The butler appeared with an orange juice for her and two plates of pancakes. Jared’s fingers flexed around the mug, and he remained mum. A twinge in her stomach said he was holding back. He tapped a finger on the lip of the cup, drumming through the steam. He was holding back. Big time.

“Jared?”

He put the coffee down and cracked his knuckles, one at a time. “You think this is your fight, Sugar.” His cadence was slow, thought out. The tone was patriarchal.

“It is.” Her speculation was right on. Something was up. The worst seemed likely. Her stomach twisting, she nodded him on, willing him to understand what she needed. Maybe not all of the fight was hers, but she definitely owned a good portion of it.

“You’ll hate me, and that’s fine. I don’t care. GSI’s out of your league. At least when they’re rappelling elevator shafts. You and Kip, one-on-one, I’d bet on you. You’re smart, know your weapons. But you versus all of them—I’d rather have you somewhere safe.”

What? Not a chance. “Jared—”

“No discussion.” He took a long sip from his mug. “Until this hotel is clear, you stay within my eyesight. The boys will line up whoever they find, interrogate them, and we can leave. I’d guess mid-morning.”

“Leave? Like go home.”

“Yeah, you know a different definition, baby cakes?”

“We can’t just leave.”

“Why the hell not?” He put his mug down, pinched his brow, then dug into his pancakes while still straddling the backward-facing chair.

“I’m not leaving Asal.”

The fork stopped midway to his mouth. His head dropped forward. She had no doubt that he’d forgotten about the girl. Well, to hell with him.

He took his bite and chewed like he was gnawing on cement. “Sugar, what do you expect me to do with her? You pulled her out of a bad situation. Feel good about that. She’d have died on the mountain. Now let the UN gal do her thing. Put Asal in a safe home.”

“You mean orphanage?” she spat, slapping her hand on the table. The silverware rattled. The tiny flicker of her appetite was long gone.

He took another bite, then another. “I don’t know what you want from me. What did you think you could do, just hang out with her in this hotel for the rest of your lives? Shit.”

She shrugged. The future seemed far away. She hadn’t thought about what she wanted—or what Asal needed. Her thoughts were running faster than she could keep up. “Well, no. Not a hotel necessarily…”

“Wait. What?” Jared dropped his fork. The clatter echoed like the chaos in her life. Loud and obnoxious. “Where did you think you and Asal might hang out?”

“I don’t know. I hadn’t thought about it until right now.”

“And now you’re thinking… what, Sugar?”