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Liam strolls in dressed in a slick dark blue suit, a matching paisley tie, and not one hair on his head out of place. His hands go out into a wide gesture. “What the hell are you doing in here?”
It’s a fair question because I hate sitting in my office. If I’m not on assignment, I usually hang out in the common areas of our three-story private office building. There’s a lounge area, gym, kitchen, and a pretty sweet patio space.
I’m a quiet guy, but I also enjoy being around people. Don’t ask me why. Something about this room feels too stuffy, too plain. I’m usually gone so I haven’t put any effort into changing it to fit me.
Why bother? I’m never here, anyway. Maybe I should change that. I could bring in a few things to put on my desk. Maybe some pictures to cover the bland, beige walls.
I table that thought as I sit up straighter, placing the ball back in the cup on my desk. Liam raises his eyebrows when I don’t answer him.
I shrug my shoulders. “Nobody was around, so I came in here.”
“Ah, yeah, the office is quiet today. Willow is out sick with one of her kids, but Colin and Donavan should be back tonight.”
Liam takes a seat in one of the two chairs across from me. He leans back, crossing one leg over the other as he steeples his fingers together. I’ve known him for over a decade, and I’ve spent most of that time working for him. He's a little older than me, a hard-ass, and damn if he isn’t a dedicated boss. He’s poured everything into this company, and you can tell.
Dunn Security Group, or DSG, is a leading agency in North America for private investigating and bodyguard services. Liam Dunn has worked his ass off to make it that way, too. He started with nothing and worked his way up to building a team that can handle just about anything that comes our way. Willow is his assistant and keeps all the inner workings of Dunn running smoothly for Liam, me, and the rest of the guys.
“Are you coming out with us tonight?” he asks as he glances around the still-bare room.
Even after five years in this building, I still haven’t changed a damn thing in here. “I was planning on it, boss.”
“Good, we need to talk later. I may have an assignment in the works for you, but I need to finalize all the paperwork before I bring you in on this one. It’s a higher profile case, and the girl isn’t on board yet.”
He says girl, like she’s young. Which is fine. I’ve had plenty of cases where there were children involved. In fact, I finished one six months ago guarding a six-year-old girl named Sophia. Her nanny, Adalyn—or Addy as we called her—had been through a traumatic kidnapping not long before taking the live-in position with Sophia and her father.
I was sent to protect them until the kidnapper was caught. Sophia is adorable, and I loved every minute of that case. Luckily, it all worked out and they no longer needed our services. I still FaceTime Sophia whenever I can. I became close friends with Addy and Sophia’s dad, Nathan, as well. We try to stay in touch as much as possible with them living in Fraser, Colorado.
I’m itching to start a new case, and Liam knows it. I’ve had to dodge my dad’s phone calls all week. He wants me to come down for the weekend to help in the store because he knows I’m not busy right now.
They live in Sutter Creek, a small town an hour east of Sacramento. It isn’t that I don’t love my parents or even that I don’t like going back home. I just need to stay busy doing what I’m trained for, not restocking shelves.
I’ve built a life here in Sacramento, and I love what I do. It’s hard to convey all that to a man who spends his time serving his community by owning and operating the town’s hardware store. My parents aren’t exactly fond of what I do for a living. It’s been a point of contention for years.
They think being a bodyguard is too dangerous and that I won’t be able to meet a woman and settle down if I’m constantly traveling. Unfortunately, they may be right on the dating front. It’s hard as shit to keep a relationship with my schedule. I also haven’t met a woman I would want to walk away from it all for. The closer I get to my mid-thirties, and the closer my father gets to retirement, the more my parents hound me to come home.
It’s exhausting. My mother also works at the store as a bookkeeper, doing payroll and keeping up with supplies and inventory. It’s a sixty-plus hour a week job for both of them. I know they’re getting older, more tired. My younger sister isn’t old enough to run the store yet, and my dad is banking on me doing it, but that isn’t the life I signed up for. This one is. The one I’ve built at Dunn Security Group.
I sigh, letting those thoughts go for now. If I have a case, I can get my parents off my back for a little while. Fingers-crossed an assignment comes through.
I respect Liam’s decision to keep the case close to the vest until the contract is signed, but it’s not like I’m going to run and tell everyone, either. He smirks when I simply nod as he stands and raps two knuckles on my desk before turning and leaving.
He only did that to fuck with me. Now I get to spend the rest of the day trying to figure out what the new case will be. The truth is if you want the best, you hire DSG. There’s no way in hell Liam won’t have that contract signed by the end of the day.
I’ll just have to wait until tonight to hear the details. I turn off my computer and straighten my already tidy desk. I plan to run errands for the rest of the day since it looks like I’m about to get a brand spanking new case that will hopefully keep me busy for a while.
I loathe when work is slow. I hop up and stride toward my open office door. I pull it closed behind me and head down the hallway to the exit.
I pass Liam’s office door on my way out, raising a hand to wave. “I’m headed out to get my shit in order. I’ll be ready for the assignment tonight.”
He laughs. “You cocky bastard. See you at the bar later.”
It’s not cocky when it’s the truth. We’re the best, and everyone knows it.
I slide onto an open bar stool as I wait for the rest of the guys to show up. I’m early, which is normal for me compared to everyone else. I got my to-do list done sooner than I thought I would, so I headed straight here instead of going home to an empty and quiet apartment.
This has been a longer break between jobs than normal, and I now realize how much I hate it. As each day passes, I get more anxious and unsettled. I hope like hell Liam has good news tonight. I don’t foresee there being an issue, but he usually tells us the jobs even before the contract is signed. This one is different, and that makes me anxious as well.
I’m sitting in a bar that’s right around the corner from the office. It’s our go-to meeting spot. It has an excellent selection of beers and the best damn hamburgers in the city. It’s not too busy, but then again, it never is on a Tuesday night.
