Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Why do I always get a sense of foreboding when he says he and Joshua have business to take care of?
“Because you know it has nothing to do with his legitimate business,” I answered myself.
I blew out a frustrated breath, wishing he’d leave that side of his life behind.
I understand why that type of life may have been necessary before, but it was no longer the case.
Steven was one of the richest men in the world.
Over these five years I’d been working for him, I’d seen him do some remarkable things.
Even Collins’s son had come around and signed the contract Steven offered his father before the man tried to kill him.
If he’d left the criminal lifestyle, he’d be better off. We’d be better off. I never went into this thinking we’d be exclusive for so many years, but here we are, and he was still no closer to giving up his life of crime and becoming solely a tech businessman.
While waiting for the elevator, I debated what I wanted.
Did I really want to be the secret lover of Steven Smith?
I wasn’t sure if I could continue with how things were.
It didn’t matter how much I loved him. The problem was, I didn’t know how he felt about me, and I was too afraid of what he would say to broach the subject.
I stepped into the elevator, making my way down to the security floor.
Deep in thought, I meandered down the hall and into the room Donavon set up for us as office space when we were initially hired.
When I entered the room, I softly closed the door behind me.
The guys were deep in conversation about the new camera system that was installed throughout the building.
“What’s up, guys?” I asked, walking toward the monitors.
Dennis glanced over his shoulder, then back at the screen. “Smith let you out of the office?”
Rolling my eyes, I pulled up a chair from behind one of the desks and sat behind them. I glanced over Dennis’s shoulder.
“What are you watching?”
“Nothing,” Rivera answered. “Just checking the blind spots.”
“You’d know that if you made it to the briefings,” Dennis pointed out.
I should’ve been ready for this. Dennis had been on my ass from the beginning about Smith. And he was the one who called me when Steven was going ape on everyone while I was visiting home.
“I still read the briefings, I don’t have to be here,” I said haughtily.
“Tisha, can I talk to you for a minute?” Aaden asked, brushing my arm to get my attention.
“Sure.”
I followed him to my desk, sitting on top of it, so we could have a little privacy from the guys.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“I’m not sure what you mean.” He could’ve been referring to a number of things, but I didn’t want to assume anything, especially if it was about my relationship with Steven, which apparently was the topic of discussion when I wasn’t around.
Admittedly, I wasn’t around much, not when the boss insisted you be his personal bodyguard.
“All of a sudden I’m told to put eyes on a fucking guy who kidnaps and beats the shit out of a girl and then ordered not to do anything about it?”
My eyes widened. I knew Aaden was given an assignment to help Tony St. Clair, but that was the extent of it.
“I didn’t know about the other part, Aaden. Honestly.”
“Do you know how fucking hard that was for me? Every fiber of my being was telling me to take that fucker out.”
We were hard-wired to protect, both in our military and security careers. For him to have to witness that and not be able to do anything, my heart went out to him.
“I’m sorry you went through that.” I grasped his shoulder and squeezed. “Do you know what happened?” Steven hadn’t told me anything about the assignment for Mr. St. Clair. Hopefully, everything worked out all right.
Aaden shook his head. “I don’t know what happened after I gave my information to Mr. St. Clair. He rushed in without backup. Dangerous as fuck, but I got in my SUV and drove off once he entered the building.” He rubbed his bald head. “Shit’s been eating at me ever since.”
Aaden blew out a breath. “I want to know if the girl is okay.”
I stood and pulled my friend into a hug. I hated to see something like that weighing on him. If I could ease the burden a little, I would.
“I think she is okay, just in the hospital from what I could gather from the quick conversation.”
Aaden stood back with a smirk on his face. “So, you and the boss, huh?”
I rolled my eyes. “There is no ‘me and the boss.’ I have no clue what you mean.”
The guys knew, but it didn’t mean I’d acknowledge it.
“Yeah, right,” he continued. “You don’t even hang out with us anymore. You’re always too busy.”
“Awww, you missed me?” I teased.
Aaden was quiet for a moment. “You’re like our little sister.” An affectionate look appeared on his face. “Yeah, we do.”
I was fond of the guys. Being an only child, I didn’t know what it was like to have siblings.
Finding that with my unit in the Navy was a godsend and a great emotional help for me.
When I retired, I wasn’t sure I’d find anything else like it.
Sure, the guys at the bars I worked at when I first came to Chicago were thoughtful and looked out for me, but it didn’t feel like family.
I didn’t find a sense of belonging and family like in the Navy until Chatman Security.
These guys meant the world to me. I loved them like brothers.
They were a little overprotective and slightly overbearing, but I knew they loved me. I embraced Aaden.
“Are y’all done yet?” Alex blew out an exasperated breath, and everyone laughed. He was so dramatic at times.
“Sorry, Rivera, you want a hug too?”
I marched over to him, his hands were up in a protective mode, so I couldn’t get into his space, but I managed to wrap my hand around his forearms and pull him into a hug.
