23. Chapter 23

23

" O ur flight time to Chicago is eight hours and thirty-five minutes. Refreshments will be served shortly. Please sit back, relax, and enjoy your flight."

Great, eight hours.

Ilaria closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep, trying to ignore the six-foot-one danger sign sitting next to her. If only she wasn't so damn aware of him. It didn't help that his strong thigh was inching into her space and his muscular arm took over the entire armrest.

She had said goodbye to the rest of the MacGregors this morning, promising that she wouldn't wait so long to visit again. Galen had told her to stay safe. Niema still had questions in her eyes, glancing back and forth between Ilaria and Soren, which Ilaria couldn't answer; didn't know how to answer. She could only promise to text her later. Caelum gave her a tight squeeze and Arick pretended to give her a noogie on the head.

Ilaria mentally kicked herself for the dozenth time. Idiot. This time, she couldn't blame him. She knowingly chose this. She willingly let herself fall for the smooth lines, the brooding sexiness.

Fortunately, she had come to her senses and stopped herself. But not soon enough, not before she had another taste of him that was better than she had remembered.

She clearly had no self control and no sense of self-preservation when it came to Soren. And now he was going to be in her town, working with her. Being near her. She couldn't avoid him even if she tried.

Soren shifted in his seat, and her awareness immediately jumped to him. She peeked out from under her lashes and noted that he had stretched his long legs out in front of him, crossing at the ankles. She admired how his jeans wrapped around his thighs.

Ilaria squeezed her eyes shut. There could be no casual fling with this man. She acknowledged now that her feelings for him had been years in the making, and a fling would only result in her getting hurt. Even this flip-flop game he was playing—he wasn't attracted to her, then he was—would get her hurt.

She felt a hand settle lightly on her knee and jumped, opening her eyes. "Do you want anything to drink, love?" Soren murmured into her ear.

She scowled at his hand on her knee. "Just water, thanks," she said to the flight attendant.

His hand was still on her knee. She shifted away from him, crossing her legs, and he retrieved his hand again. She angled her body away from him and closed her eyes.

Ilaria heard Soren say something in a low voice and then Rowan's reply. Rowan and Elowine sat across the aisle from them. Two more of Soren's guards, Murray and Wallace, had also come along on the trip.

She wanted to ask Soren about Galen's security while Soren was in Chicago with her. But that would have required talking to him.

Ilaria's senses crackled. "I know you're not asleep," he whispered into her ear. "Do you want to talk about what happened last night?"

Her eyes popped open, and she frowned at him. "Here?" she whispered furiously. "You want to talk about it here?"

Soren shrugged. "Why not? We have eight hours to kill."

"Okay, then." She leaned toward him. "It was a mistake. I shouldn't have let it happen. It won't happen again." She leaned back in her seat. "There. Good talk."

A smile played on his full lips. He leaned into her. "Why was it a mistake?" he asked in a low voice.

"Are you daft?" She raised her brows. "You don't remember what happened the last time?"

"I remember." His head was bent low, near enough she could smell the clean scent of his shampoo. "Maybe I was wrong."

Maybe? She wanted to scream, but that wouldn't have gone over well on a crowded flight. "Well, it sounds to me you don't know what you want, and I'm not interested in being collateral damage while you decide."

Soren gazed at her appraisingly. He looked as if he was trying to form the right words. "I know you want me to explain what happened two years ago, but I can't." A frustrated expression passed over his face. "All I know is, touching you feels right. That's what I want. And I know that's what you want."

The heat in his eyes burned into her, imprinted her. She felt a shiver roll through her whole body. Damn him and his words that pierced her soul.

"It's not quite that simple," she replied. "What I want is to stay out of your drama spin cycle." She crossed her arms.

"For now," he promised. Then he leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek.

This was going to be a long flight.

***

"We're here."

Ilaria had weaved the rented SUV through late afternoon Chicago traffic and arrived at a two-story house with white shingles in a neighborhood just outside of the city.

With a white picket fence, small front and backyard, and three bedrooms, it would be considered a comfortable and cozy home for the average family.

But the Carosis kept it as a safe house for emergency purposes. In the basement was six months worth of shelf-stable food and a large safe that stored money and a large arsenal of weapons.

As far as Ilaria knew, her family had never had to evacuate there. But with Soren in town, it would be suitable enough to house him and his soldiers while they were in Chicago.

Ilaria handed Soren the double set of keys. "I'll make extra sets tomorrow."

He unlocked the doors and had his guards clear the house before he would let her in. Ilaria rolled her eyes but said nothing.

After the house was declared safe for entry, Soren and Ilaria went inside while Rowan and Elowine scanned the exterior.

"It's a pretty typical house," Ilaria said as she walked Soren through the first floor. "Living room, dining room, kitchen. There are three bedrooms upstairs, sleeps seven including the sofa pullout." She walked through the medium-sized kitchen. "The wireless password is written on the notepad here. And here—" She pressed a button hidden under the counter and a panel in the wall slid open, revealing a metal door with a combination. "—is the basement. "

Soren nodded, no surprise evident on his face. Hidden doors and basements came with the business.

