Page 10 of Defending Love
Dani laid her purse on the counter, kicked off her high-heeled shoes, and picked them up. “I’m exhausted. I’m going to take a shower and lie down for a little while. I have work to do here. If I’m really your assignment, tomorrow we’re headed to the Villages. I know the routine. You can book our flight and two hotel rooms.”
“Why won’t you take the company plane?”
“Because it’s extravagant to take the plane when it’s only two people.”
“Traveling commercial?” I said with a questioning tone. “If the suspect is halfway decent at hacking, he’s probably watching for your or Mr. Sinclair’s name to pop up on a manifest headed for Florida, knowing you’ll be checking in on your mother.”
“Then he’d also have someone watching private airports for the Sinclair plane.”
“Statistically, there’s a better chance of him being a lone wolf. Those are also historically more difficult to find.”
Dani removed her sunglasses and laid them next to her purse. When she turned my direction, I saw the redness and puffiness in and around her eyes.
“I know I look like shit. My head is throbbing.”
She was wrong. Danielle Sinclair was still staggeringly beautiful even with her defenses down. “Follow through with your plan.” I lifted my palm toward her. “I need to assess your phone and access the computer in your home office.”
“Melinda already did that.”
“Dani,” I said, forgoing the formality, “you are my assignment, now my responsibility. I trust Melinda as much as I do any of the members of Guardian Security, but when it’s my job, I do it my way.”
She went to her purse and pulled out her phone. “Fine,” she said, handing it to me. “Do you need the passcode, or have you changed that too?”
“I haven’t yet.”
She shook her head as she turned toward her bedroom. There was an unusual slump to her shoulders and posture. For a few brief seconds when she first spoke on the sidewalk and again when she learned I’d changed her security code, the sassy, strong woman was back.
“Dani?”
She turned around and faced me.
For a split second, I focused on her lips, remembering the hunger in her kiss. I blinked and saw her gaze. That kiss was why I left her before. I shouldn’t even think about it. “You’re going to be safe. Your brother and his family will be safe and your mother too. The police are working on your father’s case, but so are we. Guardian Security is one of the best. You will get your life back.”
“But not my father.” She turned and closed the bedroom door behind her.
Not her father.
Another punch to the gut.
Dani was right. I couldn’t get her father back, but I could keep her safe.
Chapter
Five
Dani
* * *
After closing the bedroom door, I dropped my shoes and flopped back on the bed with my eyes closed. Eli’s words ran through my thoughts—get my life back.
What was my life?
Work.
I loved my work in the Sinclair labs or sitting behind a computer. Research opened a door in my soul that longed to be filled. I craved more information, new discoveries, and revealing what was previously unknown. Dad encouraged that part of me, saying that he wished he shared my unbridled thirst for knowledge.
Dad.
