Page 143 of Hunt Me, Daddy
A pause.
Her eyebrows lifted.
I said, “I will do my best.”
“Wrong answer.”
“It is the honest one. If there is an immediate physical threat against you, I will move first and explain after.”
Her jaw tightened.
“So will you,” I added.
That made her pause. Then she sighed. “Fine. Emergency exception. Narrowly defined.”
“Agreed.”
“I need Daniel’s file copied to my system and one physical copy kept somewhere that is not controlled only by your family.”
“Yes.”
“I need to be able to leave.”
“You can leave.”
She gave me a look.
I corrected myself. “You can leave with a protection plan.”
“That sounds like a committee with guns.”
“It is.”
“I hate it.”
“I know.”
“And I need you to stop saying I know every time I’m trying to be difficult.”
“No.”
She stared at me. Then, unexpectedly, she smiled.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll stay.”
Satisfaction moved through me, immediate and profound.
“Yes,” I said. “You will.”
Her eyes narrowed at once. “Do not be so satisfied with yourself.”
“No.”
“Ivan.”
“No,” I repeated, letting the warmth show because she had earned the truth of it. “I am.”
She pointed at me with the coffee mug. “You are unbearable.”
