Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
TONY
“What the fuck happened to you?”
Marco caught me mid-stride as I hurried to get to my office for the interview I was supposed to be conducting in five minutes. “Can we talk about it later? I have an interview.”
He raised a brow. “I know. I’m going to be there, remember?”
I squeezed my eyes shut and sighed. “I promise I’ll tell you all about it after we’re done. I don’t want to be late.”
Marco put his arm around my shoulders and guided me toward my office. “Pedro is still talking to Liam. They’re sharing war stories. They’ll be late.”
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered. “I’m fine.”
“Uh-huh,” Marco said. “We’ll let Liam decide when he gets here.”
I stopped in my tracks. “You are not going to have Liam examine me in front of a potential new employee. Knock it off.”
Marco rolled his eyes. “Of course not. But you’re not leaving here until he does.”
We walked into my office, and he closed the door behind us. He brought me over to the window and said, “Let me see.”
I huffed out a frustrated breath. I knew he wouldn’t let it go, so I turned my head so he could get a better look at the bruise on my jaw. “It’s not a big deal,” I insisted.
“Right,” my brother drawled, grasping my chin. “That’s why the knuckles of your right hand are bruised and swollen.” He let go of my face. “What. Happened?”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Just let me sit down first.”
I took a seat behind my desk while Marco sat across from me as I told him about our run-in with the homophobic trio. To my surprise, he remained quiet through the whole thing. I’d been sure he would interrupt by telling me all the ways I’d screwed up.
He was silent for a few moments after I finished. Then a broad grin spread across his face. “Damn, bro. One dislocated shoulder, one fucked-up knee, and one smashed-in face. And you only ended up with a bruise on your jaw and a couple of swollen knuckles.”
I blinked in surprise. “Really?”
“Really, what?”
“I figured you’d tell me everything I did wrong.”
His eyes narrowed. “Why would I do that?”
“You do it every time we’re sparring,” I replied.
His brow creased in a frown. “That’s sparring. Of course I tell you what you’re doing wrong. How else are you going to get it right?”
Okay, I was being an idiot. I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I…there’s something else going on that we need to talk about after this interview is over.”
Concern flashed in his eyes. “Is everything okay with you and Greg?”
“Everything’s fine. Better than fine, really.” I blew out a breath. “I’d rather talk about this with the team. Or at least as many of the team as are here today.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “You got it. But now you have me thinking all sorts of bad scenarios.”
I shrugged. “I’m kind of hoping you’ll all tell me I’m blowing this out of proportion.”
Before Marco could reply, Liz knocked and opened the door. “I have Mr. Torres and Hunter here.”
“Send them in, Liz,” I said.
Marco went to get another chair while I got out the write-up on Pedro Torres. Just as the other two were sitting down, my phone vibrated with a text. Normally, I would have let it go until later, but I had to see if it was Greg. I’d promised him I’d be available if he needed me.
Sorry to bother you, but I thought of something else after you left.
It’s no bother at all. What’s up?
Remember the first time you came to my apartment and someone had dropped a daffodil in front of my door?
I remember thinking it was a strange thing for someone to drop.
Yes, it was. But what is stranger is that someone left a vase of flowers on my piano at City Lights the next night.
Rage filled me. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I growled.
“Tony?” Marco’s voice was filled with concern. Shit, I’d completely forgotten about the interview. I looked up from my phone and met my brother’s gaze. “I apologize. My boyfriend is having some problems, and I’m trying to help him.”
Poor Pedro looked confused, as did Hunter. Marco nodded, his lips pressed into a flat line. “Do you need to leave?” he asked.
I shook my head. “There’s nothing I can do about it now. But I could use some advice from you later.”
“Noted,” Marco replied.
I shifted my attention to Pedro, willing my body to relax. “I apologize. I’m being unprofessional.”
Pedro shook his head. “It’s family. Family comes first.”
I almost slid the offer letter to him right then. What the hell was with me being so impulsive? Instead, I smiled at him. “That’s what we all believe here.” I sent a quick text to Greg so he wouldn’t think I was ignoring him.
Thank you for the information. I’ll add it to the list. I’m looking forward to seeing you tonight.
Same.
I slipped my phone into my jacket pocket and brought my attention back to the men in front of me. “All right. Let’s get started.”
Since Liam had done a thorough job of interviewing Pedro regarding his nursing skills, we stuck to going over the requirements for being on the personnel extraction team to make sure he was willing and able to leave the country at a moment’s notice.
Considering he’d been a flight medic in the Army, it wasn’t a problem for him.
“Having a backup pilot wouldn’t be a bad thing either,” Marco added.
“Truth,” Hunter agreed.
I looked over at Pedro. “So what do you think?”
The other man grinned at me. “You had me at ‘are you fucking kidding me?’”
There was a beat of silence, and then we all burst out laughing.
I slid the offer letter across the desk toward him. “You’ll fit right in.”
Afterward, Hunter brought Pedro out to Michael to get him set up with a laptop and to fill out the small mountain of paperwork. Marco stayed behind, waiting until the door closed before he asked, “What’s going on with Greg?”
