Chapter 6
Six
“Someone is going to explain what the bloody hell is going on right now,” Ian demanded.
Lila winced. She hadn’t done herself any favors climbing out of the window. Her head pounded and her stomach was threatening to revolt. Also, the towel she put on the bottom of the window had only helped a little bit. Her knife wound was throbbing. Not that she would admit to that.
Now Ian was yelling.
“I think you need to watch your tone, son,” Sam said.
“Always the gentleman,” she murmured.
Ian looked at her, his eyes narrowing. He muttered something, then started dragging her back to the bedroom.
She tried to dig in her heels, but she was too weak at the moment. Also, every time Ian touched her, she felt a jolt. The man packed a punch. Why was she reacting to him like this? She knew lots of good-looking men, but Ian always seemed to hit her differently.
“What the hell?” she demanded.
“Son, I think you need to calm down.”
Ian didn’t respond to either one of them. As she stumbled passed El, he was smiling at her.
“Hey, Lila.”
“Are you going to let him manhandle me?”
“You look like shit. I think he’s worried you’ll pass out.”
“I like Ed better than you.”
That just made him laugh out loud. Jenner was watching her, assessing.
She wasn’t sure whether he was wondering about her health or her character.
Probably both. She would definitely be thinking about both.
She should because she was feeling a little woozy, and everyone knew you couldn’t trust anyone from The Company—even a lowly analyst like her.
“Ian.”
He stopped right outside of the door. “You either get your ass in that bed, or I will pick you up and put you there myself.”
What the hell ever. She would get out of there later. Besides, the room was now spinning, and she was pretty sure throwing up on him was probably not the best idea.
With her head held high, she stomped over to the bed and sat down.
“Legs up.”
She slanted him a look but did as he ordered.
“Jenner, can you check on her? Make sure she’s okay.”
The former medic walked over, a silent moving mountain. He really was huge, but for some reason, he didn’t scare her.
“You do know where you are, right?”
“Smith Prison, population one, Kauai.”
His mouth twitched. After a few more questions, and checking on her wound, he announced her okay. “We probably need to get you some broth. Just clear liquids for right now.”
“Already ordered,” Ian said.
“Maybe I want Jello.”
“Then I will order you some Jello, but broth first.”
She wasn’t sure she liked this version of Ian. Granted, him being all bossy…okay he looked hot, but she didn’t let anyone order her around these days. Only one person had that privilege.
“Now, Dad. I need you to explain how you know….” He looked back at her, “Lila?”
She sighed and nodded—once. The cat was out of the bag, so there was no reason to lie about it now. And knowing Sam, he would definitely get on to her for lying.
“Son, I think you need to calm down.”
That was so the wrong thing to say right at that moment. Ian’s eyes narrowed as they blazed with irritation. Damn, he was pretty.
She looked at his father. “Sam, the jig is up,” she said softly.
Sam’s mouth twitched. “She really hated when you used American slang.”
“She really hated that I called her Memaw Judy.”
He smiled, those same kind eyes sparkling down at her. He had been the man who had whisked her away to safety, the only one she had trusted for years.
Her smile faded. “Tell him.”
He sighed, then looked at Ian. “I knew Lila’s grandmother. And so did you.”
She could see that Ian was trying to hold onto his temper, but he was also going through his memories. The moment it clicked he looked at her.
“Lady Judith Eddington was your grandmother?”
“How did you figure that out?” El asked. Then he looked at her. “Your grandmother was royal? I knew she was a spy, but royalty?”
She shook her head. “Naw. She was knighted by the queen for her service to the crown in MI-6.”
“Are you a lady?”
She snorted. “No. The title doesn’t transfer. And to answer your question, my grandmother had my eyes.”
It’s a blessing and a curse, Delilah. For a spy, they can make you stand out. You can also use them to your advantage. Many people are drawn to originality.
“Not that common,” Ian murmured.
“No, they weren’t,” Sam said.
He studied her. “Who attacked you?”
She shrugged. “Loser. Probably dead now.”
All she knew was that she didn’t want to see that predator again. She put up with a lot of people who would try to kill her or capture her. Predators like the asshole from today needed to suffer.
And yes, she knew how insane that was.
“Someone from your past or your grandmother’s?” Sam asked.
“Good question. I’ve been browbeaten by your son, and he hasn’t let me rest.”
Sam glanced at Ian, and opened his mouth to say something, but Ian beat him to the punch. “I caught you climbing out of the bathroom window.”
