6. Chapter 6
Her parent’s house looked out over the bay and the city skyline. It was a beautiful sight. Especially at sunset and sunrise. Even now in the middle of the day from her lounger on the deck, Berkland was a sight to be had. The martini in her hand didn’t hurt things either.
“Are you going to tell me what brought you here on a workday? You never have time off anymore,” her mother said from behind her before coming into view and sitting on the chair next to her. Her mom, Betty, was the definition of the perfect housewife. Always dressed and ready with a cake on a plate and coffee in the pot for unexpected visitors. A spotless house that was well decorated. Dinner on the table when her husband came home. Ready to “get on her knees” when needed as she had so blatantly put it that one day that scarred Melanie’s brain.
They were complete opposites. That didn’t mean she couldn’t share her life with her mom though. If she didn’t have her, who did she have? “I accidentally went on a date with someone I shouldn’t have.”
“Who is he?”
“Someone close to Andrea.”
The sigh from beside her made her roll her eyes. Her mother didn’t like that she worked for DeLaney. But with her past, it wasn’t like she had a lot of options at the time she took the job. Fucking over city hall wasn’t the smartest career move she’d ever made. Now though, she was committed, and she knew too much to just walk away.
“He’s like a son to her or something. He tried to explain, but I panicked and ran away before he could.”
“Well, if he’s not actually her son then is it a big deal?” Her mother turned to look at her and smiled. “Maybe you overreacted. You havent had a date in over a year, Mel. You’ve got to put yourself out there, baby.”
Why? But she wasn’t going to ask her mom that. Because she knew the answer already. ‘You need someone to love you and care for you, Mel.’ She’d heard it a million fucking times. It wasn’t even a holiday. There was no reason to bring that discussion up. “He’s younger than me.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Her mom sat up with a silly look on her face. “How much younger?”
“Like six or seven years. I don’t know, he looks young.” She took a big sip of her martini and winced. It was definitely more vodka than anything. The burn felt good.
“Honey, you’re not getting any younger.” Here it was. Her mom’s favorite part. “If a younger man wants you, then you’ve got to snatch him up now.”
Or not. Usually the next sentence was: ‘You’re almost to the age that you’re going to have to settle.’
“Twenty-four or twenty-five is when boys start to become men. You can mold him, Mel.”
That made her laugh and almost choke on her drink. “Mom!”
A raised brow and smirk were the only response she got.
“I just want you to be happy, honey. You haven’t been truly happy in a while.”
“And a man is what’s going to make me happy?” God. Why did she even come here?
“It certainly couldn’t hurt.” Her mom stood up and dusted off her pants. “You should give him a chance to explain himself before you throw him away.” Then she walked off and back into the house.
Instead of thinking about it, she chugged down the rest of her martini and laid her head down on the chair. Maybe her mom was right. Or maybe she was wrong. Either way, she couldn’t do anything about it right now. What she could definitely do was go home and veg out in her jammies and not give a shit about anything until the weekend was over.
It was almost two when she turned on her street and noticed two DeLaney cars sitting in front of her apartment building. Hutch was standing on the sidewalk in front of the rear door of the first Range Rover. Fuck. She was caught. It almost felt like a walk of shame when she parked and got out of her car. As she rounded the back of the SUV, Hutch pulled the door open with a smirk on his lips. Andrea got out, looking like the fucking model she should’ve been, and raised a brow. God, the woman could fucking murder her right now with just that look.
Melanie couldn’t think of what to say. Obviously she wasn’t sick. Apparently Andrea had known that or she wouldn’t be here. Did Levi beg her to come talk? If he did, that was just proving the point that they couldn’t date. Being with a man who had her on their side was terrifying.
“May I come in for a moment?” Andrea asked smoothly when Melanie failed to speak.
“Uh,” she looked around nervously trying to remember if she even washed the dishes this morning, “Yes.” Was there really any other answer? They rode up the elevator in silence then entered her apartment, still quiet. It was nerve-wracking. “I’m sorry I called in and canceled our meeting.” They actually had a lot to discuss since Andrea had been away from the office for several days.
