3. Lily
3
Lily
“Mommy, you pretty.”
I had put on a gray pencil skirt and white blouse from the closet. I was still shocked by the number of outfits Kat had bought me. I slipped my feet into a pair of black high heels. My feet wobbled at first, and I grabbed the closet doorframe to stabilize myself. It was the first time since high school that I had a pair of high heels. Even back then, I had to hide them from my parents. The thought of my mother sent a shiver down my spine. She would’ve locked me in the closet for days if she found out I owned a pair of heels. Only whores and devil worshipers wore them. I walked over and pulled Tommy into a hug. “Thank you, little man. Be good for Abe today.”
“I will.” My son bit his bottom lip. “Mommy, is Dad coming for us?” My arms tightened around my son. He was little, but he watched everyone and everything around him.
I took a deep breath. “Why do you think he’s coming for us?” I never wanted to lie to my son. He had already been through so much. Tommy already had one worthless parent, and I wasn’t about to be the same way.
Tommy hugged me tighter. “Because on the way here, you talked about how much I would like school, but now I’m not going.”
I tapped my son's nose. “You’re too smart for your own good. Yes, your dad is out. He doesn’t know where we are, so we’re safe. Abe is going to stick around and make sure. Okay?”
Tommy nodded and ran out of the bedroom. I heard him yell Abe’s name as he ran through the condo. I sat down on the bed and looked in the mirror across the room. I had applied enough makeup to cover most of the bruise on my face, but under my eye, there was still a light hint of green. I reached up and ran my hand along the bruise, which no longer hurt. Pain is just another weakness. I hoped nobody would notice the injury at work today. My past was something I didn’t want to talk about.
I grabbed my black purse and my little box of items for my desk off the bed. The box was filled with pictures of Tommy, the light in my dark life. My heels clicked across the hardwood floor as I walked toward the living room. Tommy’s giggles filled the condo. Abe was tossing him up in the air. When he heard me come into the open living room, he stopped and set my son on the ground. “Good morning, Ms. Minix.”
“No Ms. Minix. Call me Lily, or I will call you sir.”
Abe was dressed in a tight black tee and jeans that hung low. He had a military-style haircut. I couldn’t see his eyes because he had his sunglasses on, but I knew they were ice-blue. Abe was a good-looking man, and he knew it. If I had been younger and not damaged, I might’ve made a pass, but dating was no longer in the cards for me. Tommy came first. “Okay, Lily, the car’s ready when you are.”
I set my purse on the white marble counter. “Did you eat yet?”
“Nope. I planned to have a protein bar.”
Since the fridge was full of food, I wasn’t going to let a big guy like Abe eat just a protein bar. I opened up the fridge and pulled out the milk. Reaching into the pantry, I grabbed the box of Froot Loops. “Come sit. You too, Tommy.” I poured each of them a bowl of cereal and grabbed a banana for myself. While Abe and Tommy finished eating, I packed a sandwich and chocolate pudding for lunch. I couldn’t remember the last time I had pudding.
The drive to Nova Satellite Security was quick. Houston traffic was horrible, but we only had to go ten blocks. When I knew Greg was back behind bars and I had nothing to worry about, I would walk to work. “Thank you for the ride, Abe. Do you want me to call when I’m done for the day?” I didn’t plan on fighting the bodyguard. There was a slim chance Greg would find me, and I wasn’t going to chance being on my own when it happened.
“No. Tommy and I will be here at five to get you. If you want to leave early, let me know, and if you see anything out of the ordinary, call. I programmed my number into your phone. I don’t care if you think it’s nothing. If something sets off an alarm for you, call me.”
I nodded. “I promise I will. Kat said Nova Satellite Security has top-of-the-line security and Neal’s technology running through the building. If I know Kat, she’s going to watch my every move while I’m at work.”
Abe’s lips twitched, which was the only indicator I needed to know I was right. Kat or someone at AA Security was watching me. The idea would make most people mad or creeped out, but it gave me a little peace of mind.
