Page 67

Lachlan gave a pained sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. “The note that accompanied it suggested I ask you about your former lover. Bloody hell, Ryder, what is your relationship with Nathalie?”
“We were together several years ago, at Oxford. It ended before I joined the army. We hadn’t seen or communicated with each other in the time since.” Ryder suppressed the urge to fidget beneath Lachlan’s piercing stare.
“You didn’t answer my question. What is the current status of your relationship?”
Ryder’s hackles rose. After last night, that was a question he couldn’t even begin to know how to answer. “Are you questioning my judgment?”
Lachlan’s brow arched. “No, you numpty. I’m trying to keep you from making the same mistake as Nathan. Look at me and tell me you have no emotional baggage, good or bad, remaining with this woman.”
The denial forming in Ryder’s throat wouldn’t come.
“That’s what I thought.” Lachlan’s expression tightened. “Caleb is on a plane to DC. As soon as he arrives, brief him on Ms. Williams’s case. He’ll take over her close protection.”
“No.” The word came out soft and measured, but there was no mistaking the finality in Ryder’s tone. “Caleb is a good man, and good at his job, but I won’t walk away from Nathalie until I know she’s safe.”
He hesitated. What he could offer Lachlan in return squeezed his lungs in an iron band of regret. “I’ll resign, effective immediately. Dìleas won’t be held liable for my actions.”
Lachlan’s fist thudded on his desk as a steady stream of insults in a mix of Scots, Gaelic, and English fell from his lips. He sprung from his chair to face the windows behind him, hands fisted on his hips. “Women are going to be the death of us all.”
A thread of relief loosened the band around Ryder’s chest. Lachlan hadn’t accepted his offer to resign outright. A good sign. “I wouldn’t let Sophia hear you say that.”
He didn’t want to leave behind what he and his friends had built at Dìleas, but if he had to choose between his job or Nathalie?
Nathalie won.
He didn’t want to think about the why. Chalk it up to old time’s sake, or that he was a sucker for a woman in distress. Anything but making the colossal mistake of falling for her all over again.
“Listen to me, Lachlan. The man who forced Ravi Chaudhary at gunpoint to give him access to Nathalie’s software lab last night was British. He took a shot at me.Me.Not Nathalie. It felt personal.”
Lachlan spun toward him. “He shot at you?”
Ryder waved away Lachlan’s concern. “I’m fine. I had on a vest. It was more to get my attention.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I think he knows me. He left a pair of black eyeglass frames in the lab.” His mouth twisted at the memory. “Nathalie mentioned they looked like ones Clark Kent would wear as a disguise. If the specs were left as a message for me…”
“He may be former British army,” Lachlan finished Ryder’s sentence. “Someone who knows about the nickname you picked up in the SAS. I’m going to have to call in some favors, but I’ll see if I can get a list of everyone we served with who’s been discharged in the past four years.” He dug into his trouser pocket and tossed Ryder the key fob to the Suburban. “Caleb still comes. He’ll stay in the background.” Lachlan’s emerald gaze narrowed in warning. “For now.”
“Thank you.” Ryder stood. He placed the BMW fob on the desk and turned to go.
“Ryder. We’re mates, and we always will be, but if you bollocks this up, I’ll accept that resignation.”
Ryder forced a swallow, his throat gone tight. He didn’t answer Lachlan, letting the door close with a hushed click behind him.
Chapter Fourteen
Nathaliestraightenedfromherhunched position over the computer workstation, her hands braced on her lower back as she stretched stiff muscles. “I think we’re ready. Everything checks out—the schematics, the modeling.” She scowled at her companion. “You shouldn’t be here, however. You just got out of the hospital.”
Ravi gave her a wan smile. Despite being discharged around noon, his color was ashy, and pain creased the corners of his eyes. “I needed to see for myself that we still have a working prototype.”
“I can handle it.” Nathalie placed a gentle hand on her senior software engineer’s shoulder. “Go home. Your wife is waiting in the lobby, and she did not look happy. I don’t blame her. You should be in bed.”
“I had to come.” Ravi’s lips pursed. His gaze darted from one side of the room to the other before he winced, rubbing his temple. “There’s something I didn’t tell you last night. Before I went to the hospital. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“Of course you weren’t,” she assured him. “You had a concussion.”
Now Ravi’s knee vibrated, taking up where his eyes left off. “That man.” His throat bobbed on a hard swallow. “He knows the design schematics he stole is missing coding.”