Read Online Dark Mysteries by Jessica Gadziala - Free Book Online Page A

probably feel safer with blacked-out
windows. “Yeah,” he said, watching as Gade nodded, moving
toward his desk with a sly grin still in place.
    He
pulled suddenly away from her, his hand slipping down her back and
then stepping to the side. She swayed for a horrifying second,
feeling unsteady without the support. She closed her eyes and took a
breath. What the hell was she doing? She folded her arms across her
chest, one of her hands snaking down and rubbing hard at the bandage
at her side, the pain bringing her fully into her right mind.
    Gabe
threw the keys toward Xander, moving to stoop next to Ellie's feet.
He grabbed her dropped book, Wuthering Heights , turning it
over in his hands. He held it up to her. “' I gave him my
heart.... '” he quoted, a brow raised expectantly.
    Ellie
reached for the book. “' and he took and pinched it to death;
and flung it back to me ',” she finished, holding the book
to her chest. She wouldn't have figured him for a classic literature
fan. And certainly not so much a fan that he could quote random
passages by heart.
    “Rather
the antithesis to the romance everyone thinks the book is about,
don't you think?” he asked, getting back onto his feet.
    “It's
not a romance,” Ellie said, pulling her brows together. Who
would ever think it was? “It's a tragedy.”
    “You
think she should have ended up with Heathcliff?”
    “No,”
Ellie said, firmly.
    “Why
not?” he asked, sounding genuinely interested.
    “Because
that kind of love is all fire. And it burns everything given enough
time,” she answered,
looking down at her book self-consciously.
    Xander
watched them talking books for a long minute, his brows lowered. He
had known Gabe for almost fifteen years and he had never seen him
with a book in his hands. But the way he was nerding out with Ellie
suggested he was extremely well-versed. Maybe they should have a
conversation for a change that wasn't about work... or women.
    “You
ready, sweetheart?” he asked when their conversation finally
died down.
    “Yup,”
she said, sending Gabe a sweet smile.
    “You
ever wanna talk books,” Gabe said, touching her cheek slightly.
“I am right next door.”
    “Okay,”
she said, almost sounding eager at the prospect, making Xander
shuffle his feet with some emotion he couldn't quite place. “And...
sorry again about your throat,” she said, feeling Xander take
her hand and start pulling her out the door.
    “Don't
worry about it... Eleanor,” Gabe said when Xander was out the
door.
    Ellie
felt her stomach drop, fear coiling tight in her stomach. Did he just
say Eleanor? Maybe it was just a guess. She looked up at his face
through the door after it closed. One of his brows was raised and he
lifted his chin at her. Like confirmation. Like he knew.
    He
knew who she was.
    Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
    “You
alright?” Xander asked, turning back when she didn't fall into
step behind him. He turned back, looking at her staring through the
door to the bail bond office. He moved next to her looking to where
she was starting. Gabe stood there, looking back at Ellie for a split
second before nodding at Xander and moving into the back.
    Ellie
was watching him retreat, not looking away. Barely blinking. Christ.
Xander ran a hand over his chin. He knew women practically fell at
Gabe's feet, but this was ridiculous. She couldn't look away. Even
when he was out of sight.
    If
he looked a little closer, he would see the horrified look on her
face, but he just reached an arm around her shoulders, forcibly
pulling her along, all the while she kept sneaking glances over her
shoulder back toward the office.

    Ellie
sat in the car a few minutes later, her book open in her lap, staring
blindly at the pages, pretending to read while Xander drove.
    How
the hell did he know? Her mind raced through its catalog of faces,
trying to place him. Trying to make a connection. But she was sure
that she had never seen him before in her life. But he had