Chapter 5 #2
“It’s an unspoken rule.” He crossed his arms, offering her his “don’t mess with me, you won’t win” look. “Does your boss know your connection to my family?”
She needed to zip up her emotions and store them in one of those mess-free leak-proof containers if she was going to get through this night unscathed.
“Rodriguez knows, and I had nothing to do with my being here.”
His brows pulled together. “Oh, mustache-guy. Yeah, I recognize him now. His girlfriend makes you all that delicious food you’re always going on and on about.” His smile was equivalent to a dozen pillowy-soft arrows, with heart-shaped tips, plunging into her chest.
But his smile was brief. So brief, she barely had time to enjoy the moment.
“If you get hurt, or worse, because of my dad, what do you think that’ll do to me?” There was a crack in his voice. A deep drop where his words descended briefly into the abyss of fear as he’d spoken them.
She tried to hide the unexpected wobble in her bottom lip as her resolve massively failed, exposing her emotions for him to see. “And how do you think I feel every time you go on one of those mysterious jobs of yours?” And why do you have to keep that part of yourself from me?
His warm brown eyes remained connected with hers. His pupils constricted. More emotion stirred, a reflection of her own.
“Please support me,” she said when he refused to speak. “When I go into that room, I need you to have my back. I already know your dad will object to having a woman protect him, especially when that woman happens to be me.”
The door behind her opened, and Rodriguez called out, “Your minute is up, Foster.”
“Coming.” The word came out like a choked whisper. Her throat scratchy and worn from fighting back a million things she wanted to say to Knox. An epic battle that had seemed to rage with new life over the past few months.
She reached for his arm when the door shut.
He stared at her hand. No eye contact.
And when he didn’t respond and pulled his arm free of her grasp, her heart could’ve fractured into a million pieces, but she refused to let it.
Because Knox would be there to pick the pieces up.
Because he was always there for her. And the last thing she wanted was to add more to his plate. He didn’t deserve it.
He slipped inside his father’s suite, and she took a minute before she followed.
“Everything okay?” Rodriguez asked once she was inside, concern in his eyes as both friend and boss.
“Yeah, I’m good. What’s the situation?” They moved farther into the suite, and she put her game face back on.
“Making the introductions.” Rodriguez motioned her down the hall and into the living area. The place was more like an apartment than a hotel.
Isaiah Bennett’s eyes widened, and he rose from the couch in the spacious room and loosened the knot of his tie at the sight of Adriana. He was a little shorter than Knox. A touch stockier, too. But he had the same eyes and killer smile as his son.
“Adriana?” A gasp left Kathleen Bennett as she stood alongside her husband.
Kathleen was blonde and blue-eyed. Tall. Gorgeous. But not in a way that screamed look-at-me. Subtle. Sophisticated. She always had this look in her eyes, too—like she could get a read on a person within seconds.
She’d met both Isaiah and Kathleen the same night she’d met Knox. He’d called his parents after driving her to the crime scene as if he’d hoped his senator father could bring her mom back to life.
“You’re assigned to protect us?” Kathleen’s gaze raked over the length of Adriana before she crossed the room to get to her.
“Yes.” The second the word was out of her mouth, Kathleen hugged her.
It wasn’t the warm type of hug her mom had given her as a kid, but Adriana was sure it was as motherly as Kathleen knew how to be.
“Are you okay?” Adriana asked once Kathleen had let go of her, doing her best to avoid the curious eyes of her coworkers.
“I think I’m still in shock.” Kathleen’s eyes moved to Knox then back to Adriana as if worried about a potential battle of the sexes over her presence as their Secret Service.
Yeah, me, too. She focused on Isaiah. “Sir.”
“You’re not stepping in front of a bullet for me, Adriana,” he announced right off the bat.
Like father like son.
“After what happened to your mother, I have no clue what possessed you to join the agency.” Isaiah’s commanding voice captured the room.
She felt all eyes ping back and forth between the presidential candidate and herself.
And that’s how she had to think of him from now on, or she wouldn’t be able to separate emotion from the job.
“I’m here because of my mom. She sacrificed her life to protect others, and that’s what I’m doing. She’s my—”
“I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for me,” he interrupted, his voice louder now. “Charlie, say something!”
His dad still called him by his given name, and maybe that was why he clung to his nickname so fiercely over the years.
“A woman is fully capable of protecting a man,” Kathleen said, to Adriana’s surprise. “Don’t you dare say otherwise.” She peered at Knox next. “Either of you.”
Knox frowned and kept quiet.
“I can reassign Foster to work the investigation. We’ll be coordinating with DHS and the FBI to find the shooter,” Rodriguez noted.
“We’re about to head to the office now,” Knox said.
Was this a white flag? His way of saying he wouldn’t be a roadblock?
“The president authorized him to be part of the investigation,” Mendez said as if reading the what-the-F look now on Rodriguez’s face.
“Why?” Rodriguez turned toward Knox.
“The ‘why’ doesn’t matter,” Knox said. “I’m going to help out. So, if we’re done with introductions, we should get a move on it.” He slipped his hand into his pocket, grabbed his phone, and left the room without saying another word.
“Are you sure this is what you really want?” Isaiah asked her.
“More than anything.”
He braced her shoulders. “Do me a favor then, keep an eye on my son.”
If he’ll let me. But she smiled and murmured, “Always.”