Ignited (Titanium Security Series) (5 page)
She held up her hands in self defense. “Okay, I realize I must seem pretty rude by questioning you like this, but I promise I’m not doing it to insult you. I’m sure you’re aware of what happened to my father here a few weeks ago.”
Better than she’d ever realize. “I’m sorry for your loss. But I wasn’t on his protective detail—our company wasn’t even involved—so I can’t be held accountable for what happened to him.”
“Yes, thank you, and I never meant to imply that you were.” She took a breath, let it out slowly and glanced away before continuing. “I don’t know if you’re aware of what happened, but… The head of my father’s security team claimed he was a SEAL and it turned out he wasn’t, not even close. The truth is he washed out of BUD/S after three weeks. The company he worked for lied about him, his background, and pretty much everything else, including the rest of the men on the team. It turned out they were a bunch of friends who wanted to cash in on the westerners hiring security contractors over here. No one found out about it until…after.” She swallowed.
Well, shit. Hunter frowned, his annoyance evaporating. Tom hadn’t said a word about any of that. No wonder she’d felt the need to question him. Guys lied about being SEALs all the time, mostly to pick up women, but he’d never heard of one of them making it through the rigorous background checks necessary to land a job as a contractor. Which meant the owner of the company John Patterson had hired was a slimy piece of shit too. “I’m sorry. That should never have happened.”
She waved his words away. “Despite how that sounds, my father was a very intelligent man. The security company was recommended to him by someone he met here in Pakistan. Someone he trusted. But they had to have known the company wasn’t legit. I think they may have been in on it, hoping to get their hands on some of the initial ransom demanded when my father was kidnapped.” She rubbed a hand over the back of her neck, visibly distressed.
For some reason Hunter found he didn’t like seeing her upset. “Is anyone investigating that?”
“Yes. So when you said you’d been a SEAL, it made me suspicious. I’m sure a lot of guys in your line of work claim to be SEALs when they’re not, and I’m not exactly comfortable putting my life into a stranger’s hands after what happened to my father. Sorry if I offended you. That wasn’t my intention, and I apologize.”
Okay, so maybe she was likeable after all.
He inclined his head in acceptance of the apology because he could totally understand why she’d reacted the way she had. And he didn’t appreciate Tom failing to mention the incident with the asshole SEAL wannabe when he’d asked Hunter for this favor. But for now he needed to reassure her that he was the real deal.
“Tom was one of my chiefs when I was in the Teams,” he told her. “We worked together and he can vouch for me personally. Titanium’s background checks are extensive, like all the other security companies checks are supposed to be. They go back ten years, digging through our pasts, service records, living records. Every company I’ve ever worked for has checked me out with my former officers, guys I’ve served with, my neighbors, even my high school teachers.
“These companies often work for the government, so they thoroughly vet all of us because we need certain security clearances to do our jobs. Right now on this detail you’ve got me, a former Special Forces master sergeant, a former Marine Scout/Sniper, and an ex Force Recon member. That’s a hell of a lot of experience and firepower at your back, which hopefully we won’t wind up using. And we’re all legit, or Tom would never have hired us in the first place.”
“Okay.” Her smile wasn’t all that convincing.
They needed to move past this roadblock, fast. “What more can I do to put you at ease about this?”
Her expression tightened at his brusque tone, a hint of anger sparking in her eyes for the first time. “Look, I said I was sorry, and I am. I truly didn’t mean to insult you or your service record. I just wanted to be sure you were telling me the truth.”
“Understood, and I gave it to you, along with ways to check up on me if you want.” He had no doubt she’d do so the moment she got back up to her room, and more power to her. “Whatever misgivings you have about me, rest assured I’m more than qualified to keep you alive for the next six days. I’ve conducted dozens of high risk missions, most of those as a SEAL platoon team leader, and I’ve never lost a Principal yet. I’ll get you into that mountain village where the school is, and at the end of the week I’ll put you safely on the plane back to the States. That’s all you really need to know about me.”
He swore she hid a flinch at his curt words. “Okay.” At least her nod was decisive this time, as if she was starting to come around to the idea of him leading the detail. “So being that we’re going to be spending a lot of time together over the next few days…can we maybe erase this conversation and start over?” The right corner of her mouth tilted up, her eyes holding a hopeful look as she offered a hand and raised her eyebrows. “Truce?”
Well, damned if that verbal olive branch didn’t instantly take the edge off his bad mood. “Yeah, truce.” He clasped her hand again, noting how cold her soft skin was. Despite the brave face, she was a hell of a lot more nervous about being here than she let on. Hunter filed that info away for later. He’d do what he could to make her feel secure for the rest of her stay in Pakistan.
Ignoring the slight tingle her touch had ignited in his palm, he released her and stepped back. She was a job, for chrissake, not a potential lay. “Your first meeting’s tomorrow afternoon, correct?”
“That’s right.”
At least she seemed pleased that he’d already memorized part of her itinerary. “You got the rest of your schedule ready for me?”
“It’s up in my room.”
“I’ll come up and get it in the morning.” That would give her enough time to unwind and call Tom, give him a turn in the hot seat if she wanted to go over Hunter’s background before they saw each other again.
As if she’d read his mind, a spark of chagrined humor lit her eyes. “I don’t need to call him. I believe you.”
“You’ll feel better if you talk to him.” They both would. And anything that made her feel more confident in his abilities would make his job easier, so her talking to Tom was a win-win.
Her lips twitched in a tiny grin, and it made her look impish. Like a voluptuous pixie with that riot of dark curls cascading down the back of her neck. In her heels the top of her head barely reached his chin. And while that pink dress wasn’t revealing in any way, the way it hinted at her curves made it disturbingly sexier by the moment. “You’re right, it will. But it’s not because I think you’re lying, okay?”
It seemed important to her that he believe that. He nodded once. “Fair enough.”
“Want me to tell him you said hello?”
“Yeah, do that.” Because God knew, Hunter had plenty to say to his boss the next time they spoke.
“Okay, see you in the morning then. Nine o’clock?”
He nodded and watched Khalia cross the lobby toward the elevators, head up, spine straight, her high heels tapping against the marble floor. It didn’t escape his attention that every other man in the room noticed her too.
Shaking his head, Hunter turned and headed back to the others waiting at the lounge’s seating area, wondering what the fuck he’d gotten himself into.
The knock on her hotel room door came at exactly nine the next morning. Hunter was punctual, that was for sure. She liked that he cared about attention to detail.
Khalia strode over to answer the door, took a deep breath to quell the butterflies flitting around in her stomach before pulling it open. She and Hunter hadn’t gotten off on the best footing yesterday, and it was her fault. He probably thought she was a total bitch and hated the thought of being near her for the next week. She was determined to make amends for any damage she’d caused and smooth things over.
She pulled the door open. Hunter stood there with his hair still damp from a recent shower and wearing cargo pants and a collared shirt. “Hi.”
“Morning.” His intent gaze swept over her, taking in the modest knee-length blue dress and black silk scarf she’d covered her hair and shoulders with. Though there was nothing overtly sexual in the perusal, she could sense the male approval there and a shocking burst of heat filled her lower abdomen. Surprised by her visceral reaction, she chided herself for it. This was not the time or place for that sort of attraction. Not that she planned to let him know she felt a pull toward him.
“Come on in.” She had the finalized printed itinerary laid out on the desk for him to look at. He waited for her to sit before turning the remaining chair around and straddling it, resting his defined forearms along the top of the backrest. A sexy, confident move that seemed as natural to him as breathing.
She didn’t see a wedding band on his left hand, but maybe he didn’t wear one while he was working. A secret part of her hoped he wasn’t spoken for. Ropey muscles flexed along his right forearm, dusted with dark hair, as he shifted the paper and scanned it for a few moments. The man had ridiculously sexy arms. What would it feel like to be wrapped up in that kind of strength? She’d bet a hug from him would feel amazing, though he didn’t strike her as the hugging type.
“I want to change where you’ve got us all staying in Saidu Sharif,” he said after a minute, still reading.
“Oh.” She craned her neck around to peer at the paper. “Something wrong with it?” Ray had booked the hotel for them.
“There are a few other places I know that’ll work better. Help us blend in a bit more while we’re in the tribal region.” He didn’t look up at her, his expression calm, his tone matter-of-fact.
Blending in sounded good. “Okay. Anything else? Do we have an interpreter yet?”
“I’ve got someone lined up already. We’ll pick him up on the way out of the city on Tuesday morning. Everything else looks good. For now, anyway.” He glanced up, and she was again startled by those light brown irises. She couldn’t help but stare. “Can I keep this?” When she nodded he folded it up and slipped it into the pocket of his khakis. “So, what did Tom have to say when you called him yesterday?”
She didn’t even bother trying to deny it. “Just that you were one of the best guys he’s ever worked with, and that I should go out of my way not to piss you off. I told him it was already too late and he said not to worry because I can work my way back into your good graces with a specific brand of beef jerky you love.”
His lips twitched, his eyes warming a few shades to a rich caramel. If he ever truly smiled, it would soften a lot of the harsh angles of his face and make him downright gorgeous. He was ruggedly good looking as it was—maybe it was better that he didn’t smile, otherwise she would have a hard time pretending she wasn’t wondering if that hard body felt as good as it looked.
“Don’t worry about it. We’re good. He should’ve told me about what happened with the contractors your dad hired. And he should have briefed you on our background checks and records beforehand anyway, especially under the circumstances.”
The circumstances being that her father had been held down while someone else slit his throat with a knife. On camera. She shoved the grief down before it could break free. “Well I’m definitely going to get you some jerky when this is all over. It’s the least I can do.”
“I won’t say no to that, but it’s not necessary.” He returned both sculpted arms to the top of the chair back and focused his attention on her with a slight tilt of his head. “Before we get started, there are some things you need to know about the way I operate.”
It was only fair that he have his say, especially after the way she’d practically cross-examined him yesterday. “Okay.”
He nodded once. “If I give an order, you follow it, immediately and with no questions asked.” His stark tone made it clear he wouldn’t tolerate anything else.
He probably thought she was going to be difficult, given his introduction to her. Nothing could be further from the truth. “That’s fair.”
“And if I’m not around and one of the other guys gives you an order, you do the same.”
No argument here.
“Got it.”