“Delilah,” Sam admonished.
Dammit. When Sam used that tone, she felt like her father was disappointed in her. “What?”
“You know you can’t go it alone. You know you need help to figure this out.” If he had yelled at her, it would have hurt less. His quiet tone shimmered with disapproval.
She sighed as the weight of her situation seemed to ground her down. She was feeling pretty tired at the moment, so she leaned back. Her eyelids felt as if they had little mini weights attached to each of her lashes.
“It’s been over a decade, Sam. I still don’t know.”
Then she fell asleep.
After making sure she was resting, then taking her phone and everything else she would need if she fled his house, Ian joined the three men in the living room. He dumped her bag on the coffee table.
“Okay, it’s time to fess up. What is she talking about, Dad?”
His father looked older than he had when he’d arrived. “A little over fourteen years ago, Lila’s parents and brother were murdered. She just happened to have been at a slumber party and had been late coming home, or she would have been dead too.”
“What happened?”
“The house was rigged to blow. Set on a timer.” He sighed. “She was walking down the street when it happened.”
Jenner whistled. “Holy shit. I would be a bit jumpy if I were her too.”
He glanced at El. “You knew?”
“Everyone heard the stories. It was covered up, but you know spies love to gossip. I didn’t know she saw the house go up. I knew her grandmother was MI-6, but I didn’t know she’d been a lady.”
“Judith hated that title. She threatened to fire anyone who used it,” Sam said with a chuckle.
“Did they ever figure out who did it?” Jenner asked.
“No,” Ian answered. He looked at his father. “That’s what she meant, right?”
He nodded. “I never understood why she came to the States.”
“She’s an American,” El said, frowning as if he couldn’t understand why anyone would question it.
“Actually, she officially has dual citizenship. Her mother was British, so it was easy to get that taken care of.”
Ian’s mind was already shifting through her comments and her actions. Every now and then, UK slang had slipped into her comments, but he had thought she did it to mock him. Now he knew that she did it because of her background.
“She was investigating her family’s death,” Ian said. He looked at El. “Maybe she got too close?”
“Could be,” he said. “Eden and I always worried that her helping us is what got her burned, but she kept saying that it had nothing to do with us.”
“What I don’t get is why she saves your ass so much? Is she watching you because she suspects you?” Jenner asked.
He shrugged and looked at his father.
“You were too young of course. And no, she didn’t suspect me. I’m the one who took her to England.”
He blinked. “You just showed up and took her to Judith?”
He nodded. “Judith couldn’t go. It wasn’t safe for her, and she was worried that going would put Lila in even more danger. So, she asked me.”
And that told him everything. Judith Eddington didn’t trust a lot of people. She was legendary in the business, which meant that a lot of people had targeted her. If she’d asked his father to retrieve her granddaughter, Judith definitely trusted his father.
“Judith always thought it had something to do with her. That killing her daughter and grandchildren was a way to get back at her.”
“But you didn’t.”
He shook his head. “If someone goes to those extremes, they tend to make sure to tell the person in some way. No one ever claimed the murders.”
“What did her parents do at the CIA?” he asked.
“They were just analysts, like Lila,” El said. “And a lot of people think that’s a safe job, but depending on their concentration, they would have access to a lot of things. I wonder if they had been tortured before.”
“Lila would know,” his father said. “But, maybe not. There wasn’t much of the bodies left after.”
“How old was she?”
“Twelve.”
Shit. That was…how did a person go on after that? Not only losing her family but witnessing it?
“So, she hit some trigger at the CIA? That’s not good,” Jenner said.
He glanced at the former medic. Ian was starting to understand why Luc had hired him. His skills as a medic were top notch, and he had a mind that understood things beyond surface.
“I agree. That means someone with some power, or at least connections at the CIA, had something to do with her family’s murders.”
His security pinged, telling him someone parked in front of his house. He grabbed his phone off the side table and saw a man park and then slip out of his car with the bag of food he’d ordered. The doorbell rang. He waited while the delivery driver set the food down and walked away.
By the time he got to the door, the man had already driven off.
After retrieving the food, he brought it into the house.
“I have some huli huli chicken if you’re hungry.”
He pulled out the large container of bone broth he’d ordered. After grabbing a spoon, he slipped into the bedroom. He knew she wasn’t asleep.
“Lila,” he said softly. “I know you really aren’t sleeping.”