Her expression and her tone assured him that it better not be.
“I could hope.” But he doubted it.
“Keep hoping,” she suggested sarcastically before turning to her father. “And you can stop patronizing me anytime now. This isn’t one of your attempts to acquire a son-in-law. If I’m really in danger then you can tell me what the hell is going on. Because I won’t cooperate another second without it.”
Thirteen
EMILY WALKED AWAY FROM THE meeting with her father, Kell, and the admiral with a sense of unreality. For years she had done her best to maintain her relationship with her father in a way that would ease his mind.
She had pushed back her own needs, tried to confine them, continually telling herself that eventually, one day soon, he would see her as an adult rather than a child. That he would realize that the training he had given her as a teenager gave her an edge against his fears. That the self-defense training she had kept up had only sharpened those earlier skills.
She had let him have the illusion of protecting her while she hid her own needs and tried to still the hunger for them with the brief escapades that drove her bodyguards insane.
She had made a mistake. She saw that as she listened to her father and the man she called Uncle Sam explain what had been going on without her knowledge.
The extent of the threat from Fuentes, the danger she was in now that she was in D.C.
And he hadn’t intended to tell her. As she listened, asking questions here and there, and watched each man’s expression, she felt a sense of grief well up inside her.
This was how little her father knew or understood her. He had wanted to protect her. He didn’t want to worry her. He would have preferred she went into this blind and trusted the team brought in for security to make certain she wasn’t harmed.
She glanced at Kell, watching as he sat lazily in the chair he had taken, his green eyes never leaving her face. As though he were analyzing something, taking everything in to go over later.
He sat with his elbow on the arm of the chair, his finger brushing over his bottom lip thoughtfully. It was sensual, distracting. And she had a feeling it was deliberate.
“Kell will get all the particulars of the party tonight from his commanding officer,” her father finished, his gaze probing as he watched her.
“Then he better intend to include me in the meeting,” she informed him.
“Emily, this isn’t necessary, honey. I’ll take care of everything.” That soothing “daddy” tone was back. She wasn’t playing the game this time.
“I’m sure you will take care of everything.” She nodded as she rose to her feet and glanced back at the admiral and Kell as they rose as well. “But I’ll help you a little bit this time.” She smiled tightly. “Please inform Commander Chavez that I’m to be apprised of what’s going on, and when it’s going on. Until then, I need to let Fay know if you will be in for dinner with the rest of us.”
His gaze narrowed on her. “I’m not one of your students, Emily Paige,” he informed her broodingly as he rose from his seat as well. “Don’t talk to me like one.”
“Neither am I, Dad,” she said with careful composure. “And I’m tired of being treated like a child anyway. It stops here. And it stops now.”
She watched his eyes darken, watched the pain that filled them a second before he turned from her. It pierced her heart. For a moment, she was five again, seeing that look in his eyes seconds before he had to tell her her mother was gone, and his tears followed.
“We can discuss that later,” he said roughly, clearing his throat before he turned to Kell again. “I’ll be returning to the hotel in about an hour. Chavez, McIntyre, and Macey should be completing the security measures they are putting in place out back and through the rest of the house soon. They’ll be leaving with me, but I know your commander wanted to talk to you before he left.”
Kell nodded sharply, his gaze leaving her for only the second that was required.
“When you attend that meeting, you’ll make certain I’m with you of course,” she said with brittle politeness.
“No. I won’t. I’ll make certain you receive all the information you need though.”
Emily felt the anger surging closer to the surface now, frustration and impotent fury combining as she drew in a deep, hard breath.
“That isn’t acceptable.”
“It will have to be.” His gaze was penetrating, watchful. “The commander won’t have time for your questions, but you can ask me once I relay the information to you. There’s no reason for you to be there and it will only cut into what little time I’ll have to get my information.”
She pressed her lips together tightly. He had already proved his willingness to allow her to know what was going on. He wouldn’t hide the information from her.
Breathing out harshly, she nodded in reply before turning to her father. “Before I head home, we’re going to talk.”
“I don’t like that tone, Emily.