Nightingale: A Reed Security Romance

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  “I’m not seeing the problem with that,” Craig said.

  “And there wouldn’t be,” Jamie said. “Except, the next logical step after that is targeting anything else you want in the human body to create the perfect child. Soon, you’ll have parents requesting cookie-cutter kids, designed to be the absolute perfect specimen. And from there, where does that lead? Once you start messing with our DNA, the possibilities are endless. Look at the cellphone. That seems like a simple device, right? But what’s the one thing about a cellphone that infringes on our human rights in every way?”

  “Tracking,” I said.

  “Exactly. Suddenly, the government can track your every movement. Tell me that you haven’t done that before in your line of work.”

  “Of course we have, but never to do anything evil,” I said, a little irritated at what he was implying.

  “And that’s the way every good thing starts. We never plan for these new inventions to be used for anything but the greater good, but eventually, someone finds a way to use new technology against us. To weaponize it. Imagine nanobots in the hands of terrorists. And who would be willing to trade this great technology for money?”

  “Someone like Blakely,” I surmised.

  “And that’s why the company wouldn’t sell to him. No one knows for sure that he would sell the technology to the wrong people or that he would be selling it off for things other than cancer research, but they were smart enough to realize that they had to be careful with who they allowed into their company.”

  “So, if you knew about Blakely, why would you date his daughter? Didn’t that throw up all kinds of red flags for you?”

  “I didn’t know who she was at first,” he said sheepishly.

  “Doesn’t your security team run background checks on pretty much everyone you meet?” Alec asked. “Any good security team would.”

  “And that’s where my second problem comes in. I’m pretty sure that my security team sought me out. See, when I started researching security companies, I hired this guy, Johnson, to help me out. He was supposed to be kind of like my right hand man, but he left not long after he found me the security team. I interviewed several companies and the one I have is the one that seemed to fit with me best. But I think I was manipulated into liking them. I think Johnson told them what they needed to say and do to get the job. I don’t have any proof in that, but this security company also happens to work for Blakely, which I found out after I had already been dating Tessa for two months.”

  “How is it possible that they didn’t know who Tessa was?” Cazzo asked.

  “It’s not. She has the same last name, but she stays away from her father for the most part. She says that she’s not interested in living his life, but that doesn’t explain why security didn’t notify me of who she is.”

  “And you didn’t dig into her when she told you her last name?” Alec asked skeptically.

  “She told me her last name was Smith.”

  Craig snorted and I glared at him. Turning back to Jamie, I asked what we all wanted to know. “You didn’t think that was suspicious? Didn’t your security detail give you a portfolio on her?”

  “They did, but they changed her last name to Smith for the profile. When I asked my head of security about it, he said that he talked with her and when she explained that she was distancing herself from her father, he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, but told her that she had to tell me who she was before things got too far with us.”

  “Wow.”

  “And that’s why I called you guys in. I don’t know who I can trust, but I didn’t want to cut things off with her without a second opinion. And I had to be careful how I reached out to you for help. I know your boss is a good man, but I was hesitant to say too much over the phone. I never know anymore when I’m being watched.”

  “You like her,” I grinned.

  “I do, but I don’t know if she’s using me. I need someone to look into her that won’t be swayed by her.”

  “I’ve got no problem with that,” I smirked. I happen to think that Jamie was a very good guy, and I had no problem making sure that the woman he was with was worthy of him.

  “I figured you’d say that.”

  “Not to put a damper on your plan,” Alec spat at Jamie, “but if your security works with Richard Blakely, how the fuck are you going to explain away that you hired a second security team?”

  “Easy. You’re not going to pose as security. I told them that you were a group of friends that I knew from my hometown.”

  “That’s why you asked us to dress in regular clothes,” Craig surmised.

  “Yes. They’re not going to run security on hometown friends of mine.”

  “Why the whole team?” Alec asked. “You could have brought in just one of us to meet her.”

  “Frankly, I don’t trust my security team anymore, and if they are planning something, I figured it’s best to be prepared.”

  “You’re making it kind of hard to do our jobs,” Craig pointed out. “If we’re posing as your friends, it’s not like we can set up surveillance like we normally would.”

  “That’s what I’m counting on. I’m thinking that Tessa will let down her guard more if you meet her before the gala. Then, when you show up with me, she’ll have already talked with her father. They won’t be as suspicious around you.”

  “So, you want us to check out the father and see what he’s up to?” Alec asked.

  “Right. I was hoping you could all meet Tessa tomorrow. The gala is on Friday night, so that gives you a few days to chat her up and get to know her. Then on Friday, while watching my back, you’ll also be digging into her father and getting a sense for where he’s at. I have to know if he’s using me to get to my company.”

  “And if he is?”

  “Then things are over with Tessa, if she’s involved. I hope she isn’t, but my gut is telling me that she’s not as distanced from her father as she says she is.”

  “Why not just cut her loose?” I asked curiously. “I mean, I get that you like her, but is she really worth the risk?”

