Once again, she looked at herself in the mirror, then glanced at the window. She would definitely clean up, then she would slip away. It was the only way to protect Ian and Sam, and everyone else.
She hated leaving like this, but it was the only way to deal with it. Understanding what was at stake and the promises she had made, she could not risk their lives for her comfort.
With that thought, she turned on the water in the standing shower.
Ian knew she was up to something. Call him crazy, but his sixth sense was telling him that she was trying to figure out a way to slip away from him. He had just gotten his hands on her, and he wasn’t about to let her leave.
His dick pressed against his zipper and his blood heated. Hell, his fingers were itching to touch her again. Even if it was just holding her hand.
Fuck. The woman was starting to drive him mental. She had to promise she was just cleaning up, but with Sam, he had learned that she couldn’t be trusted. He still wanted her beneath him in bed; her legs wrapped around him…
He counted backwards from ten. Then did it three more times before he got himself under control. The woman was a distraction and definitely getting under his skin. And he definitely didn’t trust her.
Still, he would help her. She’d put herself in danger to save his sister. And more than once she had saved his ass. He had a feeling that her being tracked had something to do with her interaction with him. Those were all reasons for him to help her.
But it wasn’t the main reason he was helping her. That connection…the electric spark that seemed to dance between them whenever they touched…he needed to figure that out. Figure her out.
Before he could get more into his morose thoughts, he heard a car drive up. He stepped out of the room.
“I guess that’s your father,” Jenner said.
He made a face and El laughed. “I get it, man. My parents can be meddlers with their background just like your father.”
El and Eden’s parents had been CIA operatives at one time. The twins had grown up in embassies all over the world, as their parents pretended to just be what they were. They owned a godawful number of businesses and did a lot of work in the Middle East. It had been an excellent cover.
With a sigh, Ian headed for the front door. He opened his door just as his father was stepping onto the lanai.
In his late sixties, his father and he looked like mirror images but about thirty years apart. And his hair had gotten a little crazy since he’d moved to Hawai’i.
“So, what’s happening?”
His lips twitched. You could leave the spy business, but it didn’t take much to get you back into the spy behaviors.
Ian motioned with his head to his house. He didn’t want to talk about this in the open. He had neighbors, but they were far apart. Still, it wouldn’t do with having someone pick up what was going on.
He closed the door and his father followed him down the hall to the living area.
“This is coming along,” his father remarked.
“Thanks.”
The house had been trash when he’d bought it a few months ago. The kitchen and most of the living room was done, as was his room and bathroom.
“You know El, and this is Jenner Carson. He does jobs with Dillon Security. Jenner, this is Sam, my father.”
There was a moment of silence and then Jenner barked out a laugh. “She uses your father’s name as an alias?”
“And his middle name as a last name,” El said smiling.
He opened his mouth to say something, but he heard a soft thud from the direction of his bedroom. Specifically, from where the bathroom was located. Suspicion had him frowning.
“I need to check something out. Can you two give my dad a rundown of what’s going on?”
“Son, what’s up?”
“Just give me a second, Dad.”
Then, he walked to the front door. There was a small window in his bathroom that he could never fit through, but Sam could easily slide through. He rounded the corner of his house to the sight of her legs dangling from the bathroom window.
