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Bethany elbowed her way into the conversation. “Have you ever heard of the term ‘attorney-client privilege’? I can’t bring a meat locker into a client meeting! No offense, Randy.”
“None taken, Attorney O’Donnell.”
Levi’s jaw clenched as he leaned over Bethany, apparently trying to menace her. “You can’t be alone right now. It’s not safe.”
He obviously didn’t know our lawyer very well—she stood up even straighter, all five foot three of her in spiked heels, and didn’t back down an inch. “I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time, and quite successfully. I don’t need your help.”
Levi crossed his arms. “Lauren agrees with me about this, and last time I checked, she was your boss.”
Bethany arched an eyebrow. “Lauren is my client—I tell her what to do, not vice versa. So back off.”
Lauren came over and patted Bethany on the arm. “Can you please take security as a favor for your favorite client? I don’t want you getting hurt. I can’t handle worrying about it right now. So please, take Randy with you. If you’re worried about privilege, just let him background check everyone and then he can wait outside the door of whatever meeting you have. Okay?”
Bethany frowned at Lauren. “Okay.” She turned back to Levi. “For the record, I like being asked—not told.”
Levi’s eyes glittered. “Duly noted.”
Bethany snorted. “Enough with the legalese. Jesus!” She stalked off, Randy close on her clicking heels.
Levi watched Bethany as she left, and Lauren watched Levi. I wondered if my sister had neglected to tell me some juicy gossip, and vowed to corner her about it later.
Wes stepped forward. “Levi.”
All concerns about gossip fell away. I gripped Wes’s hand so he wouldn’t forget about me and what I wanted, which was to keep him as far from harm’s way as possible.
“You said you wanted to talk to me,” Wes said.
“I do.” Levi’s gaze flicked to me. “How’re you doing, Hannah?”
“I’m good. Thanks.” Since Levi and his team had rescued me, he’d continued to check in on me, the way a big brother might. “But I don’t want Wes coming back to active duty—he hasn’t been cleared for that.”
Wes ignored me and focused on Levi. “I have a follow-up appointment with my doctor later this week.”
“Good.” Levi patted Wes’s arm. “We’ll see about getting you back in the field after that. But, I do need to talk to you—Lauren and I have been discussing Paragon’s security, and she’d like my company to take over operations at the lab.”
Eddie, Paragon’s long-time security manager, had decided to retire. Who could blame him?
“Okay.” But Wes sounded unsure.
Levi smiled at him. “I’d like you to come work for Betts Security. You’ll still be at Paragon on a rotating basis, but business is booming in Silicon Valley. I need all the good men I can get, including you and your brother. I spoke to Ellis last night, by the way. He’ll be here this afternoon.”
Wes coughed. “Here, here? As in Northern California?”
“Yes, he said he’d stop by after he dropped his stuff at home. Listen, about your new position, I’ll send you the contract so you can review it. I have your number. You can start as soon as you’re medically cleared.” Levi patted him on the arm again and was gone.
I temporarily stopped being pissed about Wes’s campaign to get back to work. “Ellis will be here this afternoon. That’s great!”
He grunted, looking less than ecstatic. “We, as in you and me, are going real estate shopping. I’ll let my brother have my old house—him and his guns and his Budweiser.”
I didn’t think Wes really needed to add house hunting to his to-do list. Selfishly, the idea of him going anywhere, including to a new house of his own, made my gut twist. But I needed to be supportive, at least about this.
“We can start looking. I’ll help,” I offered.
“It’s a date. Listen, can I come with you to Fiona’s today? I promise I won’t act like a security guard, just a worried boyfriend.”
“Wes!” Brian called from the other side of the room. “We need you for a tactical meeting in five.”
