Then Stryker turned and headed off to the woman. She had waited until he started in her direction before she slipped out of the car and hurried over to him. As Ian watched the couple embrace, he found himself feeling envious. Having someone waiting for you to return. What would it be like to have a woman waiting for you?
“Gee, I would think sitting on a tarmac would be dangerous, but sure, I need to sit on the floorboard for protection.”
She said it just loud enough for him to hear. He wanted to laugh at her sarcastic tone. More often than he wanted to admit, he had to fight laughing at her jokes. Especially the ones she made at his expense. Furthermore, she was right. He needed to get his arse in gear and get her to safety.
Once he slipped into the SUV, he realized Aaron Daniels was their driver. Aaron was another Dillon Operative. The former MMA fighter was the epitome of the strong, silent type.
“Hey, Aaron. Thanks for the pickup.”
“Don’t thank me too fast. Em is going to meet you at your apartment.”
Emily Daniels, the person he called to help them find Lila, and a pain in his ass on a regular basis. Also, sister to Aaron.
“Why?”
He shrugged as he put the car in drive.
“I think she wants to meet Lila.”
This was starting to get annoying. Why did everyone want to meet the woman? And would he ever get her alone with all these people popping up out of the woodwork? Ian understood the situation. Most people in the world would never hear of Lila, but people in the security business had been whispering her name for years now. When she had been burned, she’d become more of an urban legend. The thing he was sure government agencies used to scare their agents, and every hacker and coder relished.
“If the windows are tinted so dark, why am I down here on the floor?”
He let down his window. “Because we are going to be seen driving with just five men in the car.” She was behind his seat, so she punched it.
“You suck.”
Again, he felt his mouth twitching. How did she always seem to make him want to smile?
“Delilah, he’s just trying to keep you safe,” his father said.
“Oh, I know he thinks he is. What he doesn’t seem to understand is just who we are up against. And I told you to call me Lila.”
Okay, he shouldn’t be so damned jealous of the relationship his father had with Lila. It didn’t seem like they had seen each other in years, but…it still chafed. The most disturbing thing was that he knew his father wasn’t a romantic rival. His father had been a bachelor for years but was now in a committed relationship with Mari. Besides, his father had never taken up with a woman young enough to be his daughter. But Ian still was jealous for some reason.
“We’re going to drop my father off, then drive around for a bit, doubling back to make sure we don’t have a tail.”
“You don’t need to drop me off, son.”
“It will look better.”
El was seated across from him, with Jenner in the front passenger seat. He felt their silent judgment. He rolled his shoulders. This is why he was a much better assassin. You tended to work alone, or if it was a situation for a sniper shot, with a spotter. A team was great, but it also made him itchy.
“Whichever one of you has thoughts on this, please, tell me.”
“I think we should drop you off at your apartment. It would make more sense than just driving around,” El said.
His heart clutched at the idea of leaving Lila. He didn’t want to be far from her. Even thinking it caused his lungs to seize up.
“I said I didn’t like that idea.”
“It’s actually a better plan, Mix. You can meet us at the house. They won’t think that you would leave me in the car,” Lila said.
He knew they were all right, but the idea of being away from her was sort of freaking him out. When did he become so damned attached to her? It had been less than forty-eight hours, and he was having a panic attack because they would be apart for a couple of hours? Totally out of character for him. Sure, he had kissed her. Once. That was it.
Of course, it was the best bleeding kiss of his life. In all his years, he had never been that turned on by just a kiss. He was getting hard just thinking about it. This kind of infatuation made him feel as if he were some kind of teenager with his first crush. It was embarrassing, but he wasn’t sure what to do about it. Actually, Ian wasn’t sure he wanted to do anything about it.
He sighed. She was right and maybe a little distance would be best. “Fine. We’ll drop Dad off and then me. I’ll meet up at the safe house.”
