Page 50 of Forged in Peril

“Thank you, Jesus,” she said softly, her voice lonely in the empty bathroom.

It wasn’t much of a prayer, but she hoped He heard her just the same.

CAMERON

“Hey, sorry to wake you.”

Cameron raised his head from where it lay against his desk, relieved to see that no puddle of drool had settled on any of his paperwork.

“I shouldn’t have fallen asleep,” he said by way of greeting, glancing up at Bristol, who was resting her fingertips lightly against his shoulder.

Despite sleeping on the floor and, by the looks of it, not realizing that the FBS offices had shower facilities in the gym downstairs, she looked gorgeous and well-rested.

He reached a hand up and gave hers a squeeze, blinking away the last remnants of sleep from his eyes.

“You look stunning.”

“I’m not sure about that, but thanks.”

“I hope you’re ready to get to work.”

She glanced down at her watch. “Honestly, it’s pretty convenient sleeping here, especially if Jaclyn really needs me to start this early.”

He caught her gaze.

“Not exactly what I meant. The team has work to do today, as always, but I requested a morning meeting before we all get started on our usual assignments.”

He felt her body tense.

Once again, he was pushing her further than she was prepared for–but he knew that however uncomfortable she was in the moment, it was the right thing to do.

“Look, just to be clear, I’m not asking you to tell everyone the kind of details that you told me,” he said quickly. “But if I’m going to stop this maniac, I can’t do it by myself. I need my brothers to help.”

She gave him a weak smile. “I understand. I can’t expect them to go in blind, and I appreciate everyone being here at the crack of dawn to figure this thing out.”

“Good,” he said, tilting his head back and accepting a kiss on the cheek.

Twenty minutes later, Cameron led her into a conference room, pleased to see that everyone else, including Grace, had arrived on time.

“Hey, Bristol,” Gabe said from his place at the head of the table, gesturing toward a chair next to him. “Why don’t you come in and take a seat?”

Cameron couldn’t help but to feel a flutter of anxiety as Bristol stepped away from him and settled in next to his brother. At last he understood why she always seemed so vulnerable, even when she tried to hide behind a tough shell.

Now, though, her secret was out, and he hoped that their conversation last night had helped to give her the courage she would need in order to fight back.

“As I’m sure Cam has already made clear, you’re part of the Forge Brothers Security family now,” Gabe continued, giving her a warm smile, “and we take care of our own. No matter what.”

Cameron took his own seat across the conference table, a couple of seats down and across the table from Bristol. Reilly and Asher were next to him, and across the table sat Grace, Ben, and Jaclyn.

“Now, before we start, we want you to know that nothing you say will leave this room without your permission, unless it’s strictly necessary,” Gabe continued. The others nodded in unison, and Cameron watched as Grace reached over and gave Bristol a quick hug around her shoulders.

“And I’ll be enforcing that with the full weight of the law, if necessary,” Jaclyn said, giving Bristol a wink. “I offered to draw up a no-gossip contract for Grace, but Gabe decided it would be overkill.”

“Hey!” Grace protested as Ben began to chuckle.

Cameron couldn’t hide his own smile, despite the seriousness of the situation.

He hadn’t planned to invite Jaclyn–Bristol was a little bit scared of her, and he needed her to be comfortable if they were going to get everything out in the open–but in the end, he’d realized that they worked together too closely to leave her out of the loop.

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