I gave Tommy a kiss on the forehead before getting out of the car and grabbing my box from the back of the car. NSS’s building was sleek and modern. I shielded my eyes from the sun as I looked up at the skyscraper, taking note of the sign with the company’s name. I took a deep breath and headed for the large glass doors. This was my first real job since getting my GED. I’d worked the food industry as a waitress and dishwasher for extra money when Greg went on his benders. Most of the time, he didn’t like me working. He thought I should be at home, making sure the apartment was ready for him. But when he lost his job or we were low on money, he would yell at me for not working.
The building was breathtaking on the inside. White marble lined the walls and floor, accented with silver to provide a crisp, modern look. The large clock behind the reception desk at the front of the building showed seven thirty. I was early for my first day, but I wanted to get my stuff settled before Jacob came in. The blonde behind the desk looked up from the computer as I approached. “Hi. Can I help you?” Her voice was chipper.
I shifted the box to the other arm and wished I’d waited another day to bring my things in. “I’m here to see Jacob Black.”
The woman looked to her computer and typed a few keystrokes. “I’m sorry, he’s not in yet. What’s your name?”
“I’m Lily Minix, and today is my first day as his assistant.”
“Okay, hold on.” The blonde reached for a pile of files. She flipped through the stack, and her pretty smile turned into a frown. “I’m sorry, I don’t see a new badge for you. Are you sure today was supposed to be your first day?”
My palms started to sweat. Did Kat get the info wrong? I wasn’t in the wrong building—the woman knew who Jacob Black was. “Can you look again? I really wanted to be at my desk when he shows up.”
The young lady shifted through the stack again and picked up the phone. I looked around the reception area as she made her call. Modern black-and-silver chairs lined the waiting area.
The lady tapped her finger on the counter. “I don’t see your paperwork, and human resources doesn’t have anything. I’ll leave a message for Jacob when he gets in.”
“Okay.” I rested the box on my hip, pulled out my phone, and started to walk toward the door, my eyes glossy with tears. My first day was not starting out well, but maybe Kat could help me. I was looking down at my phone when I ran into a hard body.
“Why can’t people put their phones down for two seconds and watch where they’re going?”
I looked up into a pair of steely-blue eyes. His lips were turned down. “Sorry.” God, the day was going horribly.
The man grabbed my arm, and I flinched. “Sorry,” he mumbled, dropping my arm. “Lily?”
“Yes, and you are?” Kat had shown me a picture of Jacob. The man was not him.
“My name is Jared. Why are you leaving?”
I let out a sigh. Great, I ran over the oldest of the Black brothers. Kat warned me to stay away from him. He wasn’t the nicest of the three. I understood, and I’d just met him. “The receptionist said she didn’t have any paperwork for me and told me I would have to come back.”
Jared headed for the receptionist, whose eyes narrowed as he approached the desk. For some reason, I wanted to back the lady up.
“Why didn’t call me, Kaylene?” he asked.
“You didn’t mention anything about a new hire.”
He leaned over the desk. “Next time, call instead of sending a new hire on the way.”
“But Huma—”
He cut her off. “I don’t care.”
He was a total asshole, but the younger girl didn’t seem to be as bothered by him as I was. “You don’t need to be an overgrown asshat.” I wasn’t sure where my backbone had come from.
Jared pivoted in his expensive shoes and stared me down. His lip twitched. “Hmm, not so broken after all.”
“You're rude.”
“So I’ve been told. Kaylene, make sure you see Lily to her desk. She’s Jacob’s new assistant.” He didn’t wait for Kaylene or me to respond before he turned and walked away.
Before I met Kat, I never would’ve said anything to the man for being rude. Every time I was around her, she taught me another way to protect myself. The night before Tommy and I left for Texas, she held another self-defense class, the tenth class I had taken. Once Tommy and I got settled, I planned to find a kickboxing class in Houston.
Kaylene grumbled next to me, “I’m sorry I didn’t call Jacob. Jared was right. I should’ve called him.”
I squeezed the girl’s hand as she used her other one to wipe the tears away. “You have nothing to be sorry about. I’m early, and Jacob should’ve left information with you so you would know to let me in. Jared was rude.”
“I can’t believe you called him an asshat.” A giggle escaped her. “Oh, I know he’s rude. It usually doesn’t bother me, but I’m having a bad morning.”
“Well, he was. You want to show me where my desk is?”
