“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I was just Jenna. Not important enough to have a last name.”
Again, what the fuck?
“Jenna is a pretty name. It suits you. Perfect name for a beautiful woman.”
She turned back to meet his gaze, her expression hopeful. Jesus, was she so accustomed to rejection that she expected it at every turn? Did she not realize how sweet and heart-stoppingly beautiful she was? Stupid question. Of course she didn’t. This was a woman who’d never been assured of her self-worth. A woman who felt she had no worth. He wanted to put his fist through the wall.
“What’syourname?” she asked shyly.
“Isaac. Isaac Washington. At your service, ma’am,” he said with a charming grin.
She smiled and holy fuck, what a smile she had. He made a vow then and there to coax them out of her as often as he could, because something told him she didn’t smile a lot, nor did she have a whole hell of a lottosmile about.
Then he became serious. “Jenna, I need to ask you some questions and we don’t have a lot of time, because I’m moving you to a safe house in the next hour. And I know you’ll have some questions before you blindly trust me. I get that.”
She stiffened, and apprehension once more sparked in her eyes.
“Please don’t be afraid, honey. Not of me. Never of me.”
“I’m afraidforyou,” she burst out.
Isaac sighed. “Okay, before we get into what I really wanted to discuss, I think it’s a better idea to tell you who and what I am so that your fears will be eased.”
She looked puzzled.
“I work for a security company. Personal protection. We’re the best, Jenna, and that’s not an idle boast. Our job is to protect people and we’re damn good at it. So you don’t need to be worried about me or any of the men who will take part in protecting you.”
Her eyes widened at that statement.
“They will offer peripheral protection, but I am the one who will protect you. The only damn one,” he said gruffly. “And listen to me, Jenna, because I don’t make promises lightly. Anyone who tries to hurt you or take you away from me will have to come through me to do that.”
“But you don’t even know me,” she said softly.
“You’re right. But I will.”
It came out as a vow. Matter of fact. Inevitable. She looked too stunned to respond to his promise.
“But why?” she choked out.
He touched her cheek, stroking it in the lightest of caresses. “You may not know why yet. But you will.” Another promise.
“Now, tell me about the people after you. I assume they want you because of what you can do.”
Her expression turned bitter, but before she could respond, a forceful knock sounded at the door. She jumped, her gaze jerking to the closed door and Isaac shouted, “Not right now! Whatever it is can wait. Just give me a goddamn minute,” he bellowed in frustration.
Instead of going away as Isaac had ordered, someone knocked again. More forcefully than before, and this time, there was no waiting for Isaac’s invitation to enter. Sterling burst inside holding some of Eliza’s clothing, a grim expression on his face.
“We need to move.Now. We have company. My men just reported movement in the northern quadrant, which means Eliza and I need to get out now. You wait fifteen minutes and then head west. One of my men will pick you up and take you to a safe house. We don’t have time to hash this out unless we want to engage, and there’s no way in hell I’m going to do that when my wife’s safety is at risk and she still hasn’t fully recovered from the last time she was shot.”
Isaac cursed the timing, but knew hers and the others’ safety came first. He’d just have to get Jenna to talk whenever they got settled again. He turned to Jenna, all business now, and handed her the clothing Sterling had tossed him. “Get dressed and make it fast. There’s a bathroom there,” he said, pointing to another door in the room. “You need to hurry, Jenna. We don’t have much time.”
Jenna jumped off the bed and fled to the bathroom, already pulling the T-shirt one of his men had put on her over her head when she closed the door behind her.
“Three minutes, sweetheart. Then we have to roll,” Isaac called loudly enough that she’d hear through the door.
Isaac turned to Sterling and then eyed him seriously. “I appreciate this more than you’ll ever know. Keep Lizzie safe. I don’t want her hurt because she’s helping me.”
“No one is going to so much as touch my wife,” Sterling said in a rigid tone. Then he turned and stalked from the room.