  He glanced at everyone else uncomfortably before leaning in so only I could hear. “Do you remember our talk the last time you were with me?”

  I vaguely remembered him telling me that he would like to know what it was like to have even a tenth of the love that Alec felt for me. “I remember.”

  “I really like Tessa. If there’s even chance that she’s the one, I don’t want to fuck it up by proving to her that I don’t trust her.”

  I understood that more than anything. I took his hand in mine and nodded. “Okay. We’ll take care of it.”

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  “Who else thinks that this job is completely ridiculous?” Craig asked, raising his arm.

  “Shut up,” I said, irritated more than anything.

  “Just me? Seriously, you want to be here, Alec?”

  “Why not?” he shrugged. “All we have to do is prove that she really loves the bastard and then we can all get back to our lives.”

  “We’re not here to prove that she loves him,” I corrected. “We’re here to see if she’s working with her father to get to his company.”

  “Yeah, and she probably is,” Craig said, “which makes this whole thing totally pointless. I say he just walks away.”

  Alec stared me down as he cleaned his gun. “Maybe she really likes him. Maybe this is all in the douchebag’s head.”

  “Would you stop calling him that?”

  “Why do you care?” he asked.

  “Because I happen to like him.”

  “And that’s the problem,” Alec growled. “You’re not supposed to like anyone other than me.”

  “Hey, she likes me,” Craig said indignantly. “And I’m a very good catch, not that I want anything to do with either of you,” he added quickly. “I think we’ve all clearly established that there will never be anything between us.”

  “Would you just shut the fuck
up about that?” Alec growled. “Seriously, I don’t think you really understand how to let something go.”

  “I’m just saying, it was a disturbing time in my life. I’ve never had two people fuck with my head so much.”

  “It was all your fault,” I pointed out. “You were the one that couldn’t read between the lines with Dr. Sunshine.”

  “Can we get back on topic here?” Alec asked. “The point is that Jamie is an adult and perfectly capable of picking his own women. He hardly needs you to help him out.”

  “Apparently he does, otherwise he wouldn’t have called us.”

  “Yeah, I’m still not sure that he’s not just using this opportunity to get in your pants.”

  “And if he was really trying to get in my pants, don’t you think he would have tried a year ago?”

  “Now he knows we’re engaged. It’s now or never for him.”

  “But he didn’t know that when he called us,” I pointed out. “Alec, you need to let this go. He’s not trying to get in my pants.”

  “But you like him,” Alec snapped.

  “Yes, I think he’s very nice.”

  “And very handsome,” Craig piped up.

  “And that’s helpful how?” I snapped.

  “What? I’m just saying, the last time we were here, I couldn’t help but notice that he has similar qualities to JFK Jr. and that was one very handsome man. You could do worse.”

  “She has me, fucker.”

  “I know. Geez, I’m not actually suggesting that she run off with him, but if things with you fall through…”

  “They’re not going to fall through,” I said, cutting off Craig’s train of thought. “Seriously, it’s like you want to cause an argument between Alec and me.”

  “Well, they are entertaining,” Craig grinned. “Besides, this job is going to be so boring. Are you telling me that you really want to schmooze a bunch of rich guys all night at a gala just to find out if this guy is trying to steal his company? I mean, there is literally no chance for action here. And we can’t meet any women to take home because we’re already spoken for. This sounds like the boringest job on the face of the earth!” he said, smacking his head down on the table.

  “Why don’t you look on the bright side here?”

  “What bright side?” he asked incredulously. “No, really, I’d like you to point out what about this job is making you so damn cheerful.” He held out his hand and started ticking off fingers. “We’re not supposed to be protecting him, because he has an actual security team. We don’t get to carry our guns in the open. We have to talk to a bunch of rich people that actually like dressing up and wearing shit like this,” he said, pulling his suit jacket wide. “And at the end of the night, there will be no explosion!”

  “You know, the gala isn’t until tomorrow night. You don’t actually have to wear your tux yet,” I pointed out.

  “What? But Alec said that we had to…” he glared at Alec and then walked over, slapping him on the back of the head. “I really fucking hate you right now. How long were you going to make me wear this ridiculous thing?”

  “You said you wanted to try it on,” Alec pointed out. “I was just suggesting that you should do it before the gala to make sure it fit. I didn’t think you would actually wear it all fucking day.”

  “You know, one of these days, you’re gonna get your come upins,” he seethed at Alec.

  “It’s comeuppance.”

  “What?” Craig turned to me with a glare.

  “Comeuppance. Not come upins.”

  “Whatever,” he grumbled. “It sounds like the exact same fucking thing.”

  “But it’s not,” I grinned.

  “I hate all of you,” he said, stalking out of the room.

  I turned back to Alec and crossed my arms over my chest. “So, are you going to pout all day?”

  “And why would I do that?”

  “Because you don’t like Jamie, and you don’t want to be anywhere near him.”

  Alec shoved back his chair and stood, stalking over to me. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. I have all fucking day to wrap myself around you in front of that fucker, and show him that you’re mine and always will be.”

