And So I Ran - Complete

Chapter 26

She was here. Back! Gail was getting a raise tomorrow. Taylor, too! Ana and I walked together through the apartment, into our room and then through to the bathroom. I wanted to grab her and claim her immediately, but I knew enough to wait. We needed to talk this out. So I ran a bath, pouring in the bath oils I knew Ana enjoyed. Then I walked through to our bedroom, closing the curtains and preparing it for us after our ablutions.

Ana was almost shy as she stripped and climbed into the tub, but she obligingly scooted forward, giving me room to step in behind her. I laid back against the bath, pulling her to rest against my chest, her head lolling at the juncture of my shoulder and neck. After the hours of panic while she was gone, it felt delicious.

"I had no idea Leila was going to be here this afternoon," I started, wanting that out there from the outset. "Mrs. Jones showed me how to cook a meal. I was here because I wanted to cook for you."

"Cook?"

"I wanted to take care of you," I admitted. "Feed you."

I didn't dare go further. Explain to her I wanted to ask her to move in with me. With things already so precarious, I didn't feel it was right to lob that in there, too.

"So you came home to cook?" Ana clarified.

"Yep," I confirmed, kissing her nape. "Tuesday morning when we went to work, Taylor and I dropped you at SIP and looped back to Escala so Mrs. Jones could give me a cooking lesson. She showed me how to make a simple meal, and we worked out a shopping list. I left work at 3:00 pm today, went to a supermarket, had to ask a lady for assistance in produce about onions, and got home minutes before you saw me."

"I didn't occur to me it was Leila," Ana explained. "A woman was there, in your playroom..." she trailed off, but I could hear and feel her pain. "The penthouse was meant to be secure... Only security and you knew the passcode..."

"You didn't know the passcode?" I asked, distracted from the rest of my explanation.

Ana shrugged. "I was always with you or security. No one told me, so I figured I did not need to know." She sounded almost ashamed, but it's me who should feel that way. I swore under my breath. As far as I was concerned, as the apartment's primary occupants, me, Ana, Gail, and Taylor were the only people needing to know the primary code for the penthouse. As of tomorrow, Ana would always have the code to access our space; assuming she wanted to share it with me.

"Leila was getting information from Olivia in my office. Some time ago, Leila was in the GEH garage and befriended her. Olivia parks in a spot reserved for the executive team, so she knew Olivia had access to me. That's how Leila was able to find out your home address, where you work, and even that I was going to be home this afternoon."

"Why would she do that? Surely Olivia knew what she was doing was wrong?"

I growled under my breath, recollecting my conversation with Olivia an hour and a half before.

"She said at first she felt sorry for Leila. When they started chatting, Leila knew enough about me, my home, staff, and habits to convince Olivia she genuinely knew me. Leila told Olivia she was an ex-girlfriend, and she was curious about you, so Olivia gave her information about how to find you. It wasn't until Leila trashed your car and you came to GEH that Olivia tried to stop, but Leila blackmailed her, threatening to tell me Olivia been passing along information if she didn't continue to do so. So when she asked, Olivia accessed my phone for the penthouse codes, and messaged her to let her know I would be home this afternoon."

Ana nodded, relaxing as I gently washed her arms. "So what did Leila want?" she asked with reluctance. "Other than a session in the playroom with you?"