“Oh, I think you will.” Derek took Jenna’s hand in his, and the two left Hamilton’s office, passing his stunned assistant, Hamilton’s shouted threats following them down the hallway.
* * *
Jenna climbed into the limo,Derek sliding in beside her. She didn’t want to cry. She didn’t want to waste a single tear on her father, but her heart was in tatters. “He didn’t even ask me how I was. I told him I’d been injured, abducted, and threatened with rape, and all he could think about was himself.”
“I’m so sorry, angel.” Derek wrapped his good arm around her and drew her against him. “It’s okay to cry.”
“You never cry.” She’d never seen him in tears.
“I’m fucked up.”
That made Jenna laugh. “You arenotfucked up.”
“How about we get our stuff and check in at the Four Seasons? You’ve had enough of living in private military compounds, haven’t you?”
“I don’t mind. Isn’t the Four Seasons super expensive?”
“I can afford it. You’ve had a rough day. Let me do something to pamper you.”
Jenna sniffed, not caring where they stayed. “Okay.”
They went back to the Cobra building, packed their bags, and took the limo to the Four Seasons, Derek calling ahead on his cell phone to reserve a room. “Is the Royal Suite available?”
Royal suite?
Derek gave his credit card number over the phone. “Thanks.”
She stared at him. “Are you nuts?”
He seemed to consider her question. “Fucked up, but not nuts.”
“You’ve done enough for me, Derek. If not for you, I probably wouldn’t be here.”
“Let me spoil you—just a little.”
If he was trying to distract her, it was working. The Royal Suite had twice the square footage of her old condo with high-end Art Deco décor, a huge sunken tub, and every luxury a hotel could offer. They ate room service in the dining room, stood for a time on the balcony overlooking the city lights, made love on the king-sized bed, soaked in the enormous tub.
“Am I hurting you?” Jenna leaned back, rested her head carefully against the right side of his chest.
“No.” He kissed her temple. “How are you feeling?”
“There’s going to be a media storm, isn’t there?” It hadn’t dawned on her until she’d caught a glimpse of her ex-father holding a press conference on CNN that reporters would probably show up on her doorstep.
“I imagine so. We can provide security.”
“You’ve done enough for me—more than enough. You were fired, remember?”
“Yeah, but I don’t follow orders well. I won’t leave you alone with this.”
His words put a lump in her throat. “I don’t know where to go from here. I need to find a job somewhere, buy a home, get my stuff out of storage.”
“Do you know where you want to live?”
“Not in D.C.” She was done with this place.
“Why don’t you stay with me for a while? I’ve got a place in Denver not far from downtown. Until this shoulder heals, I won’t be going overseas. You can take your time, figure out exactly what you want to do, get back on your feet. I can show you around Colorado.”
“Are you serious? Won’t I be invading your man space?”