Chapter 11 Liev
LIEV
Brady isn’t bothering to hide the fact that he doesn’t want me here. I’ll give him credit. Standing at the end of the conference table, arms folded across his chest, the look he’s giving me would probably intimidate most people. But most people didn’t grow up the way I did.
Other than Brady, the only other people in the room are Vincent and Brady’s fiancée, Elizabeth. I’m not exactly sure what her role is, but I know enough about her reputation to respect her intelligence.
I don’t think the wink I gave Sera as I walked through the main area of Elite Security is the primary cause of his agitation either, but I’m sure it didn’t help, if he even saw it.
It might not have been the smartest move, but despite the cool look on her face as Sera stood in one of the many doorways watching my arrival, I noticed her picking at her nails. She was nervous.
For me?
The thought that her concern for me might make her unhappy was both unacceptable and deeply comforting. Other than Alex and my mother, I’m not sure anyone has ever cared what happened to me before.
“I don’t want you here.” Brady doesn’t waste time getting to the point, ignoring Elizabeth’s groan. “However, I seem to be the only one who thinks you aren’t suited to this kind of work. My sister claims she owes you, and I don’t want her owing anything to the br—”
“Sera doesn’t owe me—or anyone—anything.” I glare at him. It’s one thing for me to gently manipulate Sera into spending time with me, but I don’t want her brother holding this over her head. “No one even knows that I know her.”
During our brief phone call yesterday, when Sera told me her brother was willing to talk to me, she admitted she’d given him a vague story about an attempted robbery and that I had intervened.
“And she certainly doesn’t owe me for the other night. She was doing just fine on her own before I got there.”
I fight the urge to smile as I picture again my father and the wound in his neck. I would have loved to have seen the look on his face when he realized my Little Warrior had bested him. Leaning back in the chair, I let myself smirk. “I was just a bonus.”
“Sera said you handled it. What exactly does that mean?”
I inhale a slow, unbothered breath not breaking eye contact. “It means the situation was contained.”
I’m not going to spell it out for him.
Brady’s jaw tics frantically as his nostrils flare, but before he can say anything, Vincent intervenes.
“Sera’s suggestion that you’re looking for a temporary assignment works out well for us. We’re stretched unusually thin at the moment and need a body.”
“I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Brady says through clenched teeth. “Even if this job is essentially crowd control, we can’t promise a client protection and then send out someone inexperienced.”
The smile that stretches across my face only seems to enrage the man further.
“Inexperienced. With what exactly?” I cock my head, enjoying how my casual attitude is irritating him.
“Protecting high-value assets? Keeping people safe from various other people who want to kill them? Or extractions? I particularly enjoy these. Interrogations? Or do you mean the more boring stuff like surveillance and running a team?”
Vincent’s mouth curves slightly, but his voice is even when he speaks to his partner. “You know he’s qualified. We’ve worked together before, and he runs security for Koval Industries as well as his other activities.”
“That’s a good point.” Elizabeth’s razor-sharp gaze is on me. “Why do you need a job? I would assume your position with your family keeps you busy.”
Her comment is layered, and everyone in the room knows it. I decide to give them a little of the truth. “My father was killed recently, and to avoid any surplus drama, it’s been decided that I should be absent while…” I pause for effect. “Restructuring is taking place.”
Brady’s expression darkens. “Will this restructuring drama follow you?”
“No.”
“That’s it? No.” Brady growls.
“It’s the answer. Do you need me to wrap it up in a bunch of words for you to understand?”
Elizabeth snorts, and she covers her mouth when Brady swings his head to glare at her. “What? It’s not like you’re super communicative.”
“Brady.” Vincent sends his partner a look, and while Brady still looks like he’d like to tell me to fuck off, he hisses out a frustrated breath.
“This is temporary.” He braces his weight on his palms across the table from me. “One job. And you have to agree to follow all our protocols. If you fuck up, I don’t care who you’re connected to, I will kick your giant Russian ass.”
“Understood.” I lace my fingers together and flex them once, enjoying Brady’s anger a little too much. “So, what’s this job?”
Elizabeth sighs, glancing at her watch. “She should be here for the introductory meeting in about thirty minutes.”