Page 16 of Defenseless
Her eyes drifted to the box. “Who are those for, anyway?”
“The security team arrives in ten minutes,” he reminded her. “Thought they’d appreciate a little sugar pick-me-up. Now if you ladies don’t mind. Some of us have work to do.”
He turned and walked away, leaving Sabina to roll her eyes at nothing and his brother and cousin debating what it would be like to be a lady.
* * *
“Sabina!” Chad called from his office at the cabin.
She turned from the picture window she’d been looking out. The team of security specialists had descended on them, devoured two dozen doughnuts, then headed out to the woods to assess how best to protect their little 1,200-acre slice of heaven. She’d been idly watching the scenery, wondering if she’d see them moving around. She had little say in how they chose to protect the land, but she was curious what they’d come up with. After all, she’d be the one to integrate their design into the main security system.
“You bellowed?” she asked, stopping in the doorway of his office.
He narrowed his eyes then gestured for her to sit. “What do you think of this?” he asked.
She took a seat and reached for the paper he held out. A résumé. An impressive résumé. She’d seen enough ex-military CVs in her time at HICC that she recognized it was also heavily redacted.
“A potential hire?” She and Chad didn’t make a habit of discussing how they were building their teams, but they didn’t keep it a secret, either.
“I was about to send the details to Stella and Hunter. You think it looks good, though?”
She studied him. In the past two days, he’d been subtly different. A little more open. It was possible he was finally relaxing a little bit now that he was on his home turf. It was also possible there was some other reason driving the shift in behavior. The change hadn’t been dramatic, but an easy smile here, a joke there. And he’dinvitedher to the planning meeting for the haunted house. He hadn’t given her a chance to say “yes” or “no,” and she still wasn’t sure if she’d go. But his invitation had been the good kind of presumptuous. The kind that assumed she’d be there because she was now part ofthem.
“I think you know he’s good. Whoever he is.” And it was a “he.” The types of positions the candidate had held were still reserved for men.
“It’s Ethan,” Chad said on an exhale.
Again, she studied his face. Outside of playing poker, he was pretty good at masking his thoughts. She could usually read through his neutral expression, although this time, she struggled. “Is that good or bad?”
His gaze lingered on his desktop for a moment then he looked up. “Good. He’d be a solid hire for the team Colton and I are building. But I also think it would be good for me, personally, to have him on board.”
Sabina stilled. For the first time in years, Chad was talking about something thatmatteredto him. She didn’t yet know how or why it mattered, but it was in every taut line of his body and in the way his lips pressed together when he stopped speaking.
“In what way?” she asked. Unease washed through her at the question. In an uncomfortable flash of clarity, she realized that she’d come to rely on the distance he put between them. If he kept her at arm’s length, she didn’t have to worry about her pesky attraction to him or the way her body seemed to crave his. But if he was lowering his defenses? Well, she wasn’t so sure that was a good thing for her.
“You know I went straight from West Point into the army, then the FBI, then HICC?” When she nodded, he continued. “I’ve always been a soldier or agent or operative. I have a business degree and this…this opportunity feels right for so many reasons. But that doesn’t mean I’m 100 percent ready for it.”
Oh shit. She wasnotprepared for a vulnerable Chad.
She swallowed. “In what way?”
He shrugged. “I’ve never run a business before. I think I’ll be good at it. Iwantto be good at it. I want to be damn good at it.”
She chuckled at that. “Of course you do.” Like all the operatives of HICC, Chad was an overachiever.
He gifted her with a ghost of a smile. “Having Ethan here might help me. He won’t shy away from telling me if I’m fucking uporif I’m doing something right. I know you and Colton will do the same, but…”
“Our sphere of influence in this venture is a little different than yours, though. You and Colton will need to sync on the operatives and the ops we accept. You and I will need to sync on the intelligence and all things cyber. But it might be good to have Ethan as a sounding board for the business as a whole.”
He hesitated then nodded. “He does a lot of administrative work in his role with the police. That’s government and we’re private, so it’s different, but he has a forest-for-the-trees kind of perspective that I’m still developing.”
Sabina didn’t take this confidence lightly. She may not know the reason why he decided to share it, but she wasn’t capable of brushing it, or him, off. “Then you should tell Stella and Hunter that when you send them his details.”
He shot her a wry smile. “What if voicing my concerns gives them reason to question choosing me?”
She chuckled again. “Don’t underestimate them. This is new to you, and I’d be surprised if they expect you to be amazing out of the gate. Or do everything on your own. Knowing them the way I do, I think they’d value the candor. The kind of honesty you’re talking about is a show of trust. A show of trust in them and a demonstration of your commitment to making this HICC office a success.”
Chad stared at her for a long moment. So long, in fact, she had to fight the urge to squirm. Finally, he nodded, and the knot in her chest released.
