Page 90 of Delta Force Defender

If he wasn’t mistaken, she looked annoyed. With him.

As if he’d taken too long when she’d deliberately—

Not the time, he snapped at himself, rolling to his feet and instinctively going into a fighting stance.

“I knew it,” the man bellowed.

He scrabbled backward, heaving himself back against the lobby wall to help him find his feet the way tough guys who relied on their size but not any skill often did. Caradine dived forward to crawl away from him, but hehauled her toward him with what looked like a painful grip on one ankle.

Isaac took aim.

And had to wait while Caradine fought. And while the man with his hands on her wrestled her around into a choke hold.

Isaac was tense and ready and looking forjust enoughspace to blow his freaking head off—

Then the idiot made it even worse by sticking his gun to her temple.

Not gently.

There was a pause full of labored breathing, mostly coming from the dirtbag.

“Hey, Isaac,” Caradine said mildly, though her blue eyes gleamed with a cold, hard fury, and she was panting a little, too.

They were in a stalemate for the moment, so Isaac let his gaze track over her. He didn’t like what he saw. Marks on her face. A swollen mouth. And if he wasn’t mistaken, bruising around her neck.

All of which he intended to make this animal pay for.

“This is my brother Jimmy,” she continued, and then made a choking sound when the man tightened his grip. And ground the muzzle of his gun against her head.

“You’re going to want to tell your buddy back there to drop his gun,” Jimmy growled.

Isaac studied the man before him. He was unrecognizable as Jimmy Sheeran, having clearly undergone intensive plastic surgery to hide his identity. But he still looked like a Grade A scumbag.

He didn’t bother glancing around to see who Jimmy was referring to. He knew Jonas had his gun pointed directly at the threat, on the extreme off chance Isaac missed.

“I don’t control him,” Isaac said. “You can always try.”

Behind him, he could feel Jonas’s deadly intent and stone-cold focus. He personally found it intimidating and he was used to it. Being on the receiving end of that glare often ended situations like this before they got going.

“Don’t bother,” Jonas said with a certain quiet ferocity. “I’m not in the habit of taking orders from men who rough up women.”

Isaac enjoyed watching Jimmy’s expression change. He cherished the dawning realization on Jimmy’s part that Isaac and Jonas weren’t the typical Boston lowlifes this man was likely used to dealing with. It might have made him smile if there weren’t a gun at Caradine’s head.

“You can point your guns all you want,” Jimmy said after a moment, his gaze darker and flatter than before. “But my sister and I are walking out of here. You try to stop me? I’ll shoot her.”

“He’s going to shoot me anyway,” Caradine said with a blandness Isaac would have found amusing if it had been someone else. Anyone else. “And if I’m honest, I’d prefer he shoot me here. I’m not really jonesing for all the hurt he promised to deliver my way once we leave.”

Jimmy laughed. It was an unpleasant sound. “You stupid, stupid bitch.”

Isaac hissed out a breath. “Keep tightening that arm around her neck, Jimmy, and I’ll return the favor. And rip your head off.”

“One car waiting outside,” Blue reported on the comm unit. “Driver neutralized.”

Templeton sighed. “Babysitting continuing to be boring.”

“Initiate phase two,” Isaac replied.

Then he shifted his attention back to the deadly family drama unfolding in front of him.

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