Page 73 of Masked

He sighed. “Unfortunately, this has escalated beyond an invisible team. They’ll escort you everywhere you go. Reporters know you’re a student and TA at Georgetown, so they’re camped out there. But they don’t seem to realize where you work yet, so your building is still safe as far as we can tell.”

“That’s good. Thank you, Gage, for being willing to do this for a complete stranger.”

“I’m sure someone has already explained that we’re a family at the club. You’re with Noah, you’re family.”

“What happens when I’m not with Noah anymore?”

“You’ll still be family. Unless you turn out to be some kind of manipulative bitch but I really don’t see that being the case. We like you, Reva. You. Not just the fact that you’re with Noah. Accept the fact that you have people in your corner now because you can’t get rid of us.”

She nearly teared up, but her office phone rang from reception.

“Give me a sec to take this, please?”

She picked up the phone.

“What’s up, Selena?”

“I’ve got some people from Mercer Security?”

“Send them back, please. I’ll explain when I can.”

Two men, one of whom looked familiar, stepped into the room.

“Reva Calhoun?”

“That’s me. I’ve got Gage Allard on the phone. Mind if I put him on speaker?”

They both smirked but nodded.

“I’m Peter Mercer and this is Cannon Ripley. But you can call him Boomer.”

The man named Cannon elbowed him and Peter laughed.

“Call me Ripley, please.”

“Or you can call him Daddy,” Gage quipped from the phone.

“Stay out of this, Gage. I’m only Daddy for Olivia. You know that.”

Reva held up a hand. “As much as I find you all amusing, I’d like to keep things professional in the office, please.”

Both men sobered, and Peter apologized. “My wife thinks you’re good people and said you’re one of us now.”

She laughed. “I guess I am one of you now, but this is still my place of work.”

“You’re right. We’re sorry, darlin’. Let’s get down to the reason Peter and Ripley are there,” Gage said.

Both men took a seat in the chairs in front of her desk and Gage gave them an overview of what Noah was looking for.

“We’re going to make sure a two-person team is always on you. As often as possible, at least one of those people will be one of us. But I assure you all the people on my roster are discreet, and damn good at their jobs.”

A half hour later, they were going through her phone, emails, and social media while she looked on feeling helpless.

The door to her office opened, and Noah stepped in. She went to him and he wrapped her in his arms, kissing the top of her head. “Hey little siren. What’s wrong?”

She waved her hand at Peter and Ripley, going through her devices. “This just feels so invasive and I’m feeling helpless.”

He kissed her nose. “Is this not what you had in mind when you told me you wanted to be helpless the other night?”

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