Dox said, “Me, too.” He smiled at Livia and added, “And not just as a way of getting your attention.”
Livia flushed. “Can we talk about this later?”
Dox’s smile broadened. “Later sounds nice.”
Kanezaki said, “Whatever you need from Guardian Angel, it’s yours.”
Maya looked at him and said, “Don’t leave me out.”
Kanezaki smiled. “I’d be an idiot to leave you out of anything.”
Rain saw Delilah watching him. He knew she wouldn’t try to stop him. He looked at her, then at the rest of them. He shook his head. “Sorry. I’m out.”
There was a beat. Then Larison said, “Nothing to be sorry for. We’ve got this. Besides. You’re retired. Which makes you the smartest one here.”
Rain looked at Delilah again. “Or the luckiest.”
Manus said nothing, and Rain hoped he would leave Hobbs to the others. Larison, and Dox, and Livia, and Tom . . . On some level, they were all addicted to the life. Rain thought Manus was different. And looking at Dash, he sensed he was right.
“Tom,” Delilah said. “When do you need to have that Porsche back?”
Kanezaki checked his watch and blew out a breath. “I was supposed to have it back already. Margarita, too. And I’ve got the plane waiting—don’t you two need to get back to Paris? I think you were having a drink when we . . . interrupted you.”
Larison said, “That was my fault.”
“Mine,” Dox said.
“No interruption at all,” Delilah said. “But if we have just a little time . . .”
She turned to Dash and mimed holding a steering wheel. “Come with me in the Porsche?”
Dash’s face lit up and he glanced eagerly at Evie.
Evie looked at Delilah and said, “Thank you.”
“I’ll be at the airport,” Rain said. “It’ll be good to be back.”
Delilah nodded. “Come on,” she said to Dash. “Let’s go for that ride.”
Delilah and Dash left the trailer. A moment later, the Porsche growled to life, and the two of them were gone. The rest of the team headed out in the truck.
Rain meant it when he said it would be good to be back. He and Delilah had built a life in Paris, and Kamakura, and he wanted that life. All of it. However much of it there would be.
She was so insightful, on so many matters. But he knew now she’d been wrong about one important thing. When she’d told him that it was danger, or the edge, or some other such attachment he was afraid to lose.
That wasn’t it. Maybe once upon a time, but not anymore.
It was the people he was afraid to lose. And determined to protect. And if he had to face danger to that end, then he would face it willingly. No matter what.
But until then, all he really wanted was to find that elusive peace Delilah had mentioned. And keep it.
For at least a little while. For as long as he could.