When her face drained of color, he regretted threatening her. She stepped back from him as fear filled her gaze.
“I need to go. It’s not safe.”
“But you want to leave?”
“If I leave, it will make it safer for you. For everyone.”
He noticed she didn’t actually answer the question. “What about for you? Running around the jungle with a concussion and a stab wound is not smart.”
Before she could launch another denial, he took hold of her upper arm and dragged her toward the front door. Sam tried to dig her heels in, but she was weak from her injuries, which just pissed him off. She should be in bed resting, but instead, she was out here putting herself at more risk. If he didn’t think she would freak out, he would pick her up.
As they stepped into the house, he heard the murmur of voices. Those voices had Sam freaking out even more, trying to drag him back toward the front door.
“This isn’t a good idea, Ian. Just let me go.”
“No.”
“I need to go. It’s not safe for you, for anyone if I’m near you.”
Her voice had risen with each word, and now she sounded hysterical. This was so out of character for her. Not once in all the time he had known her had she shown any kind of fear. She never panicked, or at least she didn’t show it. Ian barely noticed that the voices had quieted, until he heard the footsteps. He glanced over his shoulder at the men. Jenner and El looked concerned as they took in the way he and Sam were fighting.
His father though, he looked like he had seen a ghost.
“Dad?”
He blinked, looked at Ian, then looked back at Sam. His father swallowed. That’s when he noticed that Sam had stopped fighting his hold.
“Lila? Is that you?”
Ian looked between the two of them. There was history there, recognition in each of their expressions. What the bloody hell was going on?
Her mouth curved. “Hey, Sam. How’ve you been?”
Six
“Someone is going to explain what the bloody hell is going on right now,” Ian demanded.
Lila winced. She hadn’t done herself any favors climbing out of the window. Her head pounded and her stomach was threatening to revolt. Also, the towel she put on the bottom of the window had only helped a little bit. Her knife wound was throbbing. Not that she would admit to that.
Now Ian was yelling.
“I think you need to watch your tone, son,” Sam said.
“Always the gentleman,” she murmured.
Ian looked at her, his eyes narrowing. He muttered something, then started dragging her back to the bedroom.
She tried to dig in her heels, but she was too weak at the moment. Also, every time Ian touched her, she felt a jolt. The man packed a punch. Why was she reacting to him like this? She knew lots of good-looking men, but Ian always seemed to hit her differently.
“What the hell?” she demanded.
“Son, I think you need to calm down.”
Ian didn’t respond to either one of them. As she stumbled passed El, he was smiling at her.
“Hey, Lila.”
“Are you going to let him manhandle me?”
