“Did she say why she was taking the day off?”

“Not really. She just texted to say—” Nellie stopped and pulled her phone from her holster and smiled. “Speak of the devil.” She motioned at Felix with her phone then showed Felix the text.

Sorry. After I talked to Carmen about covering for me, I completely forgot to text you and let you know I’d never make it there in time. I’m a ditz.

All’s well. I just lost track of time. I’ll see you tomorrow. J

Nellie looked up from her phone at Felix. “There you go.”

That still didn’t make sense. She would’ve mentioned something to him last night. “So what did she originally say she was taking the time off for?”

“Oh, she just said she had a few things to take care of,” Nellie said then turned back to Abel, who asked her something about the baby.

Felix knew he’d have to wait to check his phone and see if he had any texts from her. He’d given Gio and Noah the go-ahead early on to crack the whip on his ass and not let him slack off. That meant no checking his phone during his training. Ella was aware of this also, so he wondered if she’d even bothered to text or call him and let him know.

As expected, the rest of his training was pure shit. The whole time he could barely focus because his mind had been on Ella. Theories of what she’d been up to all day and why she hadn’t bothered mentioning this to him inundated him. Not that she was expected to give him her exact schedule every day or anything, it just seemed odd. He would have thought she’d mention something, especially since they usually took off together once she was off and he was done training.

When training was finally over, the first thing he did was check his phone. He had a missed call from her and several texts from other people. Her text was the latest one he’d gotten, and he clicked on it.

I had a few errands to run today and just ran out of time, so I didn’t make it into work. I’m pooped and will be jumping in the shower then going straight to bed. I’ll miss seeing you tonight, but call me and we’ll talk.

Okay this was really odd. He wasn’t just imagining shit now. Even Ella couldn’t possibly think he wouldn’t find this unusual. She takes a day off without ever mentioning she had to and just blows him off like that? They’d been together every night since they’d gotten back from the cruise. Ella even said it was the best part of her day. The unease crept in as he almost hit speed dial; then he thought better of it.

As much as he knew he should respect the fact that she said she was tired and he clearly hadn’t been invited over, he needed to talk to her, and he wanted this conversation to be in person.

Felix took a shower in record time then changed and rushed out of there. He was so tempted to call her because the more he thought about it the more he needed to know now.

“It’s all in your fucking head,” Felix had begun to mutter as he turned onto her street, and then he saw it.

A truck was parked in her driveway. Felix was still more than half a block away, but he’d already been expecting to see a squad car there, so seeing Grayson’s truck there instead was even worse. Had he been there all day? Or had he hung out when he dropped her off after their day together?

Felix’s stomach had already taken a dive, and then he saw Ella walk Grayson out and stand by the porch, smiling as Grayson said something to her before getting in the truck.

The moment her eyes saw Felix’s car, her smile flattened. She glanced down at her phone then slipped it in her pocket. Felix swallowed hard as the truck drove away. He didn’t know if Grayson had seen him or not, and he really didn’t give a shit. He tried to calm himself as his heart went into overdrive. This wasn’t what it looked like. She’d explain soon enough. He just needed to stay calm.

He drove into her driveway, staring at her as she walked down the porch steps and toward him. She was so beautiful it hurt. Bracing himself, he got out of his car as terrified as he was angry. He didn’t even have to ask because as soon as he was out of his car she explained.

“He stopped by to drop off another one of my textbooks.”

Felix stared at her, unable to ward off the feelings of betrayal he was already feeling. This made perfect sense. Just days after the cleanup of her house they all began to notice things missing. Some things that shouldn’t have been moved out by the cleanup crew had inadvertently ended up at Grayson’s place. Memo’s phone charger, the blender they actually used, and a few of Ella’s textbooks were among the few items that Grayson had come by to drop off already.

But he saw it in her face. Heard it in her voice. There was something askew. She looked . . . He almost didn’t want to even think it because he knew it was unfair and it was his warped mind and his past that had him thinking this way, but, damn it, she even sounded guilty!

“Where were you today?” he asked, his eyes fixed on hers as he slowly walked around the car.

As much as he tried, he wasn’t able to hide the coldness in his tone.

“Running errands.”

Was she really going to be this damn vague when he obviously needed more than just that?

“Errands?” he asked, losing his patience fast. “What errands, Ella?”

The way she glanced away before she started didn’t go unnoticed. “I’ve been so busy leaving the house so early in the morning every day and then not getting home until way late there were a few things I’d been neglecting. My car needed a smog check ASAP. I told you it’s been weeks since I last visited my grandpa at the hospice, and my dad had mentioned weeks ago his therapist asked if Memo and I could sit in on one of his sessions. Memo has, but I haven’t.”