He would also have the results of the background check. I wasn’t worried about that, though. I didn’t have any secrets and I was willing to bet everything I owned that Isla didn’t either. At least nothing to do with terrorist groups or enemies of King Erik. I hadn’t put out any feelers for Isla professionally because I hadn’t thought she would come back to me this soon, so now I’d have to play catch-up if I wanted her to be with me through this exciting new phase of my life.
“You look conflicted,” she said, carefully watching my face.
“Because I am. Because I want to tell you everything, but you have to make this decision based on me. On us. What we have together. Knowing that I’m going to need your emotional support the next year or two more than I’ve ever needed anyone or anything. That’s the only way this works. I know it sounds selfish, but I promise you, once we get past the hard stuff, I’ll support you in whatever you need to do professionally. Even if we have to be apart for short amounts of time.”
She swallowed and nodded. “What if I was ready to answer now?”
I shook my head. “Take tomorrow. You’ll be traveling anyway, so take some time to really think about it. Think about me being gone for months at a time and you in a strange, albeit friendly, place.”
She gave me a look. “So whatever this is, it isn’t moving me to a tent in the dessert somewhere to fight off sand people with a flare gun.”
I snorted out a laugh, resisting the urge to kiss her. “No, definitely not. We’d have a nice place to live, and you’d have every amenity. You’d just be alone on and off, while I was off doing what I have to do.”
“And once you’re trained, or whatever, you’d be home. Like a normal job, just perhaps with odd hours?”
I nodded. “Something like that, yes. And here’s the other thing—this is a tryout, so to speak. At the end of two years, I might not make it.”
“This is so bloody mysterious,” she whispered.
I didn’t know what else to say, so I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers. Lightly, without any passion, but with a lot of promise.
“Two days, Isla, and we’ll revisit this when we regroup, either before or after the game in Limaj, okay?”
She looked bewildered but sincere as she nodded.
It had taken a hell of a lot of self-control not to take Isla home with me the other night, but as we got off the plane in Limaj, I was glad. The fact that she loved me enough to open up the lines of communication gave me hope, but I still had to be careful. At least until I knew this was going to happen. I hadn’t even known what the Royal Protectors were until Lennox told me about them, and I’d been shocked when Sandor had asked me if I was serious about leaving hockey and potentially going to the FBI. Once I’d said yes that day when we’d met for a late breakfast, he’d laid it out for me, but I’d needed time to think about it and he’d said nothing would happen until my entire life had been turned upside down. They’d look into everything I’d ever done, my social media, my hometown, every available detail about my life. And I’d had to include Isla because deep down I’d known our story wasn’t finished yet.
In retrospect, that was probably incredibly intrusive, but what else could I do? We’d been broken up and if I hadn’t had him check her out too, it would have delayed everything even more. Now, not only was I going to have to tell her about the Royal Protectors, I was going to have to tell her I’d let them invade her privacy too.
I’d just gotten settled at the hotel when there was a knock on my door. I figured it was Ian or one of the guys wanting to hang out, so I threw it open without looking. To my shock and surprise, it was the elder Ian Campbell.
“Mr. Campbell.” I opened the door a little wider. “Hi. Do you want to come in?”
“Of course I do.” He brushed past me and then met my gaze. “I know you’re tired and have a lot to do, so I’ll get right to the point. What’s happening with you and Isla?”
“You should probably ask her.”
“I did. She gave us some non-answer, muttering about your uncertain future and NDA’s and other bullshit. Just tell me straight—are you going to marry my girl?”
“I’d like to,” I admitted, “but it’s up to her. I’m retiring from hockey and moving into the…security field, beginning in June. Short-term, I don’t know what her options will be professionally, so she has to decide if I’m worth potentially putting her career on hold until we get settled.”
“Bloody hell, have you considered getting her pregnant?”
I gave him a look. “Mr. Campbell, I don’t think—”
“I’m kidding!” He waved an impatient hand at me. “Sort of.” He dug something out of his pocket. “Here. This is for you. For her.”
I took it slowly, unsure what I was looking at. I unwrapped the cloth covering and found a gorgeous pendant on a gold chain. It was beautifully carved, though I wasn’t sure what the design was, and there was a diamond in the center.
“It’s the Campbell family crest,” he said quietly. “The diamond came from my late wife’s engagement ring. Since Isla’s the only girl, it was meant for her, but I know you young people today want bigger, nicer rings than we had. So I had this made and am giving it to you to give to her because we want you to be part of our family, son.”
I swallowed back a wave of emotion. I hadn’t been expecting this at all.
“It’s beautiful,” I said when I found my voice.
