Hannah glanced at her phone as she walked into her office, quickly skimming through the dozen messages she’d received in the past five minutes.
She’d given strict instructions that the team were to check in with her at regular intervals. For security reasons, they weren’t allowed to leave the responsibility up to their partner. It had to be a call or message from their own phone or watch.
In fairness, she couldn’t fault her guys. No sooner had she landed back in the UK than her phone started buzzing with messages, each team member showing their personality in their message.
“Your boys all checked in?” She felt Danny’s arms snake around her shoulders as they walked, and she smiled up at him.
“Yup, they’re all good.” She confirmed.
“I thought the return flight was quite good, too.” He grinned down at her. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
Hannah stopped and stared up at him.
“Quite good?” She mimicked. “Hold up there, buddy! We just renewed our membership of the mile-high club, through unusually turbulent conditions, and you’re being uncharacteristically modest, saying that it was just ‘quite good’? Who are you, and what have you done with my husband?”
Danny wrapped her up in his strong arms and pressed her against the wall.
“I’m right here, sweetheart, same old Danny.” He leaned down and grazed his lips across hers, sending sparks shooting through her lower regions as he always did. “I simply didn’t want to brag about it just in case you thought that the turbulence was to blame for me rocking your world again.”
Hannah chuckled, sliding her fingers over his chest and up around his neck.
“Baby, I think I can tell the difference between a Danny-induced multiple orgasm, and a bit of dodgy air-pressure.” She reached up on tiptoes to kiss the corner of his mouth. “Besides, there’s not a force nine gale or a category five hurricane that can rock my world anywhere close to the way you do it.”
Danny’s smile was as wide as she’d seen it for a long time, melting Hannah’s heart for the millionth time. How weird was it that a big, strong, confident man like Danny Simons still needed that tiny bit of reassurance that he was the centre of her universe?
Didn’t he realise he was her whole world, and so much more?
“How did I ever get so lucky as to snag a guy like you, hmm?” She grinned.
“A drop-dead gorgeous sex-God, do you mean?” He laughed.
“A drop-dead gorgeous sex-God, with a body made for sin, a heart of pure gold, and a mind that still keeps challenging me, every damn day.” She corrected him. “As well as the best husband and father on the planet, in my humble opinion.”
She could see the mist appear in Danny’s eyes.
“Honey, if I’m the best, it’s because that’s what you bring out in me.” His arms tightened around her. “You deserve nothing but the best, and I know there’s a queue of potential suitors a mile long, still waiting for me to fuck-up. That makes me work as hard as I can, every day, to be everything you deserve. I’m not giving up the number one spot for anything.”
“There’ll never be anyone who can compete with you, Danny.” Hannah’s smile faded as she realised he was serious. “You’re it for me, baby. Every good thing in my life is because of you. I’ll never forget that, and I’ll never take it for granted.”
Danny stared down at her with so much love, Hannah wished they were somewhere private, so they could finish the conversation with actions not words.
“Do you reckon Tuck would let us borrow his jet for the week?” Danny wondered, his eyes shining. “Maybe your mom could have the kids, and we could just fly around the world a couple of times, non-stop? Maybe have sex every two thousand miles? My dick would probably drop off by the time we landed, and you’d probably have friction burns, but it would be so worth it.”
And Danny was back!
“I’m sure they’d both be fine with that.” She smiled. “But talking about the kids, can we get this meeting over with, so we can go home to them? Lily needs a new costume for her school play, and I promised I’d have it finished by tomorrow.”
“Look at you…!” Danny exclaimed. “Re-routing satellites, organising multiple agency assault teams, and now you’re telling me you can sew? Is there no end to your talents? Nothing you can’t do?”
“She can’t give us a progress report if she’s standing in her own office, when we’re still waiting for her in here!” David Roan’s voice interrupted them from JT’s doorway. “Unless she plans on yelling, maybe?”
Hannah chuckled, grabbing Danny’s hand, and leading him down the corridor. She was aware that he and JT had exchanged a few unpleasant words this week, so now was a good time to get them all back on an even keel.
“Patience is a virtue, gentlemen. Although, from the sounds of things, it’s not one that either of you possess.” Hannah grinned as she walked past David and flopped onto JT’s sofa. “So, waddayawanna know?”
“Erm, everything?” JT shrugged. “Did the plane arrive on time, were they met at the airport, have they set off yet? That kind of thing.”
Hannah chuckled.
“Yes, the plane arrived on time. Yes, they were met at the airport, and yes, they’re already on the road.” She grinned. “Anything else?”
