“Tell him,” Eden said softly. “I trust him with my life. He deserves to know.”
“Just what is your relationship?” Swanny asked carefully, stalling before he got into the details with Hancock.
“Her family pretty much adopted me,” Hancock said, uncharacteristically breaking his habit of not revealing anything remotely personal. “I owe her father and mother a lot. Eden has always been like a sister to me. It’s because of them that I survived.”
This time Eden squeezed Hancock’s hand and smiled at him. Then she turned to Swanny. “He’s family.”
Swanny sighed and then related the story from start to end, including everything Eden’s father had told him. Eden steeled herself, her features locked in stone as she heard for the second time about the events that had unfolded over all these years and how it was affecting the present.
Hancock’s expression grew colder and colder, fury tightening his features.
“So you have the other teams tracking this son of a bitch?” Hancock demanded.
Swanny nodded. “Rio and Steele are both on the job. We hope to find and eliminate the source of the threat as quickly as possible.”
“Not soon enough, apparently,” Hancock said in an icy voice.
“Eden is our top priority,” Swanny said just as coldly.
Hancock suddenly rose, pulling Eden to stand beside him and engulfing her in another huge hug. “I’m going to run, cupcake. There’s apparently a lot I need to do. I’ll check back in with you in a few days.”
Shit. This was not a good sign. Hancock could well blow KGI’s mission all to hell. Swanny would have to warn Sam ASAP of the new development and of Hancock’s involvement in yet another of KGI’s missions. Sam was going to be pissed.
She hugged Hancock back, and he kissed her cheek and then strode out of the suite, not saying a word to Swanny or his team.
“Well,” Skylar said, breaking the awkward silence that had descended. “That was, um, interesting.”
Eden sat back down but checked her watch. “We need to leave soon. I don’t want to be late and cause more disruption to the filming. But I’d like to know exactly how you all know Guy. I’m completely confused.”
“We’ve bumped into him on a few missions,” Joe said. “Let’s just say our relationship is tenuous at best. We haven’t ever figured out exactly what his motives are, but he has helped us in the past as well as hindered us. We don’t know a whole hell of a lot about him. Our exposure to him has been brief at best. We kind of have a tacit agreement to stay out of each other’s way.”
Eden frowned. “So he does what y’all do?”
Swanny glanced quickly at Joe to silence him. If Eden considered him family but wasn’t aware of who and what Hancock was, he didn’t want to further disillusion her any more than she already had been.
“Hancock is a law unto himself,” Swanny said. “We aren’t sure ourselves exactly what he does, but I think it’s safe to say that it’s mostly classified and military.”
“Oh,” Eden said. “That makes sense. He did join the military. Followed in my father’s footsteps. It’s just that we rarely see him, so I figured whatever he did was top secret. He’s often gone for months at a time and I haven’t seen him in two years.”
Swanny wasn’t about to tell her why or give details as to Hancock’s activities or go into any further details about his role in the two KGI missions. There was simply no need, and she’d already been dealt enough shock. He wanted her as stress free as was possible given the circumstances, and more than that, he wanted her to have faith in him and his vow to protect her and keep her safe.
“We should go,” Joe announced. “The car is here. The new hotel has been secured and security measures implemented. You’ll be checked in under an alias and officially checked out of this hotel. With the new filming location, it’s our hope that we’ve laid the groundwork for it to appear as though you’ve left the country.”
Eden looked perplexed by Joe’s explanation.
“We had a double visibly leave the hotel and head to the airport, complete with paparazzi coverage. She’s currently on a plane to the U.S. under your name. The car that will be taking you to the studio is tinted so no one will be able to see inside, and we’re all cramming into one so it won’t look suspicious for a caravan to suddenly depart the premises.”
Eden’s eyes rounded. “You’ve thought of everything.”
“I hope to f**k so,” Swanny said. “We’re not taking any chances with your life, Eden. I won’t lie. I wish you were on a plane back home, but I also understand how important this is to you and your career.”
She touched his arm, her eyes warm, as she met his gaze. “Thank you, Swanny.”
“Okay, let’s roll,” Joe said, a hint of impatience in his voice. “Take your places and let’s get the hell out of here.”
CHAPTER 29
THE tension in the studio on the outskirts of Paris was thick, a tangible air that permeated every single person working. Except Eden. Swanny didn’t know how she did it, but she pulled it off with perfection. Smiling as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Playing to the camera. Saying her lines in a smoky, husky, sexy-as-hell voice that kept him hard for the better part of the day.
There was posted security around the entire perimeter, and Skylar and Nathan had taken position on the roof with their sniper rifles, doing constant recon and reporting to Joe every half hour.
Every single member of the filming crew, including the director, much to his displeasure, was thoroughly searched before being allowed in, and Swanny’s team had done a sweep of the entire studio much earlier that morning before returning to the hotel to bring Eden in.
Swanny, Joe and Edge were on the inside with Eden, standing just off the set and out of the camera range but close enough to cover her quickly if things went south. Swanny was the closest to her, purposely positioning himself in front of Edge and Joe so he could keep close watch over Eden.
Even the director was uncharacteristically silent. He was on edge, nervous and jumpy, and his mood quickly spread to his crew, who were every bit as agitated as he was.
It was clear they were scared shitless, but there was also admiration in the director’s eyes each time Eden pulled off a flawless performance and he called it a wrap.
Eventually her calm spread to the rest of the crew, and by the afternoon, the tension had dissipated and the mood was much more relaxed. No one jumped at the slightest noise any longer. It was as if she held them all in her thrall, and, well, he supposed she did just that. He knew he certainly wasn’t immune to her. She just had a way of putting those around her at ease, and yet Swanny knew just how scared and upset she was behind the calm facade.