  He slipped his hand around my neck and pulled me in closer. I always hated it when Alec did this shit. Well, that was a lie. It turned me on so much, but I had to put on the front of hating it or he would do it even more often.

  “And when you’ve proven what a caveman you are, what will you have gained from that besides a knee to your nuts?”

  “He’ll know never to go near you again.”

  He slammed his lips down on mine and slipped his tongue in my mouth. I moaned and pulled him toward me, then yanked my face away and slammed my fist into his cheek. His head jerked to the side and he turned back to me with a grin.

  “Damn, I love it when you play rough.”

  I smirked and walked away. It was hard to stay mad at Alec for anything.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  “Are you ready?” Jamie asked the three of us. I glanced at Craig and Alec, both of whom looked like they would rather be anywhere other than here right now. I, on the other hand, was very eager to meet the woman that Jamie was dating.

  Alec walked up to me and slipped his arm around my waist. “Ready when you are.”

  His hand sat possessively on my hip and Jamie’s eyes narrowed in on his hand and then raised to meet mine questioningly. I shook my head slightly. There was nothing I could say at the moment. We couldn’t get into this shit right now.

  “Yeah, let’s get this party started,” Craig said, pretending like he was actually about to have fun.

  Jamie laughed and shook his head. “Why do I get the feeling that I did everything wrong in calling for help?”

  He walked to the door and opened it when there was a knock on the other side. A beautiful woman, probably five foot seven, walked through the door. She was slim and fit with long blonde hair that hung perfectly straight in the very best way. I knew tons of women that would kill for hair like that. Well, women that actually cared about that stuff. And they weren’t exactly people I knew. More like women I had passed somewhere in life.

  She walked in and leaned up in her baby blue heels to kiss him on the cheek. Jamie did his part and smiled down lovingly at her, wrapping his hand lightly around her back as he accepted the kiss. She did all the right things, blushing at him when he complimented her, and smacking him playfully when he teased her. Basically, she was a normal woman. It made me want to throw up, or pull out my gun. Probably the second.

  Jamie was definitely too good for this woman. I could tell as soon as she walked through the door. I wasn’t sure why yet, but it was a gut instinct, and my gut was never wrong. Still, I put a smile on my face and pretended to be an old friend of Jamie’s, which was really hard because I had to pretend to be a civilian, and if I didn’t want to give away what kind of job I really had, I couldn’t talk about weapons.

  “Tessa, I want you to meet some old friends of mine. This is Florrie.” I reached out and shook her hand, trying not to put too much force behind it, and smiled at her.

  “Nice to meet you.”

  “You too. Florrie, that’s an unusual name.”

  “My mother wanted to name me after Florence Nightingale. Boy did she have it wrong,” I joked.

  Tessa smiled, but I got the feeling that she had no idea who Florence Nightingale was. Strike one.

  “And this is Alec. He and I grew up on the same street, just a few houses apart.”

  “Wow, you’re huge. Sorry,” she blushed, ducking her head like some prissy thing. I hated her already. “It’s so nice to meet you. Jamie, you didn’t tell me he had such handsome friends.”

  Jamie grinned, but I got pissed and slipped my arm around Alec’s waist, pulling him in close to me. Then I ran my hand up his chest and leaned in to nibble at his earlobe. “He is sexy, isn’t he?”

  Alec smirked at me, knowing that I was getting jealou
s, which made him really fucking happy.

  “I’m Craig, in case anyone wants to know,” Craig said, stepping forward after a minute.

  “Oh, sorry, man,” Jamie said.

  “No big deal. I seem to always get left out of the group. You know, it’s not easy being the third wheel.”

  “The third…” Tessa glanced at three of us, obviously wondering if there was something there. Craig, oblivious as ever, just continued on.

  “Yeah, you know, with Jamie gone all the time, I just have these two. I mean, I’ve asked him not to work so much and be around for us more, but I just can’t seem to hold the guy’s attention. And imagine my surprise when Jamie came home and told me that he’d found someone. Talk about a shocker. I’ll admit, my feelings were a little hurt. I always thought it would just be the four of us.”

  I gritted my teeth and internally begged Craig to stop. He didn’t realize how much he was making us sound like an orgy. Jamie chuckled, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck.

  “Well, it’s not like we’re that close.”

  “Oh, come on, man,” Craig continued. “Remember what I did for you that time in Mexico with the jellyfish? Not just anyone would do that for a friend. Yeah, we’re pretty tight.”

  Tessa looked utterly confused, and maybe even a little weirded out by Craig’s confession. I would be lying if I said it was normal. It was far from normal, but that was Craig sometimes.

  Jamie cleared his throat. “Yeah, I guess you could say we’re close, but a normal kind of close. Not anything weird,” Jamie clarified. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it, if that’s your thing. It’s just not my thing. Craig is a normal, heterosexual friend, and that’s it.”

  Craig’s face morphed into shock and he instantly started spluttering. “Shit…I just…no…nothing like that. I mean, that one time with Dr. Sunshine…and she thought, but there was nothing. I would never…totally not like that.”