Page 27 of Too Guarded to Love

Vendetta? She bit the inside of her cheek as images of men in suits with guns who hunted down people who’d disrespected them flashed in her mind. “I don’t think I’m caught up in some vendetta against Nic. I haven’t known him long enough to get caught up in anything.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Nic raising his eyebrows, as if calling bullshit on her statement. She couldn’t argue. There’d been plenty of time to get caught up in a whole lot of something, but it wasn’t a vendetta.

She twisted her fingers around the hem of her shirt. “I flew here from DC to talk to you about something weird…well, disturbing that’s been going on in Atlanta.”

The tall, lanky older man standing at the head of the table, who looked like the star of a classic Western flick, cleared his throat.

Olivia stiffened at the authority he exuded with just that sound.

“Dr. Darren, I’m Admiral Edgar. Let’s back up and make some introductions.”

A door opened in the back of the room as if the action was part of a script, and why wouldn’t it be? Tonight was a chapter from a novel with twists and turns she never saw coming. A tall man with gray hair stepped over the threshold. She leaned forward in her seat and squinted.

Was that the…

President Bradley jerked up his head. “Oh, hello. You must be Kane’s sister. Nice to meet you.”

Olivia shook her head as she rose from her chair. She tilted to the side, half from exhaustion, half from the shock of the president’s appearance.

Nic shot from his perch on the table to steady her. The connection sizzled underneath his hand on her forearm. Did he feel it too? She swore something akin to the electricity she felt earlier flashed in his gaze, but what did she know? She’d thought she’d felt something for Jonathan, and she’d been so wrong.

“I’m sorry, Mr. President. I didn’t mean to be rude. I was just surprised when…” She let Nic settle her into the chair as she recalled Kane mentioning that VIPER’s director was close friends with the president. “Tonight has been a lot.”

“Yes, it has. I’m glad you’re okay. And try not to worry about your grandmother. Ava is as stubborn as they come. She’d make a helluva general.”

“Yes, she would.” Right now, Olivia just needed Gran to be conscious. She looked to the tall, ruggedly handsome man with the intense blue gaze she recognized as Lieutenant Commander Christopher Daviani. “Nice to finally meet VIPER’s Navy SEAL.”

“Likewise.”

She let herself admire the size of his biceps before she turned her attention to the lankier, but no less muscled, of the group. “And you must be Major Lincoln Taylor. I hear you think your cousin’s moonshine is better than my uncle Pat’s.”

Linc laughed. “That’s because it is.”

Olivia smiled at the fighter pilot with glacier-blue eyes and blond hair so pale it looked like sunlit snow. While she’d never been to Alaska, she imagined the severe planes of his face matched his wild homeland.

Kane motioned to a man in a collared shirt and tie at the head of the table who sat behind the computer console. “That’s Ryan, our security officer.”

Ryan offered a clipped “hello” as he stroked his neat goatee, but didn’t look away from his screen. Olivia studied the thirty-something man with the wavy blond hair and sharp eyes. If Kane hadn’t told her President Bradley’s great-nephew was part of the VIPER team, she would have recognized the resemblance on her own.

The president swallowed a sip of coffee and grinned. “Olivia, please note that Ryan used to know how to use words to greet a lady. Now he’s just as intense as the rest of the crew.”

Ryan looked up. “Sorry. I was finishing running a program.”

She smiled. “No worries.” While Ryan was the only one in the room in a tie besides the Secret Service agents, the outline of lean muscle under his dress shirt suggested he was capable of unethical measures, and not just at the computer. And the way he held himself erect, like the others in the room, and straightened even more at his uncle’s offhanded praise, indicated a military background. Thanks to growing up with a father in the armed forces and a brother destined to follow in his dad’s footsteps, she’d honed the ability to spot a military man with just a glance.

“And that one…” Kane glanced at Nic and huffed. “The one who claims he didn’t know who you were, already introduced himself.”

She pressed her fingertips into her temples. “Will you stop being a pain in my ass for once in your life? Didn’t you hear me the first time? Nic didn’t do anything wrong. I did.”