"Memorize this." She gave him the combination verbally, then opened the door and walked through. "When you close this door behind you, the wall panel moves back into place."

Ilaria led him down the stairs where four large monitors, set up on a wide desk, displayed footage from the cameras located outside the house. "Closed circuit, on its own power system. I can bring this up on my phone, too."

On a shelf along the back wall was food: canned, dehydrated, and other self-stable items. A large tank of drinking water took up the corner.

"In case we run into an apocalypse," she said, only half joking. Her family was in the business of being prepared for any situation, no matter how unlikely.

"Of course," Soren replied.

She walked to the six-foot-tall safe. "Memorize this combination too." She rattled it off and then opened the safe. It was packed with money, guns, and ammunition.

Soren nodded approvingly. "This will be handy," he remarked.

"Feel free to poke around on your own time," Ilaria said. "Now let's go back to my condo so you know where it is." She made her way back up the stairs to the kitchen.

"About that," Soren began. "I still think you should stay here." She opened her mouth to object. "No one's around," he added before she could say anything. "No one would see us together."

"No," she said firmly. She locked the door to the basement, and the panel slid back into place on the wall. "To keep up pretenses, I need to appear to resume my normal life." Now it was his turn to open his mouth to object. "You agreed, Soren."

He looked at her, slightly impatient. "I only agreed on the caveat that you'll be safe. So let's go see your condo, and if I don't like the setup, then all bets are off."

Ilaria clucked her tongue in frustration. Why did she agree to this again? Every time Soren told her what to do, she regretted caving in. She got back in the driver's seat of the rental car, and everyone else also piled in. Murray and Wallace would be setting up surveillance outside Ilaria's condo building.

The condo was only ten minutes from the safe house. He shouldn't find any issues with that, she thought. Before she pulled into the parking garage, Murray and Wallace got out so they could familiarize themselves with the exterior of the building. Elowine and Rowan separately scanned the lobby for ease of break-ins while Soren and Ilaria rode the elevator up to her floor.

At Ilaria's door, to her irritation, Soren wouldn't let her go inside until he had swept through the place.

"You know, if someone really wanted to get to me, there would probably be nothing you or I could do to stop them," she said.

"Is that a joke?" he asked. "You wouldn't think it'd be funny if you were dead."

"I'd be dead, so I wouldn't think much of anything."

Soren stopped inspecting the door to the balcony and gave her a frown.

"I'm spending my time here, away from my family, to protect you," he lectured. "The least you could do is take this seriously and be a little grateful."

"Sheesh, I'm grateful, alright?" she sighed. She wanted him to leave so she could relax and not get paranoid about all the different ways someone could kill her.

Ilaria retrieved the extra set of condo keys hanging in the hall closet and handed them to him.

"Where else do you go on a regular basis?" he asked. "I'll need keys for those too."

She regarded him. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were stalking me." He glowered, and she held her hands up. "Okay! No more jokes. I'll get keys for the office on my parents' property tomorrow."

"Now give me a list of all the places you go on a regular basis. And names and phone numbers of your friends."

Ilaria's brows went up in disbelief.

He looked at her with impatience. "If you want to stay here on your own, where I can't keep an eye on you, then I need people to call and places to go if I don't hear from you. Make sense?"

Muttering under her breath, she yanked a blank sheet of paper out of her notebook and found a pen. She wrote down every place she visited regularly, including the office, the coffee shop, and the gym. Even the smoothie place she visited once a week. She also wrote Noe's and Emmy's phone numbers and their address.

She shoved the paper over to him. "There, happy? Now you know every facet of my life."

Soren caught the paper smoothly, scanned it, then folded it and slipped it into his pocket. He came around the kitchen island to stand in front of her and tipped her chin up with a finger. "When this is all over, you'll get your life back." His eyes held promises, and she couldn't help but hand him a tiny bit more of her trust. At least with her life, she was open to trusting him. Not so much with her heart.

An idea popped into her head. "Do you, uh, want to meet Noe and Emmy?" Even as the words came out of her mouth, she wondered if this was a bad idea. "They live in the building. If they're home, I can ask them to come up."

He surveyed her for a few beats, as if wondering what her offer to meet her best friends meant. "Yes, I'd like to meet them."

Ilaria quickly typed out a text message in the group chat. Almost immediately, the reply of confirmation came back. "They're coming up."

Soren nodded and wandered off to a nearby window to check for security issues.

Within a minute, the doorbell rang. Ilaria opened the door and found herself sandwiched in between her best friends, their arms wrapped tightly around her. She suddenly felt weepy.

"We missed you," Emmy whispered into her hair.

"So much," Noe added.

"Me too," Ilaria sniffled.

Then she remembered Soren and disentangled them all. She cleared her throat. "Soren, this is Emmy and Noe."

Soren, to his credit, set aside the surly expression he saved just for her and shook hands with her friends. She had told him nothing about them, so his expression was guarded when he saw Noe, who was beautiful in most people's opinions.

"I see you looking at me with some suspicion," Noe said, never one to beat around a bush. "Let me just lay this out here into the open. I like men, and I have a boyfriend. Ilaria's one of my best friends, and I will kill anyone who hurts her."

