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“Liam,” Dad called, and Lee kept his hand on my arm but bent at the waist to look in the back seat.
“Yeah?”
“You take care of her,” Dad said, his voice gruff, and the Guinness folks could have popped by to record the occasion, such was my world record pissed-offedness.
I mean, no one makes my dad sound like that. Those fucking kidnapping losers.
“Yes sir,” Lee replied.
I bent over too, and blew Dad a kiss. He smiled at me. Lee closed the door and they idled at the curb while Lee propelled me into the building. I probably should have told him I wanted to go home, but I thought everyone had enough drama for one night.
Hank didn’t take off until the door closed behind us and we were well into the foyer.
There was no chitchat between us. Lee took the bracelets off in his bedroom with a universal key.
Once he threw them on a dresser and turned to me, I crossed my arms on my chest, hitched a hip and asked, “You still mad at me?”
He ignored my belligerent stance, a stance that communicated an unequivocal “stand back” to every other man I’d known. Not Lee. He walked right up to me and put his hands on my hips.
“No.”
“Then what’s your problem?”
He didn’t even hesitate. He answered me. He actually answered me. And it sounded like the honest to goodness truth.
“I’m angry at myself for reacting the way I did to what you said when you meant no harm, and I’m angry with myself for leaving you unprotected.”
I stared at him for a beat, hiding my surprise, and then said, “Good. Now that’s settled, I’m taking a shower.”
His hands tightened on my hips and his eyes narrowed on my face. It was his turn to stare at me for a beat then he said, “I take it I’m not invited to this shower.”
I pulled away from him. “Nope.”
I took my shower, washed my hair and surveyed my new cuts and newest bruises while I let the water run over me.
When I’d stepped out of the shower I noticed that, unfortunately, when I went into the bathroom, I didn’t take any clothes with me. I had to grab Lee’s light-blue cotton robe from the hook on the back of the door. I wrapped it tight around me and tied it secure.
I went into the bedroom and Lee was lying in bed, his chest bare and the sheet pulled up to his waist. He was reading. Believe it or not, casually lying in bedreading.
Grr.
If I’d had something, I would have thrown it at him. Instead, I went straight to my bag, rooting through it to find underwear. I found it, straightened and glanced at Lee. He’d put the book down and was lying on his side, his head in his hand, watching me.
“It’ll be a wasted effort, puttin’ those on.”
I sent him my best Polar Freeze Glare, turned my back on him and pulled up the panties.
“Talk to me, Indy,” he said on a sigh.
I turned and put my hands on my hips.
He wanted me to talk? Then I’d talk.
“I’ve had some time to think, what with being kidnapped, cuffed and tied to a chair for part of my evening, and then spending the rest of it sitting in a hospital waiting room.” I was lying about thinking while I was kidnapped, but he didn’t need to know that. Anyway, it made my introduction more dramatic. “This morning, you told Hank you had a client. I thought you meant me, but I was wrong, wasn’t I?”
Lee continued to watch me.
I went on, “The thing is, when this all started, you were in DC and Ally said you weren’t due back. Then all of a sudden you were back and you knew about the diamonds. You knew about everything.”
