Page 7 of Aydin

“Are you leading this meeting?” Nasir questioned, and I shook my head. His lips formed into a thin line. He always led the meetings and today, he thought it would be different because of a new employee.

“You’re the owner, but you refuse to lead meetings.”

“Why do I have you as my second in charge?”

He laughed, and we walked toward the conference room, and most of our staff were in attendance. Nasir opened the door, and I went to my usual seat in the back, so I could watch everyone’s expression when certain details were explained. Amelia sat next to Carly, one of our tech assistants, near the front, and I watched Nasir extend his hand out to Amelia. Then he pointed at me. That gesture caused Amelia to look over her shoulder at me. Nicco came in last as usual and took a seat next to me. He wore shades, since last night he got pretty wasted.

“Before we get started, let’s welcome Amelia to the team,” Nasir announced. Everyone in the room clapped. Amelia seemed embarrassed to be the center of attention but thanked Nasir and Molly.

“Can we get started?” I huffed, clasping my hands together and sat forward in the chair.

“Amelia, he might be your boss, but we all ignore him,” Nasir joked.

She smiled and opened the notebook in front of her to take notes.

“We have two events this week. Nicco is leading the extraction team Adonis,” Nasir informed the group. Nicco nodded and sat back in his chair.

“The next mission is the senator’s daughter,” I said. Everyone glanced back at me.

Senator Edgar’s daughter, Addison, was visiting Chicago for a few days, and she requested for our team to accompany her.

“I thought Addison decided not to run for election again?” Nicco wondered, and I did tell them that a few weeks ago. Addison was more ambitious than her father, and many times she’d been in the news for doing something to get further ahead for the upcoming election cycle.

“It’s one event she needs us to provide security and potential fundraisers.”

“Do you need Carly to get background checks started?”

“If she can have it done by the end of the week, make it a priority.”

“Amelia can help,” Nasir suggested. Amelia gasped in surprise.

“Uhmm… Do you think it’s too soon?” Amelia questioned.

“You’ll be fine. It won’t take long with Carly helping,” Nasir answered.

“Anything else?” I looked around the room at my team.

“Nicco, get your team rounded up, and Aydin, let me know how many guys you need,” Nasir said.

“How are things looking overall?” Nicco asked.

“Aydin, do you want to talk about it, or should I?” Nasir questioned.

“TN Security handles high-profile cases and a few celebrities, but we’ve recently seen an increase in our services being used for political cases.”

“That’s good, right?” Carly asked.

“Maybe, but it depends on the clients.”

“Wait, are you talking about enemies of the US?” Amelia blurted out.

“Something like that.”

“How do you determine who to work with?” Amelia asked. Nasir glanced from her to me, waiting for an answer.

“That’s why we’re meeting now. Yes, we vet our clients, but sometimes things fall through the crack.”

“What Aydin is trying to say is that we need to be on high alert at all times,” Nasir explained. Everyone nodded in agreement.