Delgano: The Intro - Page 102

“If you won’t hug me, then I have something for you.”

The only reason he turned was to confirm what he’d glimpsed out of the corner of his eye, and he felt himself slowly begin to split apart all over again.

It was the bear he gave Sayeda.

Sayeda had even made an outfit for it—a white scoop-necked T-shirt that had the word “Deiro” stitched in green, blue, and yellow thread across the front.

“She named him Deiro,” Hannah choked out. “It’s cute, right? I don’t know what it means, though.”

He reached for the bear and brought it to his nose. Every inch of it smelled like Sayeda. “I think she named him after ‘brigadeiro,’” he said, the words barely audible.

They shared a moment of silence.

Then Hannah’s face came into view. Black circles outlined her eyes, her face was puffy with an odd sheen, and one of her arms was in a sling. Scratches lined her cheek and jaw, and gauze on her stomach showed through her sleeveless white top.

“I hope we see each other again,” she said.

He shrugged, staring at the bear.

“Adrían, for what it’s worth, you were one of the best things to enter Sayeda’s life. Thank you for cherishing my cousin.”

She kissed his cheek.

Then, she started for the door.

“Hannah,” he called.

She turned.

“Do you know what she said? Right before you two left the villa, she tapped her chest and said something to me, but I didn’t see it. Do you know what it was?” He took another sniff of the bear. “Was it about Deiro?”

The right side of Hannah’s mouth curved upward. “No, it wasn’t about Deiro. It was, ‘Adrían, I love you.’”

Someone knocked on his room door.

When he opened it, Trevor’s brows shot up.

“You’re still here,” Trevor said. “Thought you would have skipped out on us. I would’ve missed you, but I would’ve understood.”

Adrían stepped out into the hallway, letting the door shut behind him. “I’m ready.”

Trevor eyed him.

Then, they headed out.

At the airport, they were directed to a private airstrip. While the idea of getting onto a non-commercial flight didn’t sit well with him after everything they’d gone through, when he saw who waited for them, some of his suspicions waned. It was the head of each of their country’s military defense units, except for Lee. The South Korean Defense Minister showed up for him, but none of them recognized the last suited man.

“We’ll be flying with you,” the Australian Minister of Defence said. “As a form of trust. After what happened with Dr. Bentley, we figured it was necessary to reestablish. We will also be escorted by stealth fighter aircraft courtesy of the United States Air Force.”

Adrían pointed to the unknown man. “Who is that?”

“He’s from France,” the Brazilian official answered. “You have a new asset on your team.”

The five of them turned, and a man walked toward them from the shadows, a cigarette dangling from his lips. He was probably the oldest of them all, though he had a well-built, stocky frame that made him look years younger.

Adrían glanced at Trevor, and they didn’t exchange any words, but he could tell it irked Trevor just as much that Hannah had already been replaced.

“Gentlemen…” The French Minister stepped forward, one hand outstretched. “This is Siriano Lavigne.”