Chapter Seven Foundations
Tommy groaned and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his stomach as he watched Evie clear the breakfast plates.
He loved having her around, but if she kept cooking like this, he was going to gain twenty pounds before she went home.
The apple pie pancakes with vanilla maple syrup had been too good to stop at two.
Getting to his feet, he walked over to refill his coffee mug and nodded at the dishes. “I’ve got those, Princess. Why don’t you have a seat?”
“Thanks.” She smiled, running a damp cloth over the table while Thorn carried the rest of the dishes to the counter and pulled a deck of cards from the junk drawer, dealing them out between him and Evie.
“I was wondering.” Tommy began casually as he loaded the dishwasher. “How does a mercenary network work, exactly? It must be the kind of thing that would get attention from authorities.”
Thorn glanced up, brows furrowing like he was trying to decide if Tommy was joking. “Need a business rival taken care of?”
“No, of course not.” Tommy chuckled. “If I want to beat my competition, I’ll do it by being smarter, not bloodier.
I’m just curious. How are the jobs distributed?
How much does someone get paid? It must run through the dark web or Interpol would have shut it down by now.
And I’m guessing whoever runs it takes a cut, because Oscar coughed up a lot more than the hundred grand he was supposed to pay you. ”
Thorn shrugged, playing a card. “I don’t know much about it.
A friend brought me in when I said I was struggling to find work after the military.
He vouched for me, gave me a website and an encryption key.
The site listed jobs and their rates. If I wanted one, I flagged it, and they’d message me in a few hours if I was chosen. ”
“Oscar chose you?” Tommy raised an eyebrow. “Based on what? A profile? Like a dating app for hitmen?”
Thorn smirked faintly, still focused on his cards. “Sort of. I listed my skills and reported every completed job, how long it took, how clean it was. The more jobs I finished, the more I was offered. I think clients could see stats, because success meant more work.”
He shrugged again, unconcerned. “I don’t know what buyers paid to use the site, but once we were connected, everything went through encrypted messages until the first meeting. Payment was always in cash and was a minimum of a hundred thousand U.S.”
Tommy nodded thoughtfully, filing that all away in his head for later reference and changed the topic before Thorn or Evie could question his reasons for asking.
“Evie, I'm thinking of buying an apartment complex near the tower and offering living quarters to employees for a set rent amount that can be taken directly from their paychecks. What do you think?”
“That’s a great idea, Tommy! Rent’s insane around here, and a lot of people commute an hour or more from cheaper areas.” She smiled at him, the kind of bright, proud smile that made his chest tighten a little.
He wasn’t sure her pride in him was deserved. It wasn’t altruism driving him, it was efficiency. Happy employees meant fewer resignations, less sick leave, better productivity and a company known for taking care of its people had first pick of the best hires. In the end, it all came back to profit.
“Yeah,” he said aloud, nodding. “That was the plan.”
“Thorn, you’ll be staying here, you can have the entire top floor of the tower, so you'll have your own space. Evie usually stays in her apartment on campus, but she has room here that she always has access to.” His eyes flickered back and forth between them, a small knowing grin on his face, making her blush.
He’d picked up on her little crush on the Serbian and while he’d never tease her about it, he did think it was adorable.
“That I think she’ll probably make more use of now. ”
Thorn frowned, drawing a card from the pile. “The entire top floor?” He shook his head. “I do not think I will need so much space.”
Tommy smiled into his mug. That was Thorn in a nutshell - grateful, unassuming, completely unaware of how much he’d already earned his keep. The man’s loyalty would probably last a lifetime, and it was nice to know someone besides Evie would have his back no matter what.
Thorn hadn’t asked for much since moving in, in fact, he’d protested nearly everything Tommy tried to give him.
He’d even argued about the California king bed, insisting he was used to sleeping on frames that were too small.
He’d explained, straight-faced, that he usually slept diagonally from corner to corner to make it work.
The image had made Tommy laugh, but it also made him like the man even more.
Thorn lived simply, used to stretching every dollar. He’d told Tommy he only took one or two jobs a year and lived off the earnings until they ran out. The more Tommy got to know him, the more he respected him, not just for his skill, but for his humility.
“It’s actually smaller than you’re thinking.
” Tommy explained cheerfully as refilled his coffee mug.