“How about you tell us everything else that’s happened in the last twelve hours before we call it a day?” David suggested, obviously trying to demonstrate that he did indeed possess a small supply of patience.
Danny grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the refrigerator and handed her one.
“Ok, well, in addition to the aforementioned arrival, all of the guys have messaged in to say they’re Ok.” She pulled out her phone. “Kellen’s message reads; “HRH, arrived at summer camp. All the kids playing nicely so far, but still early days. Hope the return flight was good. K.”
“HRH?” JT frowned.
“Her Royal Highness, the Queen of Badass. That’s what the guys have started calling me.” Hannah grinned. “It’s kinda my new nickname.”
“Fitting.” Danny nodded, smiling broadly.
“Hollywood’s message was; “HRH, thanks for reminding me to pack the sunscreen. It’s effing hot here.” Hannah laughed.
David snorted a laugh.
“I guess most of us were so focussed on the operation, we didn’t give much thought to the basics, like sunburn.” He admitted.
“Yeah, well, obviously some of us thought about shit like that.” Hannah smiled. “Yuri, Kris and Logan just sent standard ‘wish you were here’ type messages, but Evan’s was good; “Don’t like it here. Too hot, no sheep and the food tastes like shit. Can I come home, please?”
“Is there some cryptic message in there?” JT frowned again.
“Yeah.” Hannah nodded. “He’s saying that it’s slightly warm, and either there’s no sheep to remind him of home, or nobody around to have sex with. I’m not sure, and it could be either, knowing Evan’s sense of humour. Oh, and he’s not enjoying the food. Highly cryptic, obviously.”
“Ok, Evan’s sheep-shagging jokes aside, is there anything else to report, or are we done for the day?” David smiled.
“Well, I’ve had two separate messages today from my contacts.” Hannah confirmed. “The first is from the official contact. Nikita, maybe? Anyway, she’s confirming that our guys have arrived and that they’re suitable.”
“What do they mean by ‘suitable’?” Danny asked.
“I’m guessing that as they’re supposed to be acting as security, the fact that they’re all big and look like they can handle themselves in a bad situation is probably the only qualification they need.”
“And the other contact? Who’s that from?” JT asked.
“The other one is from our informant, letting me know of the team’s arrival.” Hannah confirmed. “Although, they make it sound as though the news isn’t so good, as they think the guys are going to be a problem and will hinder any attempt to rescue the women.”
“Your informant doesn’t know that Hollywood and the team are the good guys yet?” David asked.
“I don’t want that information getting out until the last minute.” Hannah confirmed. “As we don’t know who the informant is, it would be very risky. We don’t know how stable or trustworthy they are. They could even be setting a trap.”
“So, they don’t know that our guys are the good guys, and we don’t know who of Ilya’s entourage is helping us?” Danny checked. “Shit, this could turn into a clusterfuck of epic proportions.”
“It could, but it won’t.” Hannah insisted. “I have every intention of insisting that they come clean about their identity before I let them know about the guys. If they genuinely want our help, they’ll have to tell us who they are.”
“And when is that likely to be?” David asked. “Do we have any idea when we’re going to make our move?”
“That’s the bit that’s up in the air at the moment.” Hannah explained. “There are quite a few routes they could take, or combinations of routes, and at the moment we don’t know which ones Ilya will pick. I’ve got contacts in Interpol on standby, as once we know which route they’re taking, we’ll have to plan out which of our allies can offer the most appropriate support.”
“We’re not anticipating anything happening quickly?” JT queried.
“We have a few optimum sites, but even the closest of them won’t come into play until later in the week. However, if Ilya picks a brand-new route, then it will be back to the drawing board.” Hannah shrugged. “It’s what Danny calls ‘playing it by ear’.”
“Then I suggest we head home and catch up on some sleep.” Danny grabbed Hannah’s hand as he stood up. “Nothing’s going to be achieved by hanging around here after closing time.”
“I guess not.” Hannah allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. “I’ve got all the communications equipment set up at home, so if they need to, they can contact me at any time. The guys in the IT hub are also monitoring things, so if there’s anything going on, they’ll get in touch.”
JT and David stood up as well, looking like they were ready to call it a night.
“Hannah?” JT stopped her before she left his office. “Thanks for all your hard work putting this together. It really is appreciated.”
Hannah could feel a lump forming in her throat.
She nodded her acknowledgement and grabbed Danny’s hand as they walked out into the corridor.
She’d wait until the operation was successful before accepting a pat on the back. And right now, they were a long way from home and dry.