Kaylene reached into her desk and pulled out a badge. She made a quick call, asking someone to cover the front desk. When an older woman appeared to watch the desk, I followed Kaylene toward the sleek silver elevator, where she swiped her card and pressed the up button. A woman staring at her phone plowed into her.
The woman looked up. “I’m so sorry, Kaylene. Mr. Walker’s on a rampage this morning. I swear I’m going to call out sick one of these weeks and binge-watch Netflix.”
Kalyene let out a laugh. “It’s okay, Sasha. This is Ms. Minix. She’s Jacob’s new assistant.”
Sasha placed her phone into her Louis Vuitton purse and held out her hand.
I reached out and shook it. “Please, call me Lily.”
The elevator doors opened. “Okay, Lily, let's make sure you get up to your new office. You're lucky you're working for Jacob. He’s the nicest out of the brothers,” Kaylene said.
“Wouldn’t take much,” I mumbled. When I realized I’d said it out loud, I put my hand over my mouth.
Kalyene laughed and pressed the seventy-fifth-floor button. “Lily met Jared this morning.”
Sasha leaned over and pressed the seventy-third button. “I wish I could come with and talk more, but Mr. Walker’s head’s about to explode. Do you have plans for lunch today?”
I held up my paper bag. “Planned to eat at my desk.”
“Kaylene and I will be up at lunchtime. We can eat in the executive break room.”
The doors opened on the seventy-third floor, and Sasha stepped out. “See you at lunch.” I noticed an overweight man tugging on his tie. His eyes were shooting daggers into Sasha. I didn’t hear what he said before the doors closed. “Is she in trouble?”
“No, Mr. Walker messed up a design. Sasha told him it wouldn’t work, and he didn’t listen.”
“How do you know this?”
The doors to the executive level opened. “I’m Jared’s assistant. I normally don’t work downstairs, but the temp called in sick.”
My feet faltered. Kaylene seemed so sweet, and Jared was an ass. “You have to deal with that asshat all the time?” I asked as we stepped out of the elevator. Unlike downstairs, the office space we stepped into was dark cherrywood with hardwood floors. The décor screamed money.
I didn’t see the man standing next to the elevator when I asked the question. His deep voice startled me. “You already met Jared?”
I squeaked at the question. “I didn’t mean what I said.” I put my hand out. “Are you Jacob?”
The extremely hot man took a sip of his drink. His eyes were a few shades lighter than his brother’s. They reminded me of the sky. The suit he had on had to have cost more than I’ve made in a year. It was perfectly tailored to his body. Damn. I wanted to reach out and run my fingers over his five o'clock shadow. I stopped myself, though—he was my boss, and I needed the job. I saw his mouth move, but I didn’t hear what he said because I was so lost at staring into his eyes. “I’m sorry, can you repeat that?”
Kaylene laughed next to me. The sexy man obviously knew he was hot, and his lip ticked up. “I said it’s nice to meet you, Lily. I’m Jacob, and never apologize for calling my brother an asshat. I’m shocked Kaylene hasn’t put that on his business cards.” He waved for me to follow him. “Thank you, Kaylene, for showing Lily up. I’ll let you get to my brother.”
Kaylene grabbed my hand. “If you need anything, call. My extension is programmed into the phone. Don’t forget, Sasha and I will come to your desk and grab you for lunch.” Kaylene turned toward Jacob. “Human Resources doesn’t have any info about Lily, and Jared hadn’t said anything to me. Do you need me to take care of it?”
Jacob’s eyes flashed to me for a second. “We are handling Lily’s hiring a little differently. I will speak to HR.”
Kaylene opened her mouth then closed it.
“There is a reason we are doing this. Jared and Jax know what's going on along with Lily. If we feel you need to know, we’ll tell you.”
Kaylene nodded, but I could see she wanted to ask more questions. The three of us walked down the long hallway until we came to a three-way intersection. Jacob pointed to the far hall. “That will take you to Jax. He’s in charge of engineering. This hallway leads to Jared’s office—he’s the CEO—and this is our way.”
“Don’t forget lunch,” Kaylene yelled over her shoulder as she walked down the center hallway.
I lightly brushed my hand on Jacob’s arm to get his attention. “Mr. Black, I don’t want to get any special favors.”
