Tough Love

Chapter Thirty

“Yes sir.”

I sit down at my desk and open windows on all four of my monitors. Eli whispers, “I'll see you later. Make sure you take a break and I'll check in with you later.”

“I'll see you later, sir.” I hesitate and then whisper, “Stay safe, Eli.”

He smiles brightly at me and quietly says, “Always, sweetheart. Always.”

My research on the bank throws an interesting curve ball. One that shocks me to my very core. The bank is owned by a Russian businessman. As you can imagine, anything to do with Russians is a touchy subject for me. Ash passes my desk as I find out this piece of information and he clearly sees the distress on my face.

“Dani? What's wrong?”

I don't answer, I just stare at the screen in disbelief. I think he's worried, because he goes to get Eli, who is by my desk not even a minute later.

“Dani? Talk to me... What's wrong?”

I'm still in shock and I can't even form words, which is ridiculous. There must be plenty of banks that are owned by rich businessmen. Why does this bother me so much? I let out a shaky breath and I hear Eli whisper, “I'm coming round to look at your screen. Don't panic, it's just me.”

He reads the window that is open on my monitor and I hear his breathing change when he reads the part that shocked me. It's like he's fighting to keep control as he grinds out in Spanish, “Do you know him?”

My voice is quiet and shaky as I say, “No sir... Just a shock...”

“I can imagine. Do you want me to take over?”

I take a deep breath and close my eyes for a few milliseconds. “No sir. I can do this... I have to do this... The Captain will notice... I have to be strong, right?”

He lets out a deep breath and then he says, “No, you don't need to be strong. You are strong. But I understand what you mean. If you need me for anything, just call me. I mean it.”

“Yes sir, I will.”

Eli softly brushes his fingers over mine before he stands up and goes back to the opposite side of my desk.

“Thank you. I need to speak to the Captain.”

“Sure thing. See you later.”

I gather all the information I have, and then I go into the Captain's office. This is something I'm not looking forward to explaining. I just hope I can hold it together long enough to pass on the information and get out of there.

(Eli's POV)

I frown as Ash and I walk away from Dani's desk. I'm worried this is going to hit her all of a sudden and she's going to panic. That won't be good, especially if she's in with the Captain at the time. She's trying so hard to hold it together in front of the Captain and the team. I can't fault her for that, I just hope nothing ruins it for her.

Once we're out of Dani's earshot, Ash asks, “What was that?”

“What?”

He throws his hands back towards Dani's general direction and he says, “That. What was all of that? Her panicking, you speaking Spanish to her, checking whatever it was out, and don't think I didn't see your finger brush thing either... Care to explain?”

“Not really. She just found out a piece of information that shocked her. Just leave it at that.”

“Spanish?”