Page 40 of Missile Strike

He’d done the right thing the day after Jaynie’s funeral, and he needed to continue to do the right thing now, even if he’d spent last night dreaming of doing far more than simply kissing Bella. Her lips had been soft, her mouth sweet and spicy from the cinnamon mints she liked to suck on. Her skin smelled warm and clean, faintly sweet, and something else.

Home.

She smelled like home.

The realization hit hard.

He shoved the car through its gears with more force than necessary, heat flaring beneath his sternum.

She’d wanted him then.

And if the hunger in her expression last night was any indication, she wanted him now.

Even so, he couldn’t take advantage of her that way.

She was stressed—her safety threatened. His job was to restore stability to her life, not bring more chaos into it. He hadn’t missed the way her nails dug into the soft skin of her thigh when they’d been in his car searching for Trip.

Her open front door nagged at him like a memory he couldn’t quite retrieve. No sign of forced entry, nothing missing, and Bella’s laptop had been with her, so the would-be intruder—if there was one—hadn’t accessed her computer.

He wanted Bella somewhere he could control the security environment. Unfortunately, she was already one argument away from telling him where he could stick his protection detail, and the evidence wasn’t there to back up his instincts.

At least he’d gotten her cameras back online and linked to his phone.

He sipped his grande dark roast from the drive-through and forced his attention back to gala security. Last night, he’d forwarded the guest list to Nathan, and they had a videoconference at eleven hundred.

After showering and changing into clean clothes, he pored over the notes he’d made at The Waverly so he and his team could map out security zones, incident response, and protective posture. He made a note to call his contact at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department to coordinate their presence at the gala.

At eleven a.m., he clicked on his videoconference app and dialed into Dìleas headquarters. Nathan popped up on the screen. A few seconds later, Ryder appeared from his office in London.

“Before we get into details,” Nathan began, “I have news. Miran Hassan died this morning in a Los Angeles motel room.”

Danny’s back hit the chair. “No shit. How?”

“Heart attack,” Nathan replied. “I hacked into his prison medical records. High blood pressure, coronary artery disease and a history of AFib. So, while the timing is suspect, it’s possible the stress of getting released after eighteen years in prison into a society he didn’t recognize with no family waiting pushed him over the edge.”

Well, damn.

Bella’s kidnapper was dead. That took one security threat off the table.

He needed to tell her.

She deserved to know. Her father would probably sweep Hassan’s death under the rug in the misguided belief that not mentioning her kidnapper’s name was protection.

But she was stronger than her father gave her credit for. With Hassan dead, maybe some of that control she clung to like a life raft would loosen, and she’d allow herself to experience more things.

Ryder joined the conversation. “Your mission hasn’t changed. Lachlan just got off the phone with Senator Strickland. He wants you to continue protecting his daughter until the gala is over.”

“And after?” Danny asked.

After, he’d be out of Bella’s life. All the more reason to keep things professional and not let his libido call the shots.

“The current threat assessment is focused on the gala,” Ryder said. “If someone intends to harm the senator, the fundraiser is the obvious target. Once the event is over, the threat to Miss Strickland as a private citizen is low enough that Dìleas’s presence is unnecessary.”

He held a manila file folder up to the camera. “Finish the Strickland assignment, then take the leave you’re owed. When you get back, I have another assignment waiting.”

Danny took a sip of his coffee, long since cold, and forced it past a tight throat. He’d always looked forward to the next adventure.

But it would be hard to leave Bella.