“Because I saw your name splashed across the news as having been car-bombed by a fucking RPG,” Hancock growled. “If they were taking such good care of you, then why the hell were you ever in that position to begin with?”

“Not to interrupt an apparent reunion here,” Joe said dryly, “but can someone tell me what the fuck is going on here? How the hell do you know Hancock, Eden?”

She turned startled eyes on Joe. “The question is how do you know Guy? And why are you all treating him like the enemy?”

Hancock slid an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side, and brushed a kiss over her brow. Swanny had to swallow back the growl forming in his chest. He didn’t like what was going on here and he definitely didn’t want Hancock touching Eden.

And yet suddenly so much made sense. With a startling moment of insight, Swanny recalled her asking if Hancock had talked to her father or brothers, as though it was an absolutely normal event to have occurred. It would certainly make Eddie’s reaction make sense, and explain why he hadn’t gone off the rails and caught the first flight to Paris.

Because Eddie knew Hancock was on his way.

“It’s all right, cupcake. Let’s just say that me and KGI go way back and have a somewhat tumultuous relationship.”

“That’s an understatement,” Nathan muttered under his breath.

“Come and sit. All of you,” Eden said in a firm voice. “I’ve had enough information withheld from me and it’s not going to continue. I want to know what’s going on here.”

“You aren’t the only one,” Swanny said pointedly.

Hancock followed Eden into the sitting area, Swanny and his team close behind.

As soon as Hancock was seated next to Eden, his hand engulfing hers in a reassuring manner, he pinned Swanny and his team with his steely gaze.

“What the hell is going on, and I want it all. I don’t give a shit what your orders are or if this is some classified crap. I want to know exactly what the situation is here.”

“I only just learned of it myself,” Eden murmured. “Swanny told me, thank God. My father and brothers kept me in the dark. They didn’t want me to know.”

Tears welled in her eyes, and it was all Swanny could do not to forcibly remove Hancock from Eden’s side and pull her into his arms to give her comfort. But at the moment, there was the very real issue of there being a connection between Hancock and Eden that Swanny didn’t understand. It was obvious that Hancock had feelings for her. The question was in what capacity?

They obviously hadn’t ever had a sexual relationship because she’d been a virgin when Swanny made love to her. But she’d mentioned an obvious connection to her father and brothers as well. There were a dozen questions buzzing in his head because nothing made sense right now.

“You found out about your mother,” Hancock said in a low voice.

Eden’s eyes widened, going even glossier with a sheen of tears. “You knew? Am I the only person who didn’t know?”

Hancock squeezed her hand. “I would have been here much sooner, but I was in deep cover and didn’t get your father’s calls until I saw the news and then checked my messages and spoke to Eddie. I’m sorry, cupcake. I should have been here to protect you. You have to know I’d never allow anyone to hurt you.”

She sniffled back the tears that threatened and gave him a watery smile. “I know, Guy. And please, don’t feel badly. As I said, Swanny and his team have been taking very good care of me. I have two more days of shooting and they’ve made provisions for my safety. It all ends with a launch party after the wrap-up of production, and then I’ll be done with this job and can go back home and be safe.”

Swanny flinched at how casually Eden spoke of going home and being safe. He damn sure wasn’t ready to let her go, but neither did he want her in danger for a second longer than necessary. Hell of a note when the only way he got to be with her was if she was in danger. He wanted to mean something to her. Something more than a protector, a temporary bodyguard, whom she would forget when it was all over with.

Hancock looked at Swanny, obviously picking up on the fact that though Nathan and Joe were the team leaders, Swanny was lead on this mission.

“Give me the rundown,” Hancock said, his expression now hard and focused.

Swanny glanced at his teammates, wondering just how much he should relate to a man who was nebulous at best, though he had come through twice and had saved Maren, Steele’s wife, by taking a bullet for her, not to mention getting her out of a messy situation and back into KGI’s hands and protection.

“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.