Page 106 of The Bodyguard

Sawyer shook his head. As much as he hated hospitals, Angela wouldn’t wriggle her way out of a thorough checkup. “You have to get checked out. We’ll drive you.”

Her eyebrows arched. “But I only need someone with a little bit of medical knowledge.”

God, she was killing him. He took her hand and led her into the hall. Police hustled toward them. Brock appeared behind Sawyer, ideally ready to run interference if anyone tried to separate him from Angela.

It only took a moment for Brock to work his magic, and they were able to leave.

The team took positions around them. Sawyer kept Angela under his arm until they reached the lobby, which was filled with the prying eyes of unsuspecting onlookers who wanted to watch. Some people even held up cell phones and took videos as if the spectacle was made for their social media feeds.

“Hang tight.” Sawyer left Angela with Brock. Cash and Roman blocked the view from onlookers. Sawyer found the manager who was good for her word and willing to get Sawyer whatever he needed.

The manager had boxes stacked on luggage carts, and then, surrounded by bellhops and boxes, Angela was led to the back of the oversize SUV with blacked-out windows. Colby Winters was waiting behind the wheel.

Damn, Sawyer loved Titan, no matter what team or where they were. They always had one another’s backs.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

The overhead lights were too bright. The monitoring equipment was too loud. Angela couldn’t find a comfortable way to remain in her hospital bed, but no one would let her get up and leave. “This is overkill.”

“I heard you the first hundred times,” Sawyer said from the chair by the foot of her bed. “But doctor’s orders are doctor’s orders. You’re staying put for rest and observation.”

She might have believed that more if there weren’t two federal agents standing guard outside the door to her hospital room. On top of that, Sawyer’s threat assessment was on a hair trigger. Doctors and nurses had to convince him they were who they purported to be before he let them near her. She apologized for the hulking muscleheads on guard-dog duty, but the situation never became any less awkward. Two nurses and a doctor had asked her a series of domestic violence screening questions while side-eyeing him. Each time, she’d reassured them that Sawyer was the reason she was still alive and that if they watched the evening news, there would likely be an interesting headline or two about her.

“Why did you choose Titan instead of Witness Protection?” he asked once the hospital personnel were gone.

The question caught her off guard. The offer of the Witness Protection program felt like eons ago. “How do you know they asked?”

His shoulders bunched. “Why wouldn’t they?”

“Do you think my mother would be okay with that storyline hitting the press?” Angela scoffed but then softened and shook her head. “I say a lot of harsh things about her. But you know what? When I first saw her in Pham’s warehouse before Titan blew the roof off, I ran and hugged her.” If she were being honest, Angela wouldn’t have minded a hug fromthatversionof her mom,who had faced off against terrorists to save her daughter. But now the stakes and situation were different, and Angela didn’t want the questions and demands that came with inviting her mother into the same room for a conversation. “She is many things…”

“She is,” Sawyer finally agreed.

Angela sighed. “But she’s my mother above all. I don’t agree with her on much. Sometimes I don’t even like her. But I ran to her when her arms were open.” Angela offered a watery smile but laughed. “Still, Witness Protection wouldn’t have worked for her.”

“That’s one reason not to accept a new identity, I guess.”

“It wasn’t because of her. I said no because I didn’t want it. It didn’t matter what my mom wanted. I trusted Jared Westin more than anyone else. He could keep me safe and let me be me. Boss Man thought of everything. He was ten steps ahead in planning: I wouldn’t have to hide and lie. I wanted therapy. He introduced me to Ibrahim within the first few weeks after I arrived in Abu Dhabi. He arranged for you to keep me safe.”

“Lotta good I’ve done for you, sweetheart.”

Angela jerked toward him—and groaned at the aching twinge that the pain medicine hadn’t blocked—and continued, dead serious. “Twice someone tried to kill me, and twice you were the reason I’m still alive.”

He balked. “That’s twice too many times—and three times if you count the beach house.”

“I wasn’t in Witness Protection, and a twenty-four-hour protection detail wasn’t sustainable in the long term. I wanted a life. My life. I wouldn’t change who I was then, and I won’t now.”

The muscles in his jaw ticked.

A slight but straightforward knock sounded on her door. It was different from the knocking of the medical staff and law enforcement, and Angela’s stomach turned.

Her mother appeared. Had Angela just conjured her out of nowhere? “Mom? What are you doing here?”

Angela’s mother greeted Sawyer politely instead of answering. With far less courtesy, she then asked for him to leave the room.

“No.” Angela gestured to Sawyer that he was to remain by her side. “He stays.”

As always, her mother was ready for a press conference, with hair blown out and makeup in place. But there was a tiredness in her eyes that Angela hadn’t expected. “What’s wrong?”

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