“Okay, okay. Enough of all that,” he whined so I would release him and grinned.
“Hey, what about me?” Jeremiah stood from the chair in the corner of the room with his arms stretched wide, ready to embrace me. I’d almost forgotten he was there because he was so quiet.
I grinned, opening my arms and wrapping them around his back. He engulfed me in his embrace.
“You guys want to do a run-through? It would be good to find the blind spots in this thing,” I suggested.
I swung my arms, stretching out my muscles.
It had been a long time since we’d done one of these together.
The guys were right; I was spending too much time with Steven, and now I wasn’t sure if I could be satisfied with how things were for our future.
Heading for the safe on the wall, I entered the combination and opened it.
I retrieved the Glock from inside, checked the chamber, and stuffed it in the holster under my jacket.
“I’ll hang back and man the cameras,” Dennis offered.
“I’ll keep you company,” Jeremiah chimed in.
“The rest of us will head to the parking garage, the perimeter of the building, and the roof,” I stated. “You guys ready?”
“Sounds like a plan.” We put our earwigs in for communication and headed to the elevator. “I’ll take the perimeter,” Aaden said as we headed to the roof.
I gave a curt nod. “Good, I’ll take the roof. Alex?” I asked.
“Got the garage,” he said.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, I moved toward the door at the end of the hall, which led to the stairs and ran to the roof.
I wasn’t prepared for the beautiful scenery.
The city of Chicago stretched as far as I could see, along with Lake Michigan.
It was beautiful. I turned to find the cameras. “Den, can you see me right now?”
“Yeah,” he answered. “I can see you.”
“Okay, I’m going to move around, and you tell me when you can’t see me.”
“Will do.”
Walking slowly to the edge of the roof, I checked in with Aaden and Alex. “Alex, when you get off the elevator, check in. Aaden, you too.”
The guys gave an okay. I walked to the left of the roof.
“Stop, Tish,” Dennis said. “Let me write this area down. I can’t see you.”
From where I stood, you could see up and down the Magnificent Mile. I was falling more and more in love with this city.
“You got it?”
“Got it,” Dennis said. “You can move. Aaden, hit the alley. I want to see if there are any holes between the two buildings.”
“Will do,” Aaden said.
I continued my stroll around the roof. Someone had placed a few lawn chairs with umbrellas anchored by a cinderblock on the other side of the elevator overlooking the Chicago River.
“Alex, check in.” Dennis’s booming voice sounded through the earwig.
I continued my slow walk around the roof, waiting to hear from Alex.
“Alex, come in,” Dennis said.
Huffing and puffing came through as clear as a bell. “I’m in pursuit,” Alex said.
More breathing.
“Creeping around the bottom level,” he yelled, “heading for the stairs.”
“I’m on my way,” I yelled as I ran across the roof toward the door leading to the stairs. “Aaden, where are you?”
“Heading for the garage,” he said, his breath heavy like Alex’s.
I entered the stairs and made my way toward the lobby floor. One of the security guards in the front lobby jumped to his feet when he saw me coming across the slick floors full speed in my heels.
“Lock this place down once I hit the door,” I yelled, pointing to the door to the parking garage as I made my way quickly through the gawkers.
“Dennis, what do you see?” I asked once I opened the door. I needed to know which way Alex headed.
“Alex is catching up to him. They’re heading to the far end of the garage. Go left.”
Following his directions, I hurried across the concrete as fast as I could without breaking my neck. Footsteps caught up with me, echoing throughout the open space. I turned to see Aaden running, gun drawn, toward me.
“This way!” I yelled.
“I got the fucker!” A strong, raspy growl came through the earwig as we approached the area Dennis directed me to.
I drew my gun, approaching carefully as Alex wrestled and traded blows until he got the upper hand by wrapping his forearm around the intruder’s neck.
Uniformed building security offered help, their guns at the ready if needed.
I didn’t want any of this to escalate, so I slowly holstered my weapon, hoping they’d follow suit.
“Whoa, fellas,” I said, my hands out in front of me, trying to settle trigger-happy mall cops.
“Sorry, Miss McLean.” He holstered his weapon. “We saw the chase on our security cameras.” The man was breathing so hard, I had a hard time holding back my grin. He was an older, big man, but a bit out of shape. I squinted to read his name tag.
“Oh, sorry, ma’am. George. George Cross. And this is Tim and Chuck.” He pointed to the other two men with him who’d since put their guns away. They were all in various shapes of fitness. There was no way they would be able to help us.
I nodded while Alex dragged the intruder to his feet and to us.
“Thanks for your help, fellas. Can you cuff him and take him to the security office until we can call the police?” I asked.
“Sure thing,” George said.
“I’ll go with them,” Alex suggested, his hold still strong around the man’s arms.
“Agreed,” I responded, dreading calling Steven about this. I watched them leave, then turned to Aaden. “What do you think?”
“Security system needs an overhaul,” he deadpanned.
I nodded and pulled out my phone to call Steven.