“I don’t care about that. We can talk about that stuff later,” Andrea said, pulling out a chair at the table and sitting down.
“Do you want a drink or something?” Her palms were sweating. She rubbed them on her jeans. Fucking hell, what was her problem?
“No, thank you. Have a seat, please, you’re making me nervous.”
She let out a ridiculous laugh that sounded so stupid she wanted to slap herself. But she sat down and clasped her hands in her lap.
“I haven’t seen you this nervous since I asked you what F.A.D.F was.” Andrea smiled and undid the button on her blazer. “You’re not in trouble or getting fired. I’m not mad. We just need to talk.”
She took a deep breath and nodded. “Sorry. Before we talk, how’s Avrie?”
“She’s doing better.” Her face softened when she spoke about her daughter or wife, and Melanie loved that about her. A badass bitch who loved her family. That was an aesthetic she could get behind. “We still don’t know what she had, but when I left earlier, she was laying in bed, letting Val read to her. The doctors all say she’ll be fine now.”
“Good. We were worried about her.”
Andrea straightened her sleeves and leaned back more in her seat. Her body language always said so much, but today she seemed conflicted. “There are three things I need to say to you. Since I’ve been waiting and promised my wife I would be home soon, I’m just going to jump in, ok?”
“Yeah, sure.” She appreciated the directness anyway. It left no room for question when people just said what they needed to.
“I’m not Levi’s mother. In fact, that boy knows a little too much about all the aspects of my life. If he were my kid, I would probably be embarrassed.” The laugh she let out said she really meant that too. Melanie could only imagine. In her mind, Andrea had a pretty crazy history both with work and sexually. “I pulled him out of a fire when he was four. I don’t know why, but I kept tabs on him after that. His adoptive parents were friends of mine and let me see him sometimes.” Clearly Andrea loved him. The tone of her voice and the look on her face said that he meant a lot to her. Which was exactly the reason Melanie jumped out of his truck last night. “When they died too, I kept him from going down the path his grief was pushing him toward. We aren’t going to discuss the details and this isn’t a sob story on his behalf because if he wants to tell you about it someday, then it should be his story to tell. But I will say this, whether you decide to talk to him, date him, or completely ignore him for the rest of your life, I ask that you keep the knowledge about the depth of our relationship to yourself.”
“I would never—”
Andrea cut her off though. “I’m not saying you would or wouldn’t. I’m just asking that for his safety, you never reveal how much he means to me.”
“I promise,” she said sincerely. She understood that in Andrea’s position, having people close to her also made them a target. Well, only if someone was foolish enough to think that they could take on the DeLaney Mob.
“Good.” Andrea crossed her legs and looked at her watch. Obviously she was worried about how long she had been gone. Melanie felt slightly bad for making her wait, but it wasn’t like she had been expecting company. Which was exactly Andrea’s M.O. She liked to catch people off guard. “Now, the account I need to set up is to start an intelligence division of DeLaney Security. We’re going to investigate cases the cops won’t. They will also be charged with monitoring the gang and illicit activity around the city to make sure they aren’t stepping out of line. Most importantly, we’re going to help the areas of the city that feel like everyone else forgot about them.”
Jesus. She had just spent days in the hospital with her sick kid, her wife was about to give birth, and she managed all of DeLaney, yet she still wanted to add another thing to her plate? “Ok. How much are we talking?”
“Let’s put a million to start. I’ve got my architect coming this weekend to figure out what walls they can move on the eighth floor. His contractor and design team are coming in to look on Monday. He knows I want the estimate by the end of the day, so they’ll be there early. The remodel money needs to come out of the building budget. It’s going to be expensive, which is fine as long as it’s done quickly.” Her phone buzzed, and she slid it out of her pocket then looked apologetic. “Sorry, one sec.” She stood and walked into the living room, not that it was going to give her much privacy.
Melanie stood too and put her bag on the counter. She made a glass of water and grabbed her notepad while listening to Andrea’s side of the conversation.
“I know, love. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. You need to be resting.”
“Yes. I remember what you told him.”
“I promise to be nice to him.”
