Page 76 of Missile Strike

Her head whipped in his direction, spots of color staining her cheeks. “I can’t just not show up to work.”

“AegisShield’s CEO already agreed to give you leave to work on the gala. I’ll be with you until the threat is over.”

He didn’t give a damn about the gala right now. All that mattered was keeping Bella safe.

If Miran Hassan’s son was out to avenge his father, he might not stop until he was arrested. Or put in the ground.

When they reached Bella’s home, Danny parked in the driveway and pulled up her security cameras on his phone. Nothing unusual showed.

Still, Hassan was a cybersecurity expert.

He led Bella inside, weapon firmly in his grip.

“You’re overreacting,” she whispered. Which would have been more believable if he couldn’t hear the strain in her voice.

“I’m reacting exactly as I should.”

Trip greeted them in the kitchen. He gave an uncertain thump of his tail at Danny, then nosed his way to Bella as if sensing the charged tension they’d brought home with them.

“Stay here.”

Danny checked the back door. Then the front. Moved from window to window, scanning each lock. “I’m changing your security code. And your Wi-Fi password. You’re not to share the new passwords with anyone—not Talia, not your parents. No one.”

Nathan would help harden her system so her Wi-Fi couldn’t be hijacked, and he’d install a backup power supply to keep the alarm system and monitoring active in case of disruption.

Bella watched, her hand still wrapped in Trip’s fur. “I hate feeling like this. Powerless.”

Her features were pinched, and there was a sheen to her eyes that made him want to wrap his hands around Hassan’s throat and slowly choke the life out of him.

He wouldn’t always be here to protect her.

“Then I teach you how to defend yourself. You don’t have to rely on your father, me, or anyone else to keep you safe. Not anymore.”

She gave a dismissive laugh. “More karate moves?”

“Firing range.”

Her brow rose. “Come again?”

“Ever shoot a gun, Bella?”

“No.” The response dragged from her lips, her gaze wary.

“Now’s the time to learn.”

Chapter Eighteen

“Omar Hassan is in Charlotte,” Danny told Ryder and Nathan in a conference call later, after Bella informed him she was going to take a nap. He relayed Hassan’s message—that neither Bella nor her family were safe.

“Caleb and Tavari will take over event security when they get here tomorrow. My job from now on needs to be protecting Bella.”

“Not getting personal, is it?” Nathan’s voice held a distinct note of humor. “You got two C-notes riding on staying single.”

Shit yeah, it was personal. But he wasn’t about to admit that, and not because of the damn bet he made with Nathan when he took this assignment. He wouldn’t risk them reassigning him and sending someone else to protect Bella.

Omar Hassan hadn’t targeted Graham Strickland. He’d gone after Bella. The mysterious break-in at her home, where nothing was taken. The note on the car. The information mailed to the Times, exposing her childhood trauma.

Hassan could be behind all of it.