mien he’d long since learned to fear, he contemplated slinging the stubborn woman over his shoulder and marching out.
Dan, who’d been watching the tableau with an annoying grin until a few seconds before, tapped her shoulder. “Brennan, sweetheart, since you put me in charge of your security as of yesterday, would you mind if I asked Captain America some questions?”
The man ran serious risk of getting his teeth knocked out. The risk increased when she responded with a sheepish smile. “I apologize for the ruckus. Karl can be a bit melodramatic. I’ll go make myself a drink while you boys talk.”
As she sashayed off, Karl growled, “Stay out of this. It’s way out of your league.”
Dan’s toothpaste-commercial-worthy grin worsened his mood. “You have no idea what my league is. Either way, you can’t drag her kicking and screaming from the building. Safe Harbor happens to have a large number of trained security personnel in the vicinity, due in large part to yesterday’s attack and my conversation with our mutual friend Sam. Why don’t you drop the tough guy attitude and work with me.”
“If you talked to Sam, then you realize what she’s up against. Tell Bree—Brennan, to take me seriously. She needs to move her pretty little butt—”
“I’m right here, you know.”
His conversation partner rolled his eyes. “Really, dude, you’re not helping our case. I’m having a hard enough time getting her to cooperate as it is.”
“Umm…Guys…Not deaf.”
Ignoring her, Dan continued. “Under these circumstances, I’m more qualified to protect her than you. I’ve read your file jacket, the WikiLeaks version anyway. You’re trained to kill. Keeping people alive is not one of your skill sets. To make matters worse, the target is Brennan. You lack emotional distance.”
“From what I see, you’re not detached from her either.”
“But she’s not my wife. She trusts me, and the same can’t be said of you.”
He didn’t like it, but the man had a point. He’d broken too many promises, and she no longer believed anything he had to say. In her shoes, he wouldn’t either. During the four years they technically cohabited, he’d never spent more than a week with her in a single stretch. Hell, he’d somehow managed to miss every Christmas, anniversary, and birthday. They’d never fought, not once did she rage or raise her voice at him. But each time he came back, she asked less, expected less. And then she was gone.
“The threat is real,” he murmured to his wife’s back. “Ignoring me won’t make it go away.”
With slow, measured movements, she added a slice of lime to her glass and topped it off with sparkling water. Spinning around, she stared at him and sipped. “I talked to Sam too. I think both of you are reaching with this theory, but, whether or not your leaked mission painted a bulls-eye on my head, I won’t drop everything to traipse around the world while you figure things out. It’s a dumb plan.”
He drew in a deep breath and tried to reason with her. “DOD intelligence indicates Riad al-Hussein is in Dubai.”
She blinked. “The man who wants to kill your entire unit? You think he’s in the city, and you flew across the world so he could finish the job? Really, Karl—”
“You’re the target. We killed his brother. He doesn’t want us dead—he wants us to watch our families die.”
“I’m not really your family anymore.”
He met her gaze. “You are to me. You always will be.”
*
Concern clawed at her. Brennan tried to resist the pathetic impulse, given their estrangement, but Karl’s safety rocketed to the top of her priorities list. “All you’ve accomplished by showing up is endangering yourself. If some jackass wants to kill me, I’ll handle it—I have handled it.”
For the first time since his arrival, she stared at him straight in the face. Their marriage over in all but name, she shouldn’t give a whit about how exhausted he
Dan, who’d been watching the tableau with an annoying grin until a few seconds before, tapped her shoulder. “Brennan, sweetheart, since you put me in charge of your security as of yesterday, would you mind if I asked Captain America some questions?”
The man ran serious risk of getting his teeth knocked out. The risk increased when she responded with a sheepish smile. “I apologize for the ruckus. Karl can be a bit melodramatic. I’ll go make myself a drink while you boys talk.”
As she sashayed off, Karl growled, “Stay out of this. It’s way out of your league.”
Dan’s toothpaste-commercial-worthy grin worsened his mood. “You have no idea what my league is. Either way, you can’t drag her kicking and screaming from the building. Safe Harbor happens to have a large number of trained security personnel in the vicinity, due in large part to yesterday’s attack and my conversation with our mutual friend Sam. Why don’t you drop the tough guy attitude and work with me.”
“If you talked to Sam, then you realize what she’s up against. Tell Bree—Brennan, to take me seriously. She needs to move her pretty little butt—”
“I’m right here, you know.”
His conversation partner rolled his eyes. “Really, dude, you’re not helping our case. I’m having a hard enough time getting her to cooperate as it is.”
“Umm…Guys…Not deaf.”
Ignoring her, Dan continued. “Under these circumstances, I’m more qualified to protect her than you. I’ve read your file jacket, the WikiLeaks version anyway. You’re trained to kill. Keeping people alive is not one of your skill sets. To make matters worse, the target is Brennan. You lack emotional distance.”
“From what I see, you’re not detached from her either.”
“But she’s not my wife. She trusts me, and the same can’t be said of you.”
He didn’t like it, but the man had a point. He’d broken too many promises, and she no longer believed anything he had to say. In her shoes, he wouldn’t either. During the four years they technically cohabited, he’d never spent more than a week with her in a single stretch. Hell, he’d somehow managed to miss every Christmas, anniversary, and birthday. They’d never fought, not once did she rage or raise her voice at him. But each time he came back, she asked less, expected less. And then she was gone.
“The threat is real,” he murmured to his wife’s back. “Ignoring me won’t make it go away.”
With slow, measured movements, she added a slice of lime to her glass and topped it off with sparkling water. Spinning around, she stared at him and sipped. “I talked to Sam too. I think both of you are reaching with this theory, but, whether or not your leaked mission painted a bulls-eye on my head, I won’t drop everything to traipse around the world while you figure things out. It’s a dumb plan.”
He drew in a deep breath and tried to reason with her. “DOD intelligence indicates Riad al-Hussein is in Dubai.”
She blinked. “The man who wants to kill your entire unit? You think he’s in the city, and you flew across the world so he could finish the job? Really, Karl—”
“You’re the target. We killed his brother. He doesn’t want us dead—he wants us to watch our families die.”
“I’m not really your family anymore.”
He met her gaze. “You are to me. You always will be.”
*
Concern clawed at her. Brennan tried to resist the pathetic impulse, given their estrangement, but Karl’s safety rocketed to the top of her priorities list. “All you’ve accomplished by showing up is endangering yourself. If some jackass wants to kill me, I’ll handle it—I have handled it.”
For the first time since his arrival, she stared at him straight in the face. Their marriage over in all but name, she shouldn’t give a whit about how exhausted he
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