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“Then why in the world would you go to her for help in the first place?”
“Life isn’t always so black and white.”
His nonanswer started to betray his confidence that “everything would be just fine,” and the muscles in my body tensed up, my back aching all over again. Come on, Advil. Don’t fail me now. “Are you hoping she’ll lead us to who’s after me?” Is that the play?
“Doubtful she knows who’s after you yet, but she’s connected enough to get word out she has you. And once the people after you find out, they’ll offer her a deal.” His eyes fell to the clothes in my hand like a silent request to change. “I had concerns she might double-cross me, but those concerns grew when someone gave the Serbians who had you the heads-up we were coming.” While he’d shared that concern before, the next part was new. “Those doubts were confirmed when my people identified eight of her best men on the move to Lithuania tonight.”
“So, this peaceful little safe house is about to become a warzone?” I should have been terrified, but my heart was still stuck in traffic, only ebbing along ever so slowly. Beat for beat. Not wild or frantic like it should’ve been.
“No, it’s fine.”
I smirked the second he’d tossed that word right back at me, and was he fighting the desire to smile back?
“Sorry, wrong word, huh?” And there it was. The sexy side smile he rocked so well. “We’ll be good. Not fine, but perfectly okay.”
“Mmmhmm.” I really did want to sink my teeth into his answer and believe him. But eight of this well-connected woman’s men were about to show up, so there was that not-so-little detail to consider.
“She won’t fire at my people as long as we don’t shoot first, but I need her to think she has the upper hand when she arrives.”
“And then what?” I picked up my change of clothes.
“I take back control.”
“How?” After the week I’d had, I wasn’t a fan of being in the dark.
“The less you know, the better.” Not what I wanted to hear, but he quickly pinpointed the reason for my scowl and before I could speak, added, “She’ll be able to read you too easily. And we can’t give this woman any ammunition, trust me.”
“I’m not great at bluffing, but I consider being a shitty liar an admirable trait. Ranks right up there with having a sense of humor.”
“Can’t argue with you there.” That deep tone of his and the harsh look in his eyes made me wonder if he was thinking about a few lies he’d come across in his own past. Did they have to do with Rebecca? “So, if you’d like to remain in those silk pajamas that show your . . .” He cleared his throat, eyes falling to my breasts.
I brought the clothes to my chest when I realized my nipples were poking through the fabric. Kill me now. This man provoked such strange reactions from me. Aroused at a time like this? What in the actual hell? “I’ll change.”
His gaze slowly moved up the column of my throat to my face. “You’ll be by my side the whole time when she arrives. There’s no safe room here, but they’ll never hurt you. Not only because of who I am, but because of who you are.”
“Who you are.” Who is that exactly? “But?” There had to be one coming.
Lifting his hands from his pockets, he surprised me by reaching out to remove my glasses. Cocking his head, he said in a low voice, “She likes to play games. She’ll say and possibly do things that may make you uncomfortable.” There was more he was saying without actually verbalizing it, I could feel it. “We have a history, and she may try and use that to her advantage.”
Ohh. Cue the upset stomach and the world flipping upside down.
Slipping my glasses back on, he reassured me, “Don’t worry. I won’t let her take you. Nothing will happen to you.”
“Okay,” I forced out, quickly heading back to the bathroom. He wouldn’t leave me alone, and if he had visitors to prepare for, I needed to hurry.
Once the door was closed, I hurriedly swapped my PJs for the jeans and blouse, then returned to the room, finding him leaning against the bedroom door, one booted foot propped up, eyes on me.
“Where do you want me?”
His eyes widened ever so slightly as his gaze shot to the bed, jaw going tight, only for his eyes to land back on me as his boot hit the floor with a thud.
I tamped down the heat flaring inside me, waiting for him to speak. When he kept quiet, I restated my question. “What should I do?”
He fixed the chain around his neck and patted his chest as if ensuring the cross was still hidden, then pushed away from the door. “We’ll get you a plated vest to put on under your shirt, not that you’ll need it, but I’d rather be paranoid than unprepared.” He erased the space between us but didn’t reach for me. I wanted him to. I wanted to go back to the hugs and hand holding like he’d done earlier when my state had been much more precarious than now. But he was mission-focused now, and as he should be.
I also felt him erect an invisible wall between us, and maybe it wasn’t a bad idea to try and build my own before I became so attached to this man my heart became a permanent transplant in my throat. I cleared the knot forming there and asked, “Did your team learn anything from the USB? The interrogations?”
He angled his head, gaze going to the ceiling.
