With her head held high, she walked out.
* * *
Liam started to go after her, then realized he needed to pay the check first. He frantically signaled for the waiter, and curtly asked for the check when he arrived. He peeled off a couple of bills, saying, “No change.” Then he headed for the exit Cate had taken, and rushed into the hotel lobby.
He was too late. The elevator was already on its way up, and Liam hoped like hell Cate was on it. That she was heading for their suite. And that his stupidity hadn’t put her in danger. He cursed himself under his breath as he stabbed at the elevator button, waiting impatiently until the bell dinged and the doors opened.
As the elevator ascended to the eleventh floor, he tried to think of the best way to apologize. He’d put his foot in his mouth. No, both feet, he told himself with brutal honesty. Cate had every right to be angry, and he didn’t blame her. He’d be angry at himself, too, if the situation was reversed. His only excuse was that he cared about her. Too much. And that he was jealous of what she felt for Alec. But Cate was absolutely correct—she’d never said or done anything that gave him the right to criticize her actions. To condemn what she felt for Alec. To act as if she belonged to him.
Shame crawled under his collar as he exited the elevator and headed for their suite, only to be brought up short at the sight of Cate standing by their door, her face a mask that revealed nothing. “I don’t have a key,” she said when he got closer.
“I’m sorry. Not about the key, but for what I said downstairs. I was out of line, and I know it.” The apology made him feel a little better.
But Cate didn’t acknowledge his apology, and that made him feel even more of a heel than he’d felt before. She waited for him to insert the keycard and open the door for her, then slipped past him without a word. She went into her bedroom and closed the door. Firmly. Then he heard the unmistakable click of the lock.
He sighed and bolted the door to their suite before heading to his own bedroom. Great going, Jones, he told himself as he got ready for bed and brushed his teeth. You’re a prince of a guy, you know that?
He placed his SIG SAUER on the nightstand, hesitated, then picked up the cell phone the agency had given him and dialed a number. “Hey,” he said when his brother-in-law answered the phone. “It’s Liam.”
“You and Cate made it in safely, I take it?”
“Yeah. No trouble with our flight.”
“SUV okay?”
“What? Oh yeah, it’s fine,” he reassured Cody. The SUV the agency had delivered was just like the one the agency had supplied before. Not new. Nothing that would draw attention. Though he’d known the minute he’d stepped on the gas that under the hood—where it counted—the SUV was top quality. But he wasn’t thinking about that.
“So tell me about Callahan,” he demanded now.
“What’s to tell? Didn’t D’Arcy fill you in?”
“Yes and no.” Liam wasn’t really sure what he was asking, except that tomorrow he’d turn Cate over to a stranger for safekeeping. And despite what he’d told her this morning—that he trusted Nick D’Arcy’s judgment—he wanted to know a little more about Callahan before he did that.
Cody seemed to read between the lines. “Callahan’s the best,” he said quietly. “He saved my life a few years back, when he had every reason to hate my guts. Officially he’s the sheriff of Black Rock now—a position I held way back when—but he’s also done some jobs for D’Arcy and the agency. All hush-hush. If I told you I’d have to kill you,” Cody joked, forcing a laugh out of Liam. “Seriously, though, I’d trust him with my life. Even more, I’d trust him with Keira’s life.”
Liam knew the sun rose and set with his sister as far as Cody was concerned, so that statement said a lot. He breathed deeply and let go of the tension that had dug its tentacles into him. Cate would be safe with Callahan. That was the bottom line. He needed to know she’d be safe.
“After you turn Cate over to Callahan, why don’t you come down and spend a few days with us? We’ve got the room, and you know you’re always welcome. Seems a shame not to, since you’re already in the area, and technically you’re on vacation. Your mom would like to see you, I know. Not to mention Keira and Alyssa.”
Despite feeling a little more reassured about Callahan, Liam wasn’t ready to commit to anything. He’d promised Cate he wouldn’t leave her until he knew she was safe, and he had no intention of going back on his word.
But that’s not the only reason you don’t want to leave her, his conscience taunted him. You don’t want to leave her because you’re fall—