Chapter Twenty-Three
Isabella and Talia spent an hour working out the seating arrangements, stopping only when there was a soft knock on Isabella’s bedroom door.
Tavari stood on the other side.
Isabella’s pulse kicked up as she took in the cold edge that hovered in his eyes and the grim lines of his mouth. “What happened? Is Danny okay?”
The room brightened in a flash of light, followed by the crackling static of thunder, close enough to vibrate the house. Her hand flew to her chest.
Tavari glanced toward the windows. “He’s fine. Wanted me to let you know he’ll be home later than expected. There was an… issue with his car.”
The pause was faint, but Isabella noticed it. Dread crept up her spine. “What kind of issue?”
“I’ll let him explain when he gets back.” Tavari turned away, already moving toward the stairs.
A hand curled over her shoulder.
Talia.
“It sounds like his car broke down, Izzy. Nothing crazy.”
“There’s something Tavari isn’t telling me. I can feel it.”
“Or the fact that the gala is days away is stressing you out?” Talia peered at her. “I’ve gotta go. Are you going to be okay? I wouldn’t leave, but I have a videoconference at three.”
“No. You go. I’ll be fine.” Isabella mustered a smile. “Tavari will keep me company.”
“Lucky girl.”
Downstairs, they spotted Tavari on the phone in the kitchen, speaking in low tones. He looked up at their approach, then turned his back and moved closer to the back door.
Isabella’s fingers curled into her palms. What did he not want her and Talia to overhear?
Talia had the front door half open, peering at the sky. Patches of blue broke through at the edge of the cloud bank. She turned to face Isabella. “I hope Danny’s okay.”
“Thanks. Me, too. I’ll see you soon.”
After Talia left, Isabella tried to work on last-minute gala details on her laptop while Tavari sat in the kitchen, either talking on his phone or tapping away on his own computer.
Trying to pull information out of him was like trying to milk a stone, and she gave up after the third time he told her Danny would fill her in when he got back.
She couldn’t focus on the words on her screen, her thoughts circling the same worry.
If this was how she reacted when she didn’t even know there was a problem, how would she handle it when Danny was off putting himself in danger for someone else?
Queasiness rolled through her stomach.
Stability. Control. Safety.
Those were the pillars she’d built her life on, and none of them seemed compatible with a man like Danny Mayhew.
Even the romance novel she’d retrieved from her bedroom failed to hold her attention. Curled up on the couch, she read the same page twice before giving up.
Just when she was gearing up to ask Tavari yet again when Danny would be home, a black SUV pulled to a stop in front of her home. She lunged for the door and yanked it open.
“Danny!” The sight of him, healthy and whole, stepping from the driver’s seat made her lightheaded. “Oh, thank God.”
“Get back inside, Bella. Now.” The force of his command shoved her back a step.
Then he was on her, so close she could smell sweat and an acrid chemical scent, see damp patches, dirt, and what appeared to be grease on his white shirt. “You don’t stand in an open doorway like that, you hear me?”
Before she could react, he pulled her in. “You’re safe,” he murmured in her ear, sounding as if he were reassuring himself rather than her.
Caleb eased in behind them, catching her eye as he walked past. He, too, wore a grim expression.
Her heart was going to pound right out of her chest. “What happened?”
Danny drew back, scanning her from head to toe. Beneath her palms, some of the tension in his body eased. “Someone cut my brake line.”
She frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Then his words registered.
“Oh, God.” Her hands moved over him, searching for injury, noting every smudge, every stain. Nothing that looked like blood. Still, she needed to be sure.
He caught her hands. Held them between his big palms. “Honey, I’m okay.”
“Who?” She searched his eyes for answers. “Who would do that?”
Not that she didn’t already know.
Omar Hassan.
The man had been desperate when he accosted her in the bank lobby.
Bitter.
Bitter enough to commit murder?
Her lungs tightened. “Hassan. He went after you because you’re protecting me.”
“I know what you’re thinking and you’re wrong.” Danny tilted her chin. Forced her to meet his eyes. “This is not your fault.”
“But he went after you.” Her vision blurred.
“We protect people for a living, Bella.” Danny’s voice gentled. “Danger is part of the job. We’re trained to handle it.”
“We should talk about whether Isabella stays here or we move her to a safe house,” Caleb said.
“No.” Isabella pulled her hands free from Danny. “The gala’s in three days. I have too many last-minute details to handle, and I’m not letting that man drive me out of my home.”
Danny sighed. “It makes more sense to harden the townhome than move her. We keep the Charlotte police in the loop—they already know about the note, and now, about the sabotage to my car.”
His expression hardened, becoming the stony mask of the Navy SEAL she’d only glimpsed before. “And she goes nowhere without protection.”
“I agree with Danny.” Tavari’s quiet voice cut through the room. “This is a family neighborhood. Lots of activity. It’d be hard for Hassan to approach Isabella’s home without someone noticing. Only two doors to cover and there’s already a security system in place that Nathan’s helped us secure.”
“Plus an armed protection agent in the home 24/7,” Caleb added, a slight tilt of his lips on his otherwise impassive face.
Danny faced her. “It’s your call, Bella.”
Isabella retreated to the couch. The romance novel she’d been trying to read earlier lay open. Enemies to lovers, explosive sexual tension, and a female main character who was as kick-ass as her male counterpart.
She ran her finger along the edge with a sad smile.
Everything she wasn’t.
Maybe Talia was right. Danny would get bored with her eventually. She wasn’t like the heroine in her romance novel, and she wasn’t sure she could build a life with someone whose job guaranteed danger.
He thrived on it.
It terrified her.
But the thought of walking away from him terrified her even more.
She would be brave. Not just for him. For her.
“We stay. I trust you all to make sure I’m safe and the gala goes off without incident.”
She barely registered the rest of the conversation between the three men. The next thing she knew, Caleb and Tavari were leaving.
The front door clicked shut behind them.
Silence settled over the room.
Danny could have died today.
But he hadn’t, and she had to accept that his job carried risks he was trained to deal with.
“Hey.” Danny stood behind her, a solid wall of comfort when she felt like her life was spinning out of control. “Whatever you’re thinking, let it go.”
“I’m trying to be brave.”
“Oh honey. You already are.”
Something warm unfurled inside her. He thought she was brave.
Maybe he saw something in her she was only beginning to see in herself.
She leaned back against him. “What now?”
His breath caressed the shell of her ear, sending shivers through her body. “I have plans. Ones that involve us getting naked.”
The rough timbre of his voice chased away the fear and doubt sliding beneath her skin, replacing it with a need that begged to be sated. She leaned back into him, her pulse quickening for a different reason now. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
A low, sexy laugh disturbed the tendrils of her hair. He reached around her and plucked the romance novel from her fingers, holding the pages of a steamy scene open in front of her.
“Whatever you’re game for.”