Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
“Well, I do,” she says. “And I need you to put a little more faith in me. Or, if not me, put faith in the people you’ve trusted with my care. Do you really think they can’t handle protecting me?”
I mull it over. She has a point. I sip my coffee and think it through. Finally, I land on a compromise we can both live with.
“I can give you a month of controlled movement,” I say. “That means you can go to the office with a full team, always taking direct routes, no detours. The first hint of a threat and we move that same day. And when you start showing, you go to the compound and don’t leave except for appointments I approve. If you hate it, you can tell me you hate it. The rule stands.”
She folds her arms, clearly not happy with the compromise. Naturally. “A month?” she asks.
“A month,” I confirm. “If the field goes quiet, or if we manage to weed out the threat, we can reevaluate. If things heat up, though, the clock stops.”
She presses her lips together in a hard line. “I don’t like it,” she says. “What’s to stop you from seeing the smallest inconvenience as a threat?”
“I don’t care if you like it,” I say, ignoring her last question because I can’t answer that fairly. “I care that you’re breathing.”
She looks away, then back. “Fine. A month.”
“It starts today,” I say. “I want you packing after work in case we need to move quickly.”
She mutters something about tyrants and then opens her notebook again. She writes a list and underlines three items. I give her the time. This is the closest I get to compromise.
At ten, I call a meeting. Yuri, Marcus, Pavel, Elyan, and Thom. We keep the door locked and I make them put their phones in a basket.
“You already know the state of things,” I tell them. “I’m adding a new priority. Mari and the baby sit above every other concern. That isn’t up for debate.”
Heads lift. They look at one another. Yuri keeps his eyes on me. He already knows. Marcus and Thom exchange a glance. Pavel watches the screen, reading amounts like they’re people.
Marcus clears his throat. “Family changes the field,” he says, his tone careful.
“It changes everything,” I agree.
“People will test you,” Thom says. “They’ll think you’ve gone soft.”
“They can think whatever they like,” I say. “If someone even flags her on a plan, they’re finished. If anyone inside so much as speaks her name in a way I don’t like, I cut that out before it spreads. If you hear anyone push the idea that a child is a liability, you bring me the name.”
Marcus nods but his mouth tightens. Elyan stares at the floor. Pavel doesn’t react at all. Yuri looks bored, which means he’s with me.
“We’re increasing her protection,” I go on. “The compound is getting upgrades as we speak.”
Then I walk them through the security plan I’ve drawn up to keep her detail locked down tight.
“We’ll need more bodies,” Thom says. “I’m fine running point, but I don’t have the manpower for that much changeover.”
“Get whatever resources you need,” I say. “But I don’t want any rookies near her. Pull from crews we trust. Pay the premium.”
“People are starting to talk,” Marcus cuts in. “Not about Mari. About the restaurant hit and the club hit. You know how it goes. They want to see if you’re spread thin.”
“I’m not,” I say.
“They’ll try to attack you again to prove that,” he says.
“They can try,” I snap. “If they come near her, they don’t breathe again. I will not warn anyone twice.”
He nods but keeps that concern in his eyes. I know it comes from a real place, but I don’t have room for it. Concern only slows me down.
No one argues after that. I set assignments and clocks. I set a schedule for the move and new perimeter checks. I end with the part they don’t want to hear.
“Some of you think a child makes me weak,” I say. “It doesn’t. It makes me faster. If you need proof, test me. You’ll only have one shot.”
Yuri stays when the others file out. I pour water and hand him a glass. He doesn’t touch it.
“You’re running hot,” he says. “But you seem to have a clear head about it all. That’s good.”
“I’m not interested in your speeches today,” I say.
“I don’t have a speech,” he says. “Just a question. Are you sure you want to move to the compound this soon? She’ll fight you.”
“She already fought me,” I reply. “I gave her a month.”
He snorts. “That’s generous of you.”
“It’s reasonable,” I say, borrowing Mari’s word. “She needs the work to feel like herself. I’ll take that from her when I have to. Not before.”