“Ok. Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll call you from the car when I’m headed over there.”
“Hi, doodlebug. Mama will be back soon, just be good for Mommy and Aunt Allie.”
“Ok I’ve got to go. Love you too.”
Before she turned around, Melanie saw her take a deep breath. It was impossible to know how much weight those tiny shoulders were carrying, but Melanie admired how well she did it. In the world of today, it was hard to be graceful and terrifying, yet somehow she had it down pat.
“Sorry about that,” Andrea said as she sat back down.
“No problem at all.” She picked up her pen to take notes if she needed to.
“We’re going to move some people over to intelligence and possibly hire some others or maybe just fill the positions on the security teams. We’ll have to buy office furniture and whatever equipment they’ll need.”
“Got it. At what point do you want to know where the account is and do you want to run the intelligence payroll off of it too or just expenses?”
“Everything. I want all the expenses completely separate from DeLaney Security so we can get an idea of how much this is going to cost me.” She shook her head and tapped her fingers on the table. Andrea wasn’t a fidgeter, so it was interesting to see her this way. “We’re going to lose money with this, but we’re going to gain something invaluable.”
“What’s that?” Numbers made sense to her, not strategizing and moving parts of the company like chess pieces to better the city.
“Support from the community. We have it now to an extent, but the goal of this entire operation is to make them see we are going to live up to the promise I made them. We won’t leave them high and dry like the officials of this city have done for too long. DeLaney is no longer criminal, we are just like them. Fighting every day to be better and survive.”
That right there was why Melanie admired her. The passion and determination. The want and drive she had to make Berkland a better place. It was fucking inspiring. Andrea knew she was going into this endeavor with no option but to lose money and she was still going to do it without blinking an eye. “Sign me up,” she said with a laugh.
Andrea laughed too and glanced at her watch. “Once we have the construction bid on Monday, let’s talk about the impact it will have on the HQ budget. And if you can work up a rough estimate on salary, equipment, and furniture allotments for twenty to thirty people that would be good too.”
“You got it. Who’s going to be lead, so I can get an idea of what they’re thinking?”
“Well, that’s the other thing we need to discuss.”
Immediately her stomach dropped. “Levi.”
“Yes. I want to bring him into the fold. My life has gotten complicated. It’s harder to sneak off on my own to go see him now. So I’m being selfish and pulling him in, which is what he’s always wanted, but I refused.” Andrea shifted and scooted closer, like somehow that was going to make this any easier. “I need him because I trust him explicitly. He knows my vision for this and what I’ve been working toward since I took over as Boss. He’s the right person for this.”
“Ok,” she said with a nod. Andrea had been right this far with her decisions. Who was she to question them? Just the accountant. “I’ll meet with him and get you the numbers by Monday evening.”
The way Andrea tilted her head and studied her made her nervous again. She fought to remain still. “You won’t be working in the same department. No DeLaney policy will prevent you from seeing him if you want to.”
Did Andrea want them to date? Really? “No, but you’re my boss and he’s like…your family.”
This time when Andrea tilted her head the other way, she smiled a silly smile. One that she didn’t wear often. “You’re family too. If I didn’t like you and respect you and your opinions, trust me you wouldn’t still be working for me. I damn sure wouldn’t have waited outside of your apartment for an hour and a half just to check on you.” She laughed and stood up. “I don’t visit all my employees at home, Melanie. It’s your life, and I’m not going to tell you how to live it. I’m also biased when I say this, but Levi is a good man.” She buttoned her jacket and grabbed her phone off the table before letting their gaze connect again. “He is a man though, so he’s going to make mistakes,” Andrea said with another laugh. “But I promise you this, if he steps out of line with you, I’m the one he has to answer to.”
That made Melanie laugh too. Somehow the entire speech made her feel hopeful and nervous at the same time. “Well, you’ve given me something to think about.”
“That’s all anyone can ask.” She held out her hand, and they shook. “Next time you want a day off, just say that. You’ve had no time off since you started with DeLaney so it’s long overdue.”
She felt herself blush, but it was uncontrollable. With a nod, she said, “I will.”