in dredging it up again."

I would've believed him if his grip on the steering hadn't tightened.

"Is it something you both can overcome?"

He pulled the car off the road and parked, then turned to face me. "I will do anything to be with you, Eliza. Even set aside my differences with Saint, err, Niven."

"I know he's called Saint. Will you tell me what happened?"

"I will not. So I suppose you can say I'll do anything but that. And a handful of other things, like dancing naked in the street. Although it wouldn't be the first time."

He leaned over and put his hand on the back of my neck.

"I need to kiss you, Eliza."

When I leaned forward, he crushed his mouth to mine and pushed my lips apart with his tongue, then did battle with mine. His kiss was hard and so deep. His grip on my face was powerful and tender at the same time. The growl that came from his throat made me flood with desire and squeeze my legs together.

He broke the kiss first, trailing his lips down my neck. "We need to go," he whispered. "But I must have one taste first." He unfastened two buttons on my blouse, pulled the cup of my bra out of his way, and crushed his mouth to my nipple the same way he had with our kiss. The vibration of another growl sent pleasure coursing through my body.

All too soon, he tucked my breast into its cup, refastened my buttons, and brushed my lips with his, leaving me breathless. He put the car in gear and returned to the route while I tried to lower my heart rate by breathing deeply.

"It was more than a walk home."

I looked over at him with scrunched eyes. "Sorry?"

"Earlier, you said it was a walk home, not a bloody marriage proposal. You're wrong. I did propose."

I laughed. He didn't.