His blood iced over. “He’s dead.”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
Of course she knew. He was starting to realize there probably wasn’t anything in his life she didn’t know about. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Another sigh. “Seriously, you can lie, but I can’t? Doesn’t seem fair.”
No one should know about that, especially someone who had never worked for MI-6. “You never worked for MI-6?”
She shook her head. “Judith was not happy, but I knew the only way to find out who killed my family was to work where they worked. And the CIA wanted me. Badly. I do know there was some dude at MI-6 who was not happy with me. He was always calling my grandmother about it. He just couldn’t understand why I would go to the Americans.”
“So, explain to me how you know about secret missions.”
“Are you admitting to killing Solokov?”
“I’m not admitting to anything.”
She smiled. “I’m a hacker at heart, Ian. And, of course, I had to keep an eye on you.”
“Of course?”
She nodded as she kept sipping at her broth. “This is very good. Did you get this delivered from the chicken place down the road?”
He nodded. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“What question?”
He was barely holding onto his temper. Again. The woman would test the patience of saint, and he was not a saint. “Lila.”
“I really like how you say my real name. It’s been a long time since anyone used it.”
He was momentarily distracted by the way her mouth curved. Her lips were unpainted, and he wanted to know how they tasted.
Focus, Smith.
“Why did you have to look out for me?”
“Promised Judith. She said to look out for Sam and his children. Hey, can you ask Boston when I can get some solid food?”
He ignored her question. “How long?”
“That’s what I want to know.”
“No. How long have you been looking out for me?”
“Well, it wasn’t until I had access to anything, so not until I was at the CIA. I’m sure Judith looked out for you before she left.”
“So you know.”
She cocked her head to the side. She really did look like hell, but he was finding it hard to avoid his attraction to her. Even now, with the dark circles under her eyes and being underweight, he wanted to touch her. Instead, he crossed his arms across his chest.
“What? That you were part of the Elite Eight?”
People outside of MI-6 weren’t supposed to know about it. Hell, there were a lot of people inside of the organization who didn’t know about it. It was a little too close to the James Bond insanity and if it got out to the public, it would probably go viral.
“I was always jealous of your accuracy. I’m okay. I can handle a gun, but nothing like you. And I don’t like knives.”
Fuck. She knew his two weapons of choice.