Ilaria couldn't help but burst out laughing, and she squeezed Noe around the shoulders.

"Noted," Soren said dryly. But his face relaxed a little after that.

For Emmy, who was beautiful by everyone's standards, Soren reserved a charming grin. "Emmy, nice to meet you." Emmy looked surprised and smiled tentatively, while she glanced quickly at Ilaria.

Guess Soren is capable of charm. Just not for me.

"Nice accent," Noe said appreciatively.

Just so no one thought this was a social visit, Ilaria clapped her hands together. "Soren wanted to meet you guys in case I go missing and he needs to talk to you."

Emmy looked alarmed. "I thought you left the danger in Scotland. Are you in danger here too?" A worried frown appeared on Noe's face.

"I'll fill you guys in later," Ilaria muttered under her breath.

"Nothing will happen to Ilaria," Soren said calmly as if he was stating a fact. "I just wanted to be able to reach both of you since you're her friends." He looked at Emmy and Noe. "But there's no need to worry."

Her best friends' faces relaxed. If she were in their shoes, hearing Soren's reassurance with his steadfast confidence, she'd have absolute trust in him, too.

"Okay, well, if you have everything you need, Soren, have a good night," she said pointedly.

He tilted his head. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

Noe and Emmy watched, wide-eyed.

"Yes," she declared. "Yes, I am." She walked toward the front door.

"Guess I'm leaving then." He nodded at Noe and Emmy. "Nice meeting you."

Ilaria was holding the door open, ready to shoo him out.

Soren stopped in front of her. "Wallace and Murray are downstairs. Tomorrow, post two of your men here anytime you're home."

"Got it."

"Text me before you go to bed, and again when you wake up," he commanded. "Every morning and night. Including tonight."

She sighed. "Fine." She started to close the door.

"Lock the door behind me."

"Good night!" Exasperation.

Before Ilaria could shut the door on his heels, he turned. Their eyes met for several beats. She felt her heartbeat drum in her ears, heat flashing in her lower belly. Gray eyes darkened to slate.

She cleared her throat and involuntarily stepped back.

Soren leaned into her ear without touching her. "Soon," he rasped, and then walked out into the hallway.

Ilaria quickly shut the door and turned the deadbolt. Trying to catch her breath, she went back into the kitchen.

Emmy and Noe watched her, at a loss for words. Then they both spoke at the same time.

"Oh my God, that's Soren? He's yummy!"

"Damn, that look was hot. No wonder you can't get him out of your mind."

Noe fanned himself. "Girl, the pictures you showed us did not do him justice."

"He's a little scary, isn't he?" Emmy mused. Ilaria knew what she meant. Soren's whole aura spelled danger.

"Yep, that's him." Ilaria sat on a bar stool and put her head in her hands. "What am I going to do?"

"You have it bad," Noe said sympathetically, "and now I know why." He took three wine glasses out of the cabinet.

Ilaria covered her face with her hands. "We kissed again. Last night."

The wine glasses clattered on the surface of the countertop. Then a beat of silence. Ilaria peeked through her fingers at her friends. They both had gleeful faces.

"Oh, wow," Emmy said. "How was it?"

"Amazing. Hot." Ilaria groaned. Emmy rubbed her back.

"I bet that man can kiss," Noe declared as he poured a red wine into a glass and plopped it down in front of Ilaria. "Tell us again why you're trying to stay away from him?"

"Because after the first time, he laughed in my face and said he'd had better." Saying it out loud made it hurt all over again. She took a big sip and shook her head. It was time to get over this. She wanted more than anything to be able to remember what happened without feeling anything.

Emmy frowned. "What's with the one-eighty?" She sipped from her glass.

"I don't know, but it can't keep happening," she said firmly. "He's here to help me root out my parents' killer and then he'll go back to Scotland."

Noe had brought up his glass to his lips and then removed it. "Uh, wait, say that again?"

"We think that someone here in Chicago may be behind what happened to my parents," Ilaria explained. "Soren insisted on coming back with me. He's…keeping a low profile." She stayed light on the details, not wanting to worry them.

Emmy gaped at her. "Maybe Soren should stay here with you."

Ilaria rolled her eyes. "That's what he keeps insisting, but he can't keep a low profile if he's seen with me everywhere." She reached for their hands. "I'll be fine, I promise. I'll have my guards with me. And I'm checking in with Soren every day."

"Can't believe I'm saying this," Noe said, "but I'm glad he's here."

Emmy nodded in full agreement.

Ilaria didn't say it aloud, but part of her agreed.

***

Ilaria turned off the light and climbed into bed, sighing at the softness and comfort of being back in her own bed. Noe and Emmy had stayed to eat Thai takeout with her, and then she took the longest shower she had ever taken.

Damn, she forgot to text Soren. For a brief moment she considered not texting him at all. But she quickly dismissed that idea, as the man would probably show up here and knock down her door instead.

Ilaria: Still alive. Going to bed.

Soren: Okay.

She wasn't sure what she expected in response, but it was definitely more than just "Okay." She shook her head, pushed Soren from her mind, and fell asleep.