She let out a harsh laugh. “Please, don’t get me started. You’re trying to get me to chill out. Discussing Babs will only amp me more.”
“Babs is no longer a topic of conversation,” he swiftly, decisively said. “And your mother is in the Maldives, we’ve established.”
“So, naturally, I’m wondering why the fuck I didn’t book that flight instead of the one to New York.”
She instantly grasped her faux pas and winced.
Glancing his way, she added, “No offense.”
“Only slightly taken,” he murmured.
“Damen—”
“I understand what you’re saying, Nik. It’s not about me or us… It’s about the terrorists that are following us.”
“And the bug in my computer.”
“Which,” he delicately reminded her, “would be in your computer no matter where you went. So regardless of your travel plans, I would have been sitting in the seat next to you were you headed to snowy weather or tropical beaches.”
“Right. Of course. Agent Garcia really did make it impossible for us to avoid seeing each other again.”
“Disappointed?” he more quietly, privately asked.
He knew she’d comprehend he wasn’t talking about all the espionage and danger they were caught up in. He was speaking strictly about them. About the fact that, had Garcia not made that particular move with Nikki’s laptop, they would have went their separate ways. And Damen would be too wrapped up in his investigation to have time to track Nikki down—in the Maldives, New York or in Switzerland.
She gazed at him for several suspended seconds, making his gut clench.
Then one corner of her glossy mouth twitched. She said, “No. But—”
“Everybody, hold on!” Colin suddenly interjected in a terse voice. “We’re either making a severe detour into the river or we’re about to have a head-on collision.”
Nikki and Damen’s gazes tore apart and they both stared out the windshield.
Damen braced an arm across her chest.
Nikki screamed.
And Colin said, “This one’s gonna leave a mark…”
31
“Oh, my fucking God!” Nikki cried in horror. “The river or hellacious wreckage?”
“It’ll be okay,” Damen asserted, pressing her against the back of the seat with his massive arm.
“The laptop!” she suddenly blurted.
“No water!” he instantly called out to Colin.
“Jesus Christ, Damen!” Colin shot back, abandoning all formality, which was only a jest between him and Damen, anyway. “Head-on collision it is, then.”
Damen continued to brace himself and Nikki. But said to Colin, “Careful.”
“I know what I’m doing. Fantasy European Formula One race car driver, remember?”
Damen would have grinned. But the tension gripped him fiercely. Mostly, over Nikki’s safety, but also because Colin was going to take the brunt of this crash.
Damen had the laptop bag tucked between him and the door, and he twined the strap around his free hand to ensure it wasn’t going anywhere upon impact.