“Don’t.”

One word, uttered in crisp, almost accent-less English when she immediately tried to go for the Escalade’s door handle.

“You will not like what happens next if you open that door.”

Okay, as far as threats go, that one was pretty benign. And the driver—he was actually pretty hot, with high cheek bones, almond shaped eyes, and a piercing stare that could’ve earn him a modeling contract. But there was something about him that froze Lilli in mid-action. A quiet stillness that set her senses on red alert and had them screaming that this man was lethal and not likely to go easy on her if she tried to escape.

With a forlorn look toward all the people streaming in and out of passenger loading at the hospital’s entrance, Lilli lowered her hand. Maybe if she kept him talking, he wouldn’t try to drive her off to a second location.

“So…um…how can I help you?” she asked, voice shaky.

“I am not sure,” he answered.

Then he said, “You are not Norio’s usual type of woman. In fact, you are nothing like the women he has dabbled with before this. I am trying to figure out what his intentions are with you.”

Lilli wasn’t exactly sure what to make of that comment.

“Has Norio told you anything about me?” he asked Lilli, his dark eyes still scanning her face.

Lilli’s first instinct was to tell the man the truth. That she had no idea who he was. That No hadn’t shared so much as a speck of non-revenge-related personal information with her since they reunited. That they didn’t have that kind of relationship this time around.

The man now sitting in Dallas’s driver’s seat had so much “you don’t want to fuck with me” coming off of him, it was hard for Lilli not to blurt out an instant answer to his questions, to tell him whatever he wanted to know.

Her second and much stronger instinct, however, was to say nothing at all. To stare back at him in a very un-Japanese way, letting him know she wasn’t the person to ask where information about No was concerned.

And almost casually, the man said, “I used to be his family’s hitman. It’s not a fact they widely advertise, but it is something you should be aware of right now…”

Now that threat was more than obvious to Lilli, and being a human, she couldn’t help but flinch. But still she said nothing. Clamping her lips over her fear rather than betraying No.

Oddly enough, her refusal to say anything seemed to amuse rather than enrage the thin man in the driver’s seat. “I once knew another woman who refused to talk to me, and now I walk with a limp.”

Another threat? A chastisement? It didn’t matter. Nothing would change her position on the matter. Lilli would never again relay information about No to anyone. She didn’t care how lethal this man might be.

“Ah sooooh…” he said, issuing the particularly Japanese exclamation with a small bow.

But then his head gave a sharp turn over his left shoulder, his eyes apparently catching sight of something Lilli couldn’t see. “It would seem our time is up, but please let Norio-chan know that though I am not in the habit of hurting women…I shall not hesitate to do so if I discover he came here to the States with plans that will not benefit my family.”

Okay…so the threat was no longer implicit. And her breath caught when he made a sudden movement in the front seat. But all he did was climb out of the car.

The driver’s door opened and slammed shut, and then Lilli watched the mystery man walk—no, limp—away. Apparently he hadn’t been lying about that, she thought to herself as she sat there breathing hard. For a moment, the only sound in the limo was that of her rapid breathing. Then her door suddenly opened.

“You okay? You okay?”

Lilli turned to make eye contact with a very worried Dallas and nodded.

“Good! Thank fuck! I can’t believe that guy made off with my car. I’m going after him...”

But she could have told Dallas not to bother. Because by the time she glanced back out the SUV’s front window, the mysterious stranger had already disappeared.