Chapter 2
Two
The woman everyone knew as Sam, and who never answered to her real full name, walked down the street enjoying the heat of the midday sun.
It was her third day on Kauai, and she was starting to understand why Ian liked it here so much.
It was quieter than Oahu. Granted, for her, she liked Oahu because it was easier to disappear into the crowds.
But if she wanted to settle down, she would probably do it on Kauai. Here, her brain seemed to go quiet.
It wasn’t that easy to do. Not for her. There was always a buzz of activity humming through her thoughts.
Her grandmother had said it was a curse and a blessing, and she had been right.
When Lila lived in England, staring out that picture window had been the best way to calm her thoughts and write code. Now, she liked to watch the waves.
The quaint town of Hanapepe had so much to offer.
Plantation style buildings dotted the landscape making her feel as if she were transported to another time and place.
Feral chickens would sometimes come clucking at her and she liked that.
When she found out Ian was living on this island part time, she had been intrigued.
The man screamed high class, but the little house he bought and worked to restore was far from his privileged upbringing.
And it was so damned sexy that he did most of the work himself.
With a sigh, she slipped into a local hamburger joint and felt the whisper of something against her neck.
Just that, but it told her she had someone’s attention.
Sam doubted anyone really recognized her.
She wore a blonde wig, mirrored sunglasses to hide her distinctive heterochromia eyes, and she was seriously underweight.
There was only so much food you could find while on the run. Even though this was the third straight day she had eaten at this particular restaurant. It would have to be her last because establishing patterns made it easier for people to track you.
She stepped up to the counter.
“Can I help you?” the helpful woman asked her with a smile.
“Yes,” she said, injecting enough of a Russian accent to fool anyone. “I would like a cheeseburger to go, with fries.”
“Nothing to drink?”
She shook her head and held up her water bottle. After paying in cash, she stepped aside to wait and ran into a wall of muscle. The man took hold of her arms to keep her from falling down. An electric shock zapped through her. The scent of sandalwood filled the air around her.
“Pardon,” he murmured as she looked up at him. Her entire brain froze when she realized who was holding her.
She had seen Ian multiple times, but this was the closest she had ever gotten to him personally.
All of the pictures and video she had seen of him over the years hadn’t done the man justice.
Had his hair always been that thick? She curled her fingers into the palms of her hands to keep herself from reaching out and threading them through his hair.
And why did he smell so good? Like that should be illegal.
His bright blue eyes watched her. She was sure he picked up on some kind of recognition, but he said nothing else.
“No problem,” she said, moving away from him. He hesitated before letting go of her arms.
She walked away, trying her best not to hightail it out of the restaurant.
That would alert him. On the other hand, her being this close to him had her worried.
The people she was watching would definitely like to get hold of a former MI-6 operative.
He hadn’t been in service for a few years, but she knew they would see him as someone they could torture.
And she couldn’t let that happen. She had promised Judith. He walked up to the wait staff.
“I have an order to pick up.” His British accent seemed less starchy here. When he spoke to her, it always seemed that he added an extra layer of dick to his voice. She kind of missed that.
“Of course, Smith,” the young woman said, her voice going soft with a hint of flirtation. A spark of irritation rushed through Lila, and she almost snorted, but she refrained. If she did, it would draw attention to her. That wasn’t something she wanted.
“It will be ready in just a minute. Sorry it’s taking so long.”
Where was her apology? Granted, she had just ordered, but she didn’t like the way the woman behind the counter was smiling at him. If she leaned over anymore, her boobs would fall out of her low-cut shirt.
“No worries,” he said, as he stepped away.
Amazingly, his attention zeroed back on her.
Of course it did. The man had been a first-rate agent and now a security operative for Dillon Security.
He would suss out any threats, and that’s what she was to him.
A threat. Well, not to him personally, but to anyone who came close to his family.
Still, she knew that most people in the spy biz would call her a threat.
He walked over to stand close to her and Lila had to fight the urge to inch away.
Her stomach did somersault after somersault leaving her unsteady.
Her heart was smacking against her ribs as she tried to calm it.
The clatter of plates and silverware, along with the murmur of voices, filled the air.
It made her itchy to be around this many people.
“I take it you called in your order also,” he said.
“Nyet. Apologies, no. I just ordered.”
He nodded and studied her for a long moment. Her fingers itched to fidget. It was one of the many reasons she would never be able to work in the field. Normally she fidgeted, but when she was stressed, she looked like some weirdo hyped up on drugs.
“Have you been on Kauai long?”
She shook her head. “Just three days.”
That was the truth. Her grandmother told her to always fill any story she gave people with a little bit of the truth.
That way, it would sound more realistic.
Granted, she’d been in Hawai’i for months.
Her own investigation was swirling around the islands for some reason.
The fact that Ian’s entire family lived here now made it that much easier to keep an eye on them.
“You seem familiar to me.”
She glanced at him. “I don’t think we’ve ever met.”
She forced her accent to deepen, which had his eyebrows rising. “Russian?”
“My blood, but I grew up in Ukraine.”
He nodded.
“I take it you’re from the UK?”
“Guilty,” he said his lips curving.
Her breath caught in her throat. That smile along with the stupid chin dimple packed a punch.
No wonder he got away with being a spy for so long.
Women constantly hit on him. When he had been in Vegas for his sister’s wedding, women had sent him tons of drinks.
It was understandable. If she were a different woman, Lila knew that she would probably do the same thing.
But she was Lila Eddington-Underwood, who didn’t make friends and definitely didn’t date.
She had no idea how to handle herself around a man, especially a man like Ian Charles Smith.
“What did I do?”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You looked upset. I was worried I did something to do that.”
Ugh, why was he being sweet to her? Normally, he was antagonistic. She didn’t blame him for that reaction. She’d embarrassed him more times than she could count, but she had made that damned promise to her grandmother all those years ago.
“Just thinking about a promise I need to keep.”
“If it makes you think dark thoughts, maybe you should let it go. Not every promise can be kept.”
Lila would laugh if she could. The fact that the promise she was thinking about had to deal with keeping him safe, and he just argued for her to drop the idea, was just too absurd for words.
“This is one of those things I can’t let go.”
He frowned and, dammit, he looked sexy frowning.
She crossed her arms over her breasts because her nipples had gone hard.
What the hell was wrong with her? Yes, Ian Smith was hot.
Like he could be a movie star with his thick black hair and deep blue eyes.
It didn’t hurt that he had a strong jaw and, well… he was put together nicely.
“Katya,” the woman behind the counter bellowed.
“That is me. Have a good day.”
She grabbed her food and ignored the irritated glare from the woman, then hurried out of the place.
The fact that she’d run into Ian there was not a good sign.
She had to make sure that she never ran into him again.
It was hard in such a small area, but she would definitely need to come up with another way to find food.
She had been splurging a little lately because she was so damned tired.
Before he could follow her out of the restaurant and therefore see where she was going, she grabbed her bike and rode off. The less contact with him, the less chance there was that he would get caught up in her insane life.
It didn’t take her even ten minutes to make it to the house that she had rented.
It was off the beaten path with lots of land and a kick ass security system.
She could see anyone coming for miles. After stowing the bike behind the house, she slipped inside, shutting the door quickly.
She entered the security code, then sighed as soon as it disengaged.
She removed the sunglasses, hat, and itchy wig, dropping them on the way to her kitchen.
It was a small house with only one bedroom, a smallish kitchen, and small living area. It was perfect for her purposes.