Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
TONY
Greg and I walked out of my apartment building together to wait for the taxi I’d ordered for him. “You didn’t have to do this. I could have taken the subway.”
I kissed his cheek. “Nope. If we’re dating, I get to spoil you.”
“Okay,” he agreed quietly, a light blush coloring his cheeks.
I cupped his face and gave him a chaste kiss since we were in the middle of the sidewalk. “I’ll call you when I’m done at work.”
His lips curved up in a sweet smile. “I’d like that.”
When the taxi pulled up, I opened the door for him and closed it once he was safely inside.
Then I stood and watched until the car was lost in morning traffic.
My brothers would be laughing their asses off if they could see me now.
Speaking of brothers… I pulled out my phone to check the time. Crap. I had to be at the office soon.
I hurried back up to my apartment to change for work.
It was a mighty struggle not to take a second shower, so I could have a jerk-off session featuring Greg as the star.
When I finally got back downstairs, the morning traffic had slowed to a crawl, and I knew it would be faster for me to walk to my office than to take a taxi.
I made it to my office with five minutes to spare, hurrying past the man sitting in the waiting area.
As I slid into my seat behind my desk, Marco walked in with Hunter following behind.
We’d hired Hunter, a former special ops Marine, in February to form a second personnel extraction team because we were getting more business than one team could handle.
I hadn’t gotten much of a chance to talk with him after he was hired, mostly because he’d been busting his ass to find the right people to build the new team.
The guy in the waiting area, Isaac, was the first candidate who’d passed muster.
Marco sat on my desk and smirked at me. “Late night?”
“You could say that,” I replied. I gazed at him with a smirk of my own. “Early morning too.”
His brows rose in surprise, but it was not the time to get into my night with Greg. I glanced over at Hunter. “You ready?”
“Yes, sir,” he replied.
“Excellent. Let’s start building this team.”
Two hours later, we had a new team member. Marco took Isaac to Michael’s office to get him started on the paperwork and set up with a secure laptop. I asked Hunter to stay back.
“What’s up, boss?” he asked.
“I’m sure you’ve heard that Dante was injured in the last personnel extraction,” I began.
“Yeah,” he replied. “Marco told me on Monday. Dante’s lucky they knew how to keep him from bleeding out.”
“Definitely.” I leaned forward in my chair. “I’d like you to take his place while he’s recovering. He’s not going to be able to use that arm much for at least two months, and we can’t be short on the team.”
“Sure. Of course.” He hesitated before adding, “You might also want to consider rotating Isaac in so he can get a sense of how the teams operate.”
I smiled. “That’s an excellent idea. I’ll let Marco know.” He glanced over to the office door, his fingers tapping restlessly against the arm of the chair. So impatient. I waved him off. “Go on. Go check on your new recruit.”
“Thanks, boss.”
After he left, I took out my phone, figuring I’d text Greg just to check in. I hesitated as my fingers hovered above the keys. Should I text Greg? Did he want to hear from me so soon? We’d only recently agreed to date. What if he thought I was being pushy?
Before my thoughts could spiral further into absurdity, a text from Greg popped up on my screen.
Hey there. I just thought I’d say hi. How did the interview go?
I knew I was grinning stupidly as I typed a reply.
Really good. We hired him. He’s in the process of onboarding now.
Nice! How many more interviews do you have today?
Two more. Those two won’t be quite as intense.
Why was the last one intense?
We were looking for someone for our personnel extraction team. It requires a set of skills that most ordinary bodyguards don’t have.
Got it.
The bubbles in the messaging app were bouncing like Greg was writing another text.
But they kept bouncing and stopping and bouncing and stopping.
It was driving me crazy. Was he trying to tell me something he didn’t think I’d want to hear?
Was he going to end things before they had a chance to begin?
I was about to hit the call button to end my torture when his message finally popped up.
I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner tonight. I know we went out last night, but that was with everyone. I’d like to have dinner with just you and me.
My heart did a strange flip-squeeze thing and my smile made my cheeks ache.
