Page 96 of Unexpected Hero

“Tomer and I have talked about expanding our employee monitoring system. It could be scaled for commercial use in a month or two if necessary.”

“The one we have in our homes? That’s possible?” Leo asks, glancing from Klein to me.

I give him a nod. “Affirmative.”

Klein and I designed a system that’s installed in all Redleg employees’ homes. Lots of bells and whistles. Fully customizable.

Boss leans forward, bracing himself on the table with his elbows. He narrows his eyes, encouraging Klein to continue.

“If we did it, we could cut out all outside contractors and suppliers, making it 100 percent our product. We already do the monitoring, so we’d have the control from top to bottom. Never counting on a company like SECO to give us the shaft.”

Leo smirks, his eyes darting between us and landing on Boss. He gives Big Al the subtlest of nods.

Our fearless leader shifts his gaze to the ceiling while wobbling his jaw from side to side. Once he’s decided, his arms fall to the table, fists banging quietly on the wood.

“Okay.”

Klein pumps his fist. “Yes.”

I’m a little less enthused. But that’s only because of how much time this is going to take. Especially when I’d rather spend that time on other pursuits.

But life has a way of giving you what you need, not what you want. Or rather, taking you away from what you shouldn’t want.

It’s yet another reminder to keep my attention on what matters.

Starting tonight, Lettie will be employed, resolving her money issues. As soon as I find her a safe place to live, I won’t need to watch over her. All my focus can be on Redleg. Like it always should have been.

The four of us brainstorm action items for another half hour before he dismisses everyone.

Except me.

Fuck.

Once we’re alone, he pins me with a hard glare. “You seem jumpy tonight. Is it this shit, or is something else going on?”

Something tells me it wouldn’t go over well if I told him the truth.

Well, gee, Boss, I need to hurry up and leave. Got to get to the kink club where I got your secret daughter a job. I want to ensure she’s comfortable on her first night. Oh, and by the way, I kissed her twice, and I fuck my fist to thoughts of her every fucking day. Is it cool if I cut out early today?

Since I’d rather not be junk-punched by Big Al, I opt for avoidance. “All good. Are we done for now?”

He presses his lips together, checks the time, and flicks his wrist at me. “Fine. Get out of here. Tomorrow, we start on the next chapter for Redleg.”

“Good night, Boss.”

And then I’m gone.

When I get home, I jump in the shower, washing at record speed. Before leaving, I turn off the GPS tracking on my vehicle in case someone at the office is monitoring. They don’t need to know where I go at night. That’s my business.

I pass Tim as I enter Bask, and he offers the customary greeting. But I can’t focus on him. I’m busy searching for blond hair and blue eyes. It’s been a few days since I’ve seen her.

Well, in person.

And she’s nervous about tonight, so she needs a familiar face.

Freya is at the front desk when I walk in, and she immediately perks up, rolls her shoulders back, and bats her lashes at me. “Hi, James.”

“Freya.” I nod at her, but my eyes are scanning the room. I expected Lettie to be up here.

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