placed. As though the wound was meant to confuse and frighten her, nothing more. Make her vulnerable and easy to capture.
The low-level explosion in her living room had been more for effect and noise than anything else. Each move had been designed for one purpose, to corral her. To weaken and disorient her.
As Noah drove to their destination, Jordan let his fingers play with the curls that cascaded over the arm wrapped around her shoulders.
He’d managed to get a painkiller in her by lying and telling her it was an antibiotic. The dosage had been more than enough to knock her out and force her to rest during the drive. There wasn’t a chance in hell she would have taken it otherwise. Tehya detested taking pills for any reason. Even the brutal headaches she often suffered were simply dealt with rather than drugging up, as she called it.
She would be madder than hell once she awoke, though. The last time he had slipped a painkiller into her, she had suffered from a brutal headache that lasted more than a week. That last day he’d gone to her suite to check on her and found her nearly incoherent with pain. At that point he had simply had enough.
But she had awakened without a headache. She’d been mad enough to throw a glass at his head, but she had been refreshed and clear-eyed rather than weeping in pain. It was a choice he made easily. Especially this time. What he saw in her eyes made him insane. He had to find a way to force her to rest.
Force her to close those haunted emerald eyes and ease the pain that filled them. Force the ragged, uneven breaths that were holding back sobs to even out.
She was breaking his heart.
From the moment those wide eyes had met his as they realized someone was attempting to gain entrance into the house, they had shattered with the knowledge that her security was being stolen.
Knowing she had been found, knowing someone was following her, wasn’t nearly as destructive to her as the attack on her home. What they had done to her tonight, Jordan could easily kill over. The men who had violated her home had damaged it so severely, that they might have irreparably damaged the roots she had finally found the courage to put down.
“We’re ten minutes out,” Noah said quietly. “Nik is texting Kell Krieger.”
Jordan gave a brief nod. “I want to get her to the Four Seasons. We can’t layover at the senator’s place. The risk to Kell’s family is too high.”
“We haven’t been followed,” Micah protested irately. “Damn, has Tehya’s lack of confidence in me, fucking affected you too, Commander?” There was no heat in his voice, but there was definitely irritation.
“Would you bet Risa and your children’s lives on it?” Jordan asked him. “Would you take us into your home if you had any other choice?”
Jordan stared into the rearview mirror, watching the former agent’s expression. He knew Micah’s training, and he knew they weren’t being followed. That didn’t mean they couldn’t be tracked.
Micah grimaced. “Four Seasons,” he stated.
“I thought you’d see it my way.” Jordan nodded. “Our only contact with Kell or Senator Stanton will be no more, no less, than required as a close acquaintance and business associate unless we have no other choice. Our first contact will be made at the party tomorrow night.”
“Mikayla has Tehya’s wardrobe nearly completed. She was able to use the sizes from the weekend attire she made for her just before we disbanded.” Nik was proud of his wife, a successful dressmaker whose name was increasingly being shared among the elite as “unique” and a “must-have” when it came to their social attire. Fortunately, with the additional seamstresses she’d hired, she was able to get the dresses Tehya would require completed quickly.
Jordan gave a short nod as he forced himself not to hold Tehya too close. He wanted to pull her close enough that she melded with his flesh. That he could heal her pain simply by wishing it done. Damn, he couldn’t bear what he knew tonight had done to her.
“Stanton and Krieger are going to require updates as well as mission planning,” Noah said quietly. “Arranging that could be difficult if we’re going on acquaintance only and using your real identity.”
Jordan gave a shake of his head. “We’ll invite them to lunch at the Four Seasons to discuss various business concerns Kell and I share. We can take care of