Page 22 of Danger and Dominance
“Did he really think we were going to go work for him?”Drew asked incredulously.
“He can be bought, so he assumes everyone else has a price as well.”David shook his head.“I’m not sure he understands the meaning of the word loyalty.”He turned to face Jennifer.“What was he saying to you before I got here?”
“I asked if he had an appointment, of course, even though no one had anything on the calendar.”She looked anxious.“Just in case someone forgot to put one on.I didn’t know who he was, and he wouldn’t give me his name.He said he needed to talk to Lincoln and that he knew his way back there.I told him he needed to wait out here, and we were arguing about that when you got here.He was only here a few minutes before you, thank goodness.I was about to call Mason.He was the only one in already.I take it that’s Marshall?”
While she hadn’t met the man before, she’d heard about him.
“That was Marshall,” David confirmed grimly.“If he shows up again, call whoever is in the office.Immediately.We’re going to have to figure out how he got in, though.Samuel should have known better than to let him into the parking lot, and if he came from the sidewalk… Shit.He probably came from the sidewalk.”
Before the building officially opened, they could get in using their key cards.Marshall had either stolen someone’s or found a way to clone one.There was someone at the front door during office hours, but not twenty-four-seven.The parking lot booth had a guard arrive earlier and leave later than the walk-up.That might need to change if Marshall was sneaking around.He would have to talk to Lincoln.
So, David started his day reviewing the security footage and confirming that Marshall had arrived by way of the front door, using a key card, before anyone was on duty downstairs.Then he’d had to go ask Jaxon, Harris’ computer guy, to find out whose keycard Marshall had used and shut it down.It turned out to be an unregistered one, so he set Jaxon on the task of setting up new key cards for everyone and shutting down access for all but the new cards.
He still didn’t know exactly what Marshall was up to because he doubted this was the end of it, but the man was already proving to be a massive fucking headache.
Then, when David was done with all of that, he had to get started on everything for the senator’s upcoming fundraiser.
Despite being a hell of a lot busier than he wanted to be on a Monday morning, he did remember to stop by to check in with Jensen that Cassidy had settled in okay.He’d been tempted to text her, but…
He needed to keep his head in the game, and she was a distraction.A very pretty distraction but a distraction, nonetheless.Jensen responded that she was hanging around the house and looking at the job options, and David had to be happy with that.No point in going to check on her himself, after all.No matter how much he wanted to.
His team was relying on him.
Cassidy
The days seemed to simultaneously rush and trickle by.The days felt like they were taking forever as she got through them, yet, somehow, she blinked, and it was Thursday.Game night with the ladies.Which she was very grateful for as something to break up the tedium.
She had gotten out of the house a few times with Jensen, going out to run errands and just see a little more of the city when he did so.The lack of memories with Don helped her anxiety a lot.She was sleeping better than ever, she wasn’t jumpy at the stores, and she didn’t imagine him around every corner.
Compared to how she’d been before, this was practically blissful.
She’d forgotten what it felt like to justliveinstead of feeling hunted all the time.Afraid all the time.
The colors seemed brighter.People were no longer so threatening.New places were interesting instead of nerve-wracking.And she was hungrier.She felt like she could actually eat.
Which meant she’d spent most of the week cooking for Jensen and Mick, who had thrown themselves on the food like hungry wolves.Both of them told her they enjoyed cooking, too, but they were happy to get a little break.And it made her feel better about living with them rent-free.Like she was giving back a little bit.
She still felt guilty because one of them was always home, or someone from the team stopped by to cover for them when they couldn’t.One time, it had been Mason; another time Claudia.Mason had talked to her the whole time, and Cassidy considered it an impromptu therapy session.Claudia had decided Cassidy needed a workout and to learn some self-defense moves.She had not been wrong, and she’d agreed to start coming over at least once a week to keep that up with Cassidy.
Despite all that, Cassidy still felt restless.Like she was supposed to be doing something, and instead, she was sitting around slacking.At any minute, Jensen and Mick were going to start resenting her cramping their style.She was sure they didn’t want to have to be home all the time taking care of her.
Especially when there was no reason to think that she was in any danger up here.It wasn’t like back at home where Don knew where her friends were and where Stronghold and Marquis were.Kincaid, Patrick, and Law had all texted her this week to let her know that there had been no more sightings of Don and no more harassment since she’d left.It had all stopped, as though he’d lost interest because she wasn’t there.
Which was such a relief and helped assuage some of the guilt she’d been feeling about leaving.But now, she felt guilty about the fact that if she’d left earlier, maybe he wouldn’t have harassed her friends at all…
I can only control myself.
She let out a deep sigh as Jensen pulled up in front of a pretty stone house.It looked almost like a cottage out of a fairytale, complete with a little turret on the left side.Not at all what she’d pictured for Claudia, but somehow, now that she saw it, it fit.
“Everything okay?”Jensen asked, looking at her with concern.
“Yeah, just a little tired.”It was an easier explanation than everything going through her head.Perhaps not the most believable one since she was finally getting enough sleep every night.She was actually feeling better than ever, but she was still emotionally tired.Depleted, really.
“Don’t worry, you’re going to have fun.You’ve already met Claudia, Naomi, and Jennifer, and everyone else is really nice.Actually, speaking of…” He twisted around in his seat and pulled a paper bag out from behind her seat, handing it to her.“Would you mind giving this to Jennifer?”
“Sure.”She peeked inside.“Are these the pickled veggies you bought the other day?”He’d bought five different kinds of pickled vegetables—asparagus, Brussel sprouts, carrots, onions, and a jar of mixed vegetables.
“We bought.”
