Angus walked inside as if he owned the place. All heads turned to him, and he ignored the stares, striding toward the receptionist, who was watching them all with wide blue eyes. She had to be around twenty years old and she kept fiddling with her pen. “Can I help you?” she whispered.
“Yes. I’d like to see Nari Zhang and Opal Clemonte,” he said, smiling at her.
Her gaze lifted to his left. “Um, I—”
“No way are you getting past me, Force,” Vaughn Ealy said, extricating himself from the pack of agents and leading with his chest. “This is your fault and we all know it. I suggest, strongly, that you get the hell out of here while you can still walk.”
Angus turned. “Listen, you piece of shit. You’ve caused more problems for Nari and the administrator than any shooter ever could. Tell me, do any of your buddies here know about your plan to get your ex on your team just to mess with her head?”
Vaughn barreled toward him.
Angus braced himself, more than ready for a fight. Itching for one, actually. Vaughn hit him first, and Angus turned, throwing him into a wall. Then Vaughn turned and charged again.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Nari sat on the hard orange chair next to the hospital bed while Opal slept quietly after surgery, the beeps of the machines oddly comforting. The administrator lay in the bed, one arm out and connected to a saline solution. Bandages covered the upper part of her other arm. Even in a hospital bed, she had presence.
“Hello? Opal?” Nari’s father hurried into the room, his suit jacket over one arm. Panic sizzled in his dark eyes. “Opal?”
Nari relaxed back into the chair. She’d called Quan; he’d been on assignment in Texas. He’d asked her to stay with Opal until he could arrive from the airport. “She came through surgery fine, and they gave her a healthy dose of painkillers. She was shot in the arm and the surgeons had to extract the bullet.”
Quan moved closer to the bed, looking down. He reached out and patted Opal’s hand. “She’s going to be all right?”
“Yes,” Nari said. “The bullet nicked an artery, but we got the bleeding under control and the surgery was smooth.” She was so tired it was difficult to keep her eyes open, but she tried, so she could give Quan all the details. “Opal should be released tomorrow, and if she’s feeling all right, she can return to work whenever she wants. The bullet didn’t do much damage.”
Quan whirled on her, his black eyes sparking. “Didn’t do much damage? Are you kidding? The administrator of a secretive governmental branch was shot in a private club. The damage might be irreparable.”
Nari stiffened, waking right up. “We called it in, and the HDD descended. The word is out that a public official, one who works in Homeland Security in computer research, was shot by an angry ex-lover. The cover story is good, and all the local news outlets have already run with it.” It was both impressive and frightening how quickly HDD had put out the false story.
“You had better hope so,” Quan snapped. “I haven’t worked my entire life to build this career only to have you ruin it by sleeping around with the wrong men.”
Oh, he did not. Nari rose, standing nearly eye to eye with him. “Wait a minute, Father. You’re the one who doesn’t seem to be able to keep it in his pants.”
Quan’s nostrils flared. “My choices don’t adversely impact other people.”
The hurt, after all this time, was surprising. She took the emotional blow and settled herself. “Really? What about forcing me to work with a jerk who just wanted to get me out of the HDD? Or is that what you want, too? I’d say that was an adverse result.” Didn’t she mean anything to him? “By the way, the shooter was after me when Opal got injured. Any concern, father of the year?”
He inhaled sharply, faltering for the first time ever. “I’m glad you are unharmed.”
“Do you even care about her?” Nari gestured to the woman on the bed. “Or is she all about your career, too?”
“I’d like to know the answer to that question as well,” Opal said sleepily.
“Opal.” Nari’s father moved to her and took her hand, concern darkening his features. “I’m so sorry you were harmed. How are you feeling?”
Nari focused on the woman in the bed. “Hi, Opal. The doctor said you did great in surgery and that they took out the bullet. Your arm will be fine, even though you have some stitches and might need to take it easy for a little while.”
“I don’t take it easy.” Opal smiled, looking from Nari to Quan and back. “It seems I missed something here. Quan? Are you being a dick to your daughter?”
Nari coughed out a laugh. “Yes.”
Quan shook his head. “It’s Angus Force’s fault you’re in this bed, Opal.”
Opal rolled her eyes. “It’s the fault of the crazy bastard who charged into our nice lunch and shot me. Did you even ask how she’s doing?”
Quan looked at Nari, thoughts scattering across his face. “No. I’m sorry. How are you?”
Nari’s mouth nearly dropped open. Maybe Opal was a good influence on her emotionally distant father. Did she care any longer? She wasn’t sure. “I’m fine. Opal was pretty tough, hitting the guy with a vase.” Even though Nari had told the administrator to run, she’d stayed and fought after being shot.
