Ian was already taking pictures with his phone. It had been adapted for Ian’s own use. High resolution, super focus. Any picture Ian took was immediately forwarded to headquarters for a little turn through Adam’s facial recognition software. They would have the bugger’s name and life story within minutes.
Why the hell did he want to kick the blond bloke’s ass? Days of watching Avery Charles and going over and over her tragic story had made him protective. She’d been through a lot. And the young Liam, the Liam he’d been before he’d lost his brother, would have been all over her.
Still, it was a bad idea to get protective of a woman who just might be involved in international terrorism.
She sat down at one of the long tables, blond bastard following her. He curled his tall body into the seat across from her as she began talking animatedly. He reached out, cradling her hand in his, but she almost immediately pulled away, grabbing her coffee mug.
No sex there. No intimacy. She was awkward, unsure about his physical affection.
“He’s not the boyfriend.” Ian almost certainly saw what he saw. Ian was a master at reading body language. Likely because he was an actual Master. And that was why Liam wanted Ian to see her in person.
“What’s your take on her?” Liam asked.
Ian had been watching her for two hours, since she’d gotten off the Tube at Holborn. Liam had been following her path for days, and she took the same trains without fail. She left the offices at Charing Cross and bought a bottle of water. Switched from Bakerloo to the Picadilly Line and got off at Holborn. From there it should have been a quick walk up New Oxford to Bloomsbury and the museum, but Avery seemed to always find a way to stroll and look at whatever minutiae caught her eye. And she often had a camera. One day she’d spent twenty minutes taking pictures of tulips in street boxes.
It was maddening. Boring. Dull as dishwater. And he’d started to wonder if she was seeing a world he didn’t see.
Ian leaned back, taking out the museum map he’d bought and pretending to study it. “I think she’s intriguing. Given what I know about her background, I would have expected someone a little more broken than she appears to be.”
Yes. That was the problem. Most women who had lost what Avery had lost would bear the marks like scars. It would be there in their eyes, but Avery’s were a clear, crystal blue. “It has been ten years since the accident.”
“That kind of pain never goes away.” Ian’s lips formed a grim line, and his eyes closed momentarily. When he opened them again, his face was a careful blank. “She lost her husband and her baby in an accident. She nearly lost the use of her legs. It might have been ten years since the accident, but I assure you, she feels it every day. Or maybe not. Maybe she’s not capable of love. I’ve met people who weren’t.”
“She works for a charity,” Liam pointed out. He didn’t like the cold way Ian was talking. Ian hadn’t been the one watching her day in and day out. Ian hadn’t been the one to see how she stopped and talked to people on the street and how she’d helped a lost kid. She’d hugged him and held his hand while everyone else just walked on by as though it wasn’t their problem.
Ian shrugged. “I worked for a vegetarian restaurant once while I was undercover. Didn’t mean I didn’t find animals awfully tasty. She’s getting a good paycheck from Molina. He’s paying for her apartment. Are you sure she’s not fucking him?”
“She goes home every night and she goes alone. Unless she’s fucking him at the office, I sincerely doubt it.” She wasn’t the type. Was she?
“I just find it odd that Molina could afford anyone and he picks her.” Ian folded his map. “Come on. Until we’re ready to send someone in, we need to keep our distance. Let’s get back to the club. Eve should be in town by now. Her flight was coming in this morning. And I want to see if Adam figured out who the blond guy is.”
Ian started to walk away. It was like the big bastard to think Liam would just follow along. But he did, because they needed to clear something up. Liam kept his mouth shut as they walked out the Russell Street entrance and into the light of day.
“What do you mean ‘someone,’ Ian?”
Ian never broke stride. “’Some’ as in being an undetermined or unspecified one. ‘One’ as in determining the specified some.”
Bastard. “You’re talking like you haven’t decided who’s going in after the girl.”
“Adam and Jake are doing the neighbor thing.”
“Yeah, and that’s not going to get us anywhere. She’s not going to invite her neighbors to come to lunch at her office or to sleep at her place.”
“Adam and Jake are pretty damn good at breaking in.” Ian turned toward the Tube station. “Ask Serena. She’d love to tell you that story. We’re lucky they married her and she didn’t sue the holy fuck out of us. Seriously, it’s one of the only good things that came out of that op. They got a collar around her throat and a ring on her finger. Presto, lawsuit disappears. And people say BDSM isn’t good for a man.”