I’d love that. Did you have a place in mind?
There’s this great little bistro around the corner from my apartment building.
Sounds good to me. What time?
How about 7:00 at my place?
I’ll be there.
I was still grinning at my phone when Marco and Michael walked into my office.
“Jesus, he’s got it bad,” Marco commented.
Michael chuckled. “Told you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Shut it, both of you.”
Michael shook his head. “No way, Mr. Friends with Benefits. You lasted about five minutes before you folded like a cheap suit.”
I set my phone down and flipped both of them off. “Greg’s a good man.”
“We know that,” Marco said, taking a seat in front of my desk. “We were just worried he was going to break it off when he noticed you were getting serious.”
Michael took the chair next to Marco. “But I’m guessing that didn’t happen, judging by the goofy grin you had on your face when we walked in.”
I couldn’t help smiling. “No, it didn’t.”
“So what did happen?” Marco asked.
I gave my brother the stink-eye. “I am not giving you details of my sex life.”
Marco rolled his eyes. “No, idiot. What happened after you fucked his brains out?”
I shrugged. “He fell asleep and slept until this morning.”
When I didn’t elaborate, Michael waved his hand for me to continue. “And…?”
I’ll admit I was getting a kick out of taunting my nosy brothers. “And he didn’t freak out when he woke up. He told me he wanted more than just friends with benefits.”
Michael threw his fist up in triumph. “Yes! I called it!” He looked over at Marco. “You owe me twenty bucks.”
“What the fuck?” I glared at them. “You bet on my relationship with Greg?”
“Of course we did,” Marco replied. “To be fair, I thought Greg was going to bolt when he figured out you were more serious than you were pretending to be.”
“Assholes,” I grumbled. “Both of you are assholes.”
“Yeah, but you love us anyway,” Michael said with a smirk.
“You’re lucky I do.”
“So what’s next?” Marco asked.
I was sure I looked smug. “We’re having dinner tonight at seven.”
“Whoa, two nights in a row,” Michael crowed. “Getting serious already.”
“Save me from these two,” I muttered. “Was there something else you wanted to talk about besides my relationship status?”
“Yes,” Michael replied. “Isaac is all set. Hunter is sparring with him to get a sense of his skills in hand-to-hand combat.”
I nodded. “Good. Did Hunter tell you I asked him to take Dante’s place temporarily?”
“Yeah,” Marco replied. “And he said you approved rotating Isaac in to get him used to how we work.”
“Are you okay with that?” I asked.
“Definitely,” Marco said. “He was Airforce combat rescue. He’ll know what he’s doing.”
“Good.” I leaned back in my chair. “We have two more interviews today, both for long-term personal security positions.”
“Those will be easier than Isaac’s,” Marco said.
“True.” I rose and stretched. “I’m going to go get lunch. Want to join me?”
“Sounds good to me,” Michael said as he stood.
“How about the Irish pub around the corner?” Marco suggested.
“Works for me.” I smiled, remembering the dinner I’d had with our cousin Sal not too long ago.
As the three of us made our way to the elevators, Marco said, “I think we should book some time at the gun range. It’s been a while since we’ve done that. I’d like to get a sense of the skill sets of the new people coming in.”
“Sure thing,” I agreed, pressing the button to go down. “I’ll have Liz set it up. Just let me know how many people.”
“Whatever it is, add yourself to the list,” Marco insisted.
I glanced at him in surprise. “What? Why? I don’t use a gun. I’m only support nowadays.”
Marco shook his head. “You shouldn’t let your skills get rusty. You never know when you’ll need them.”
The elevator doors opened, and we got on. “Fine. I’ll do it.”
“And don’t worry,” Marco added, pointing at Michael. “That one is going too.”
Michael’s eyes widened. “I am?”
“Don’t give me that surprised Pikachu face,” Marco sniped. “You haven’t been to the range in six months.”
“Fine,” he said with a put-upon sigh.
I chuckled and shook my head. I loved my brothers, even when they were being assholes. I couldn’t wait to fully integrate Greg into my family and my life.