“I’ve been told that you all are here for Lila Eddington?”
That had been the name they had given the EMTs. He knew that she would not want to be associated with her father.
“I am her grandmother,” Judith said.
“She can only see one person at a time, and only family.”
She could just bugger off if she thought they could keep him out of her room.
“I’ll be right back,” Judith said. He opened his mouth, but her narrowed gaze stopped him. “I promise, I will be right back.”
He hesitated for a long moment, then he nodded.
She followed the nurse to the ICU and Ian swallowed. He needed to hold it together, but with every minute he was kept away from Lila, he felt all of his famous control slip away.
A hand took his, and he looked down at his sister. “Everything is fine. If they don’t let you back after dragon lady is done with her, I’ll threaten people.”
He smiled at his sister. “Thanks.”
“Anytime, bro. Now, you need some water and something to eat. Gotta keep your health up so you can take care of that woman. She is a magnet for disaster.”
Lila had barely opened her eyes, but she knew her grandmother was in the room.
“Memaw Judy,” she croaked out.
Her mouth twitched, as she moved closer to the bed. It had been a couple years since she had seen her grandmother in the flesh, and she looked as if she had aged ten years. Her eyes shimmered with tears.
“I told you not to use that horrible name,” she said, her voice small.
Panic hit her square in the chest. If her grandmother was worried, that was a problem. “What happened? Did that crazy bitch shoot anyone else? Is Ian okay?”
Judith’s gaze softened. “You got shot, Delilah. Of course I’m worried.”
“Oh,” she said. “That’s nothing.”
“And the concussion you got on Kauai was nothing? And the stab wound?”
She frowned. “It all turned out okay.”
Her grandmother harrumphed. “Either way, it’ll be nice to return to England and not have to hide out anymore. I’m sure the doctors will let you out soon and we will be off.”
But I don’t want to leave Hawai’i.
She bit back the comment, because she wasn’t even sure of what she could do here. Granted, she had a trust fund that would allow her to do whatever she wanted. Unfortunately, what she wanted might not be available to her. She had told Ian she loved him, but then she didn’t remember anything after that.
“Delilah, you are far away again.”
She blinked and brought her grandmother back into focus. “Sorry.”
“No worries. You have had two concussions in a week. Probably not a good thing.”
“No. Probably not.”
There was a long beat of silence in the room. “You have quite the group of people waiting for you. From what I understand, they had to put them in an area to keep the staff from engaging with them.”
Her heart lifted. “Yeah?”
“That Task Force Hawai’i is there, along with Dillon Security. Your young man is wearing a path in the hallway.”