Jacob stopped in the middle of the hallway. “First of all, it’s Jacob. The only person who likes to be called Mr. Black is Jared. Secondly, we are going to pay you cash until everything is taken care of.” I went to say something, but he held his hand up. “No, I’ve seen what that asshole has done. We’re going to take every precaution to make sure you’re safe.”
My face heated at Jacob’s words. I could only imagine the images he had seen. I knew Kat was going to send my file over, but my stomach turned at the thought of him reading it. “Okay.” What else am I supposed to say?
Jacob put his fingers under my chin. “Stop whatever is going through your mind. You’re strong and brave.”
When it came to compliments, I had a hard time believing them. From early on, my mother or father would give praise followed by a verbal beatdown. Not until I met Kat did I understand how emotionally abusive my parents had been. The physical abuse from Greg, I understood, but how my parents and Greg used words to make me feel like I deserved to be beaten or locked in a closet for a couple days was appalling. “I’m not brave, but I will do whatever I have to for my son.”
Jacob stared into my eyes a second longer. I quickly glanced away—his sky-blue eyes were easy to get lost in. “Okay, let me show you to your desk.” He reached over and grabbed the box from my hands. “Then you can get set up.”
At the end of the hall, Jacob swiped a card across a black box next to the glass doors. The doors opened into an incredible room with black-and-cream marble floors. The ceiling was shiny gray with recessed lighting, and the reception area contained a large u-shaped desk. Behind the desk on the wall were four different live pictures of a rocket going into space at night. The images seemed alive. When I lived in Florida, I had always wanted to watch a rocket launch, but my parents spent all their time with the church where my father was the pastor, and Greg never cared what I wanted.
“If you don’t like anything, we can change it.”
“No, these images of the rocket are so cool. Tommy would be in awe.”
Jacob pointed to the first picture. “The one in the top right was the first government contract we got. We launched our NSSB-19—the acronym stands for Nova Satellite Security Black—and the number is our nineteenth prototype. That satellite is still being used by the NSA today. The team is in the process of building another one for them right now. Technology breakthroughs increase each day, and we can only update a unit in space so far.”
Doubt started to sink in. The people who work here were geniuses. I’m twenty-five years old with a GED and no college education. I don't understand what they are talking about. Moving here was a mistake. “Jacob, I don’t think I’m qualified to work here.”
The sexy man dared to laugh, and when he did, it made my body tingle. “Lily, I don’t expect you to write code or design a rocket. I need help staying organized and keeping my schedule intact, I’m more than positive you can help me with that. Now, why don’t you get settled in while I check my emails? Down this hall”—to the right of my desk, he pointed—“is the executive floors’ break room. All three wings feed into there. If you want coffee or soda, you can find it down there.” He walked over and set my box on the top counter before striding through the frosted-glass doors to the left of the desk.
I let out a deep breath and walked behind my new workstation. There was a place next to the computer where I could put my pictures of Tommy. I didn’t want customers to see my boy, but I wanted to look at him while I was at work. The Mac computer was powered on, and I brushed my hands across the white keyboard. Once I had placed my few things on the desk to make myself feel at home, I wandered down the other hall, looking for the break room.
The theme from reception carried down the hall, with black marble floors and splashes of white. The cabinets in the break room were cherry, and there were stainless-steel appliances. One appliance caught my eye—it was a coffee maker that also made iced coffee. I walked over and grabbed a glass from the cupboard. I filled it with ice cubes from the fridge, and the sound of the ice falling blocked out the footsteps behind me. I squeaked when I turned around and saw Jacob behind me.
“Sorry, I thought you heard me. I came to grab a cup of tea.”
“I can make that and bring it to you.”
Jacob grabbed a mug from the same cupboard and filled his with hot water from the other side of the coffee maker. Once my cup was full of ice, I walked back to the coffee maker and selected iced coffee. While the coffee filled my glass, I watched as Jacob make his tea. He slowly steeped Earl Grey into the glass.
I pulled my mostly full cup away from the machine, and when I went to grab the cream, my hand brushed against Jacob’s. My fingers tingled where it touched him. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. He’s your boss , I repeated in my head as I walked back to my desk.