“I think he has a stalker.”
Marco let out a low whistle. “Are you sure?”
A jolt of irritation ran through me. “Of course I’m not sure. If I were, I’d be tracking him down so I could beat him to a bloody pulp.”
My brother’s brows shot up. “All right, slow down, Tony. You can’t beat anyone to a bloody pulp. You’d end up in jail.”
Fury shot through me so quickly that I saw red. I shot up out of my seat. “Do you think I give a fuck about that? Someone tried to break into Greg’s apartment last night. They’re lucky they weren’t successful at picking the lock, or they’d be in the morgue with a bullet in their skull.”
“What the hell is going on?” Michael asked from the doorway. “Why is Tony yelling?”
“Get as many of the team as you can find and bring them into the conference room,” Marco said. He turned his attention to me. “Sit your ass down and calm the fuck down. You can’t lose control like that.”
It was rare for Marco to use his Senior Chief voice on me. But he was right to do it. I couldn’t lose control and go off half-cocked. I could end up targeting the wrong person.
I fell into my seat and blew out a long, slow breath. It took a few minutes, but I was finally able to think clearly and was ready to speak rationally.
“You good?” Marco asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m good.”
He rose from his seat. “All right, let’s go talk to the team.” He smirked. “And no yelling. You’ll scare the kids.”
I snickered. My brother could always make me laugh.
The door to the conference room was open, and I could hear the murmur of voices.
As soon as I walked into the room, it went dead silent.
The members of both extraction teams were there except Dante, who was at a doctor appointment.
Even Pedro was there, still filling out his paperwork.
Marco took a seat next to Liam. All eyes turned to me.
I cleared my throat. “Thanks for being here, especially you newbies. You’re about to get a crash course in how we operate here at Angel Security. I believe my boyfriend, Greg, has a stalker, and I’m asking for your help.”
There were shocked faces all around, and then a half-dozen questions were thrown at me all at once. Marco put his fingers to his lips and let out a shrill whistle. “Let the man finish.”
I shot my brother a look of gratitude, then turned back to the whole group. “Let me tell you about the evidence I have so far, and you can tell me if I’m blowing this out of proportion.” I told them everything that had happened up to Greg’s text this morning.
The silence in the room was contemplative. Finally, Michael spoke. “There’s not a lot to go on, but what you have seems to match the pattern of other stalkers we’ve dealt with.”
Pedro’s head shot up. “You track stalkers?”
I nodded. “It’s usually people who come looking for personal protection because of a stalker. Our first big break came from tracking down the guy who was stalking Jeremy Fitzgerald.”
“The piano player?” Hunter asked.
“That’s the one,” I replied.
“Let’s get back on track,” Marco said. He pointed at me. “Remember Frisbee Guy in Central Park?”
“Oh shit. Yeah, I remember him.” My gut twisted. Both Marco and I had been suspicious of the guy, but there was nothing we could have done. “Unfortunately, I don’t remember what he looked like.”
“And what about that guy in the hoodie at City Lights?” Marco added. “The one who was being pushy when he was asking Greg for a song.”
Michael, who was typing furiously on his laptop, held up his hand. “Slow down. I’m trying to get this all in a document.”
I knew Michael would take all the data he got and put it together in a way that made sense. I waited until he looked my way before adding, “Someone tried to break into Greg’s apartment early this morning.”
“Fuck,” Gabe growled. “Why would someone want to mess with Greg? And when did his status change to boyfriend?”
“Yesterday,” I replied succinctly, not willing to get into my dating life at that moment. To my brother, I said, “Michael, do you think you can get the security feed from Greg’s apartment building?”
He nodded absently. “Probably. I’ll ask first though.”
A snicker went around the table. I glanced at the three newest members of the team, and none of them seemed scandalized.
Addressing Gabe’s question, I said, “As for why someone would want to stalk Greg, it’s hard to say.
Most stalkers go after people they know: exes, friends, acquaintances, coworkers, that sort of thing. ”
“Didn’t you say his ex-boyfriend was abusive?” Marco asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. But Greg left him twelve years ago and hasn’t heard from him since.”
Michael added something else to his document. “We should still look into him, just in case. Do you have a name?”
I shook my head. “I don’t, but the Belmar PD should have a record of the domestic violence complaint.”
“On it,” he murmured.
Marco stood. “I think that’s all we can do for now. Until Michael has more information, we’re just spinning our wheels.” He checked the time on his smartwatch. “We’re scheduled for the gun range in an hour and a half. Get yourselves something to eat in the meantime.”
“Shit,” I muttered. “I forgot all about that. No wonder so many people are here.”
“Do you have your handgun?” Marco asked.
“Yeah. I just have to get some more bullets.”
“No worries,” he said. “I’ve got that covered.”
“Thanks.” I rubbed my hands over my face. “Christ, what a mess.”
Michael closed his laptop and came to stand beside me. He put his arm around my shoulder while Marco stood on my other side and did the same.
“We’ve got your back,” Marco said.
I closed my eyes, grateful as always for my family. “I know you do.”