Page 66 of Command and Control: GHOST Operative

I shrug, giving her a little smirk. "That's why you're here, Angel Face. I want you to see if you can find any breadcrumbs for us to follow."

Julieanne sits up a little straighter, giving me a nod, her expression serious. "Okay." She turns to the computer in front of her, scrolling through all the data Elias has collected. She's completely focused on what she's looking at, so I know my presence here isn't needed, but I don't want her here alone. It's like letting her play with fire while holding a can of gasoline, and it terrifies me.

So I stay right next to her. For fucking hours. When she needs more coffee, we go get it. When she has to pee, we go pee. At this point, I'm sure my team thinks I've lost my mind. They’d be right. I don't give a fuck. They can thinkwhatever they want, as long as I find out who tried to touch what belongs to me.

And once I know where they are, I'm going to go kill them. Every fucking one of them.

I'm sitting next to Jules, who's sucking down her third cup of coffee, eyes fixed on the screen, when Amos comes in. His eyes track to where Julieanne works before coming to me. "I need to brief you on our current assignments."

It's something we normally would have done yesterday, but I had other, more important, things to do. Primarily, figuring out who the fuck is behind the team that went after Julieanne. But, that particular task won't bring in the money that runs GHOST, so I spin my chair to face him. "Go."

His brows lift. "Here?"

Our briefings usually happen in my office, but I'm not interested in putting that much distance between me and Julieanne. "Here."

Amos almost looks like he's going to disagree with me, but finally he relents and gives me the rundown. I’m not sure why he was so fucking wound up about it, because it sounds like everything is going exactly as it should. All three of his teams are currently out on assignment, and every one of them is exactly as it should be. Which is good fucking news, because I'm not sure I can handle another shit show right now.

Once he’s done, I nod my head. "Good." I start to turn back to Julieanne, but he catches the back of my chair, halting my spin. His jaw works from side to side, eyes snapping to Julieanne before coming back to me.

"Do you have something to say?" I know he hears the dare in my voice. Amos probably knows me better thananyone else at this company, so he likely understands how monumental Julieanne's presence is. He may not know everything about my past, or the reasons I've done what I have, but it's not difficult to understand that a man who’s spent his life alone and has suddenly got a woman by his side is not someone you want to fuck with.

Amos runs his tongue across the front of his teeth, lips pressing tight together as he straightens, releasing my chair. "No." He spins on one heel and walks away, slamming through the door leading to the rest of the building.

He can be mad. He can think I'm neglecting my duties. I’ve spent decades running this company. Decades making it my whole life. I worked relentlessly to build my teams. To build GHOST into an unstoppable machine that can run itself.

The arrogant part of me wants to believe GHOST would end if I walked away, but I know it wouldn't. Because the arrogant part of me also knows I've done too fucking good of a job building it. Even if I back off a little bit, it will still be the best of its kind.

I turn back to Julieanne, letting my gaze drag over her.

And now I've got a hell of a reason to back off.

24

MAKING NEW FRIENDS IS ALWAYS FUN

JULIEANNE

I THINK MY brain is going to melt and leