Finn would not be happy, like breaking the guy’s arm unhappy, to see how tightly Alex pulled Sophie into his arms.
Sophie pulled away.
“What an added bonus to see your performance while visiting my Danni.”
Alex gave Lars a single nod before he wrapped his arm around Danni’s shoulder and held her against him. “It’s all Danni could talk about since she got your call last night. I hope you’ll let me entertain you ladies.”
“Thanks, Alex. I’m hoping to catch up with Danni. I haven’t seen her since my move to San Diego with Finn. Now that he’s deployed, I want to catch up with my dear friend. I hope you’ll understand.”
“Sure. As long as you don’t keep Danni away too long.”
Lars watched Danni’s face. She leaned against Alex and patted his chest. Was it wishful thinking that Lars thought her touch looked manufactured and not really intimate? She didn’t lean into Alex’s body, and her hand didn’t linger on his chest.
“Sophie, the Dom Perignon is chilling.” Alex took Sophie’s arm and directed her around the equipment down another hallway. “I remembered how much you like champagne.”
An emotion flashed in Danni’s eyes before she shut it down and glared back at Lars. Was she jealous of Alex’s obvious attention to Sophie? Not that he had any chance there, as Danni damn well knew. Sophie had been in love with Finn, and Finn with her, since they were kids.
Danni took off after Alex and Sophie.
“Wait up, Danni. I might get lost back here.”
Danni stopped and flipped her golden hair over her shoulder. “What are you up to, Lars?”
She waited with her hands on her hips in the ridiculously short skirt—her uniform to make men crazy.
“I’m not up to anything. I’m here to interview Nick’s friend’s younger brother for the company. And Reeves told me Sophie was coming down here, so I hitched a ride.” It was close enough to the truth. And hopefully, Sophie wouldn’t give him away.
He closed the distance between them. Her face was in the shadows, and he wanted to gauge her expressive eyes when he asked.
“But the important question is, why didn’t you say goodbye when you left me?” God, he phrased that wrong—sound needy much? “You didn’t give me the chance to thank you. I wanted to express my gratitude. Maybe take you out to dinner…”
“You don’t need to do anything.” Danni searched his face, her perfect nose scrunched up. “You jumped in front of a bullet to shield me. It was the least that I could do.”
Lars inched closer, wanting desperately to touch her. “You don’t owe me anything. I’ll always protect you, Danni. I hope you know that.”
He couldn’t stop the huskiness in his voice or the way his breath hitched at her proximity and her exotic scent.
He watched the gentle undulations of her graceful neck as she swallowed. “Thank you for the offer. I know you and your brothers are protectors, but I don’t plan to need your services again. The chances that terrorists will kidnap me again for my work are, statistically speaking, very low. But if the need arises, I’ll consider hiring Jenkins.”
As she walked away, she said over her shoulder, “And I hope that you’ll never get injured again.”
Her words were clear and final. He remained upright despite her lethal blow to his heart. Wasn’t this the reason he came to LA? To finally finish his obsession? Why did he always yearn for the impossible? A woman involved with another man who just happened to be a superstar rich dude. Was Danni just another challenge to him—a need to prove himself? He had been born having to prove himself worthy in the pecking order of the Jenkins brothers. And Danni was the ultimate win.
Lars hung back. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see Hardy touch Danni again. He couldn’t pretend at the moment that he didn’t want to rip the musician’s hands off. This trip was a mistake. Reeves had it all wrong about Danni and Hardy. His cell rang. It was Reeves, who had sent him on this wild-goose chase of protecting Danni.
“Yeah.” He wanted to bitch out Reeves for giving him false hope, but it would accomplish nothing except reveal how much he still cared. What would help would be to smash something or someone. Where was Sten when he needed his brother to work out his aggression? Maybe he’d fly to DC to spar with Sten once he made sure this business with the stalker was finished, and Danni was safe.
“I got the hit on the stalker T-shirt that Danni asked me to track yesterday,” Reeves said. “I know where it was printed. I was able to find the manufacturer who sells those T-shirts wholesale, and then I correlated the shops close to Alex’s location with those who offered custom design, and then I cross-referenced—”
“Great work.” It usually worked to acknowledge Reeves’s accomplishments as a way to interrupt his need to share every detail.
“You know, it’s starting to piss me off that none of you appreciate how I’m able to find a needle in a haystack. We’re talking about one lousy T-shirt in the city of LA.”
“Hey, man. We all know we couldn’t do our jobs without you. It’s just that we’re all used to actionable intel without all the details when we’re in the field. The CIA or the DIA aren’t usually willing to share how they get intel.”
“Okay…when you put it that way.” Reeves exhaled.
“Don’t give Danni the info until Sophie leaves tomorrow. It will be easier to track her movements without Sophie.”
“Yeah, and Finn would be seriously pissed if he thought you or I brought Sophie into any of this.”
“Exactly. I’ll need to start following Danni once she leaves the hotel tomorrow.”
“I have a tracker on her phone.”
“What the hell, Reeves? That is creepy shit. Danni would castrate you if she knew.”
“She knows. After Jordan, Sophie, and Danni were kidnapped, they all agreed with the safety net. It was a compromise. Their father wanted Jordan and Sophie to have a tracking device planted intradermally. I thought it might come down to bloodshed. The sisters refused, and Danni backed them up. They’re fearsome when they unite against their father, one of the most powerful men on the planet. Dean finally gave up, admitting that his fear over the kidnapping had left him paranoid.”
“I had no idea. And Danni was part of this?”
“Danni was never considered for the intradermal implant. Just Jordan and Sophie because of their risk of being kidnapped for ransom as Richard Dean’s daughters. After the kidnapping, Danni was traumatized and agreed also to have her phone tracked. I think she didn’t object since she and I are such close friends.”
“Well, this makes my assignment to track her easier for tomorrow’s adventure.”
“Of course, I’ve made some cool changes to the function… But you don’t want to hear about it because you’re too busy to listen.”
“Everything okay, man?”
“I’m fine. But there is”—Reeves paused—“something else.”
“Go ahead.”
“The T-shirt and Sports Emporium is in Santee Alley.”
“Where all the Mexican drug cartels launder their money?” Lars’s fist tightened on his phone.