He snorted. “Good luck with that.”
“And there’s the arrogance I know and love.”
“Did she really quit?”
A long beat of silence. Bram was a talkative bastard, so he was trying to be careful. “She was encouraged to.”
Which meant she had become a liability. Just what he needed. He was going to have to find out more and let Conner know.
“So, nothing else.”
“No. I take it you’re all safe and sound on your island.”
“As safe and sound as any of us can be.”
“Good. I’ve been meaning to come over and see you and that pretty sister of yours.”
“She’s married and pregnant.”
That got him a look from Seth, but Ian ignored his brother-in-law.
“That doesn’t bother me.”
“To a former SEAL who would kill you for flirting with her.”
“Boring. Okay, I have a job to get to. Stay safe, brother.”
“You too.”
Then he hung up.
“A friend of yours?” Emily asked.
“Yeah, he did some asking around.” Knowing Bram, he had hacked into the mainframe of MI-6. They were used to it and would allow him to do it happily, mainly because he worked for them. “Nothing on their end but that doesn’t mean anything.”
“He is that good from what I discovered on background,” Charity said, her gaze still locked on her husband, who was still trying to question Underwood.
“Yeah? I thought it was his wife who was a genius.”
“She was, and that’s probably why he had so many problems with her. He is very intelligent, genius level.” She shrugged. “It’s just that Eloise Eddington was smarter. Some men can’t take that. Thankfully, Hammer doesn’t have a problem with it.”
It took him a second to remember her husband’s nickname. Of course, with a first name of Thor, what else would he be called. He nodded, then felt Emily’s study.
“What?”
“What did your friend say about Vivian?”
“She was encouraged to leave MI-6.”
Her blue gaze narrowed as he she studied him. “I asked Junie. Your Vivian isn’t on the roster to be interviewed.”
“What?”
“She put in an application, sent a resume, then Conner talked to a supervisor of hers. Somehow, he had gotten hold of her psych evaluation. Girlfriend has an obsession with the man who trained her. Do you know who that may be?”
Fuck. Everything was swirling in his head as he tried to put it all together. Underwood seemed sincere when he said he hadn’t been after Ian. Vivian being on the island hadn’t really struck him as odd, but he had been too busy trying to get back to Lila. Keeping her safe was more important, so he had pushed all thoughts of his former trainee out of his head.
But now…fuck. If she were after him for some reason, there was one thing she could do to hurt him, and if she had been studying him, she knew that hurting Lila would destroy him.
