Page 16 of Unleashed

I must be a little touchy, because once again, I speak without thinking. “The one where people don’t fight with their boss.”

Maren scowls. “You’re not my boss.”

Technically, she’s correct. Brooke is her boss. But I’m kind of Brooke’s boss. Sort of. In a way.

“Thank God.” For a minute there, I thought Maren would be a great assistant. I still think she’s a great assistant, just not for me. I can’t imagine how many cups of coffee I’d end up wearing, or how much we would actually get done between bickering matches.

“Agreed.” Again, Maren is determined to have the last word.

And again, so am I.

But I don’t get it out fast enough.

“There you are.” Ruth strides down the hall toward us. “Security said you came in, but that you turned down this hall instead of going to your office.”

“I came to see if Brooke was in her office.” I stick with the story I gave Maren. “But she’s not.”

Ruth’s eyes flick to Maren before coming back to me. “Would you like for me to schedule a time to meet with her?”

“No. It’s not a big deal.” I turn from Maren, fighting the urge to look back as I walk with Ruth in the direction of my office. “Has everything been relatively quiet?”

Ruth snorts. “Nothing is ever quiet around here.” She pauses when we reach the end of the hall, turning back to give Maren a wave. “I’ll see you later.”

Maren offers Ruth a genuine smile. The sort she never gives me. “After a while, crocodile.”

Ruth goes back to leading me away, running down everything we would have discussed in our morning meeting if I hadn’t started my day outside of the office. It seems we have bids for landscaping to go over, a new freight carrier to consider, and an upgraded system for Walker’s division that I need to learn at some point.

I do my best to have the capability of keeping every part of the company up and running in case of an emergency. I don’t have to be as great at running their departments as my brothers and cousin are, but I do need to know how to keep things afloat. Titus having twins and Walker and Toby being in an accident showed just how valuable that skill set is. Instead of everything going to shit while they had to take time off, I was able to step in and handle what had to be handled.

Did I have to work nearly around-the-clock to accomplish it? Yes. But what the fuck else do I have to do?

Lunch feels like it comes earlier than normal since my day started late, and before I’m ready, Ruth is gone to spend the hour with Tucker, leaving me alone.

I decide to make it a working lunch, and plow through the wrap she ordered me while watching the training video for Walker’s new system. His division is the original portion of the company. It’s where everything started, and it still brings in a substantial chunk of the company’s income, so making sure I can keep the warehouse and shipping department running in a pinch is important.

Unfortunately, this new system Titus’s team has designed is significantly more complicated than the previous one. I get the reason for that—keeping everything from ordering to shipping to inventory in one location will save time in the long run—but figuring out how to navigate this thing is a nightmare. I feel like I haven’t really made any headway by the time Ruth returns, looking pink cheeked and perky.

She obviously had a more enjoyable lunch than I did.

After clearing away the remnants of my food, she accompanies me to the meeting I have scheduled with Titus and the security team. This one’s to go over the protocol we initiated after discovering Ray had passed out key cards and information, making us susceptible to another attack. Since Titus was in the office yesterday, he’s joining by video. While Ruth sets up a computer at the end of the table, I refresh my memory on everything we’ve implemented.

As the heads of our security team file in, I look each one over, searching for any suspicious behaviors. I hope lightning wouldn’t strike twice, but at this point, I just don’t know that I’m willing to bank on it. Not when my employees are at stake, and sure as hell not when my family’s safety is at risk.

His team has all the digital information collected by our card readers and cameras, so Titus runs the meeting for the most part. All I have to do is sit back and pay attention. Which is not as easy as it usually is.

Because where the fuck is Maren’s car?

Did someone else bring her to work? Surely she wouldn’t have spent the night at some other man’s house. Not so soon after we⁠—

I stand up abruptly, every eye in the room coming my way as they wait for me to explain what the fuck I’m doing. Good luck with that. Because I don’t actually know what the fuck I’m doing. The best I have to offer is, “I’ll be right back.”

I head straight out of the room, going directly to my office and closing the door behind me. I don’t need Ruth peeking her head in here to see what I’m up to. Honestly, it’s a little unhinged.

But I’ve got to know. Otherwise I might drive myself fucking nuts wondering.

I log into our security system, and begin going through the video feed recordings, focusing on the ones from the parking lot this morning. There are a few drop-offs, but none of them are Maren. I practically have my nose pressed to the screen as I search for her, agitation making it difficult to sit still.

Because what am I going to do if she was dropped off by some other man? I can’t confront her about it. It’s not like there’s any sort of agreement between the two of us. No understanding of anything remotely close to exclusivity.