“When my dad had this tower built back in the seventies, he worked with an architect who designed it using the 1930’s art deco style and the top floor actually has the least square footage, so don’t fight me on it, it’s already yours. ”
His father had chosen the southwest edge of Prospect Park for the site, going five levels into bedrock and ninety stories up.
Two of the basements were storage; the other three had been converted into a parking garage in the eighties.
Seventy-five floors were dedicated to Sloane Technologies, with the seventy-fifth reserved for the board and senior officers.
The top three floors belonged to Tommy and the one beneath them housed his gym, sauna, and personal computer lab.
The eighty-sixth floor, though, was for Evie.
When she graduated, he planned to gift it to her outright, to keep her close and to give her a space that was entirely her own after everything she’d been through with her parents.
“Have you heard from your mother at all?” He turned his attention to Evie sadly, knowing her estrangement from her parents was hurting her deeply despite her determination not to let it show or affect their Christmas together.
Secretly, he was thrilled that she spent all Christmas with him and Thorn, He loved Della like the surrogate aunt she was, but she had become very pessimistic after his mother died and he found it hard to be around her for long periods of time.
He watched as the corners of Evie’s mouth turned down in a small frown as he asked about her mother, but she nodded.
“We spoke a couple of times over Christmas.” She told him, suddenly sounding exhausted and he could only imagine how draining those conversations must have been for her.
“She acknowledged that Dad was wrong and acting insane, told me it's not my fault and that she loves me, but she needs space from everything that happened. I think she’s hurt, embarrassed and angry, but I also got the feeling she thinks it's her fault for openly taking my side about switching majors and refusing to try to see his point of view.”
Tommy nodded, a quiet ache forming in his chest. She was probably right.
Oscar had trained his wife and daughter to manage his moods for years, and somewhere along the line, he’d forgotten how to regulate himself at all.
Pushing the thought aside, Tommy focused on Evie again.
The dark circles under her eyes were deeper, her skin paler.
He mentally kicked himself for getting lost in work when she clearly needed more of his attention.
“How are you feeling about everything?”
“Confused mostly.” She admitted, running her hand through her hair as she sat back in the chair. “I don't understand anything about my father’s thought process. I’m also extremely pissed that he would attempt to take my favorite person from me.”
That last part made him smile. She shot him an affectionate look, and he felt the familiar flicker of warmth in his chest. “It will be a fun session with my therapist on the third.”
Tommy walked over, coffee mug in hand, and kissed the top of her head, resting a hand on her shoulder. He’d insisted on therapy after her father kicked her out and was proud she’d stuck with it. “You’re stronger than you think,” he murmured.
Evie looked up at him and placed her hand over his, her smile small but genuine.
“This is just a bump in the road,” he said softly. “You’ll be fine.”
Sensing Thorn’s eyes on them, Tommy let Evie go and turned back. “So, big guy, are you okay with those living arrangements?” He said it casually, but he meant it. If Thorn really wanted to find someplace smaller, Tommy would help. He wanted him comfortable, not cornered.
Evie smirked as she laid down four cards. “You should take him up on it,” she said, sliding back to let Thorn play.
Thorn sighed heavily, shaking his head with the air of someone outnumbered. “Yes. Thank you. That would be great.”
Tommy grinned, pleased, and caught the amused glance Evie threw him as Thorn gave in. He had a feeling the man would agree to just about anything she suggested. The way Thorn looked at her, like she’d hung the moon, said as much.
Evie let out a small cheer and stood up, leaving her cards on the table as she walked around and hugged Thorn excitedly. “Excellent! Come on, Thorn, we need to go up, take measurements and start cleaning out the space.”
“Yeah, I should probably mention that floor’s being used for storage,” Tommy said with a chuckle. He watched Evie tug Thorn toward the elevator, the big man moving with effortless grace despite his size. “I’ll leave you two to it. I’ve got some work to finish.”
He gathered the scattered cards, still smiling to himself as the elevator doors slid shut. Thorn’s acceptance wasn’t just about living space; it cemented what Tommy already knew. The man was loyal, practical and steady. Exactly the kind of person he needed for what he was planning.
Tommy was a tech guy but also a very, very good businessman.
Hearing that mercenaries, hitmen, and assassins were very real and something that wasn't well organized, but still very lucrative had sparked an idea. He planned to keep his team small, elite and very quiet. Sloane Contracting and Security Services would provide bodyguards and security, but the real business would be the contracting side of it. He would have to be careful, walking in a grey legal area, but he was confident that he could pull it off, hopefully with Thorn’s help.