The next thing I’m aware of is a hand gently shaking me.
“Lila, we’re back,” Nick says.
“Good,” I say, pulling myself off of his shoulder.
“Hey, I just learned something about myself,” he tells me, grinning.
“What did you learn?”
“I can drive with a 17 year old sleeping on my shoulder.”
“That’s great, Nick.” I wipe my eyes. “But there’s goes my macho secret agent image.”
“Sweetie, if it makes you feel any better no one had you pegged as macho,” he shrugs.
“I’m very macho,” I protest. He laughs at me. “I am!”
“No, you’re not. You’re confused and scared and that pisses you off.”
“I am not scared,” I tell him, but I am.
“You’re grandfather sent assassins after you and blew up your house,” Nick reminds me. “It’s okay to be scared, Lila.”
“I’m not scared. Thanks for the ride,” I say sharply, getting out the car.
“Lila,” Nick says, taking hold of my wrist. “I’m scared too. I’m always scared because my life is always under threat. And it’s okay: it’s human nature.”
I smile at him and he smiles back as I walk into Shayne’s house.
“You okay?” Shayne asks, rushing into the hall. I nod and he pulls me into his arms. “He wants my necklace,” I tell him, holding the family heirloom up so he can see it.
“There’s a microdot in there.”
“How did you find that out?” he asks, looking surprised.
“Mr Thomas was looking at it, so I figured it was probably what my grandfather wanted.”
“Smart thinking,” he says approvingly, stroking a stray hair out of my face.
“And when he was looking at it at his house I told him I knew about the microdot and got a reaction.”
“See, I told you you’d make a good agent,” Luca says from the living room.
“Killer instincts,” Shayne adds.
“Thanks guys.” I smile over at Luca.
“You’re exhausted, let’s get you to bed,” Shayne says, scooping me into his arms again.
“Let me go,” I complain wearily.
“Never,” he whispers.
“Do you have to be so sappy?”
“Do you have to be so annoying?”
“Put me down,” I tell him.
“Not a chance.”
“I don’t want to go to sleep,” I grind out, struggling against his grip.
“You can be quite difficult when you want to be,” he grins.
“Let me go!” I say, holding back the tears.
“Are you crying?” Shayne stops dead in his tracks, putting me down so he can look at me properly.
“No!” I say quickly, rubbing my eyes.
“Why are you crying?” he asks warily.
“I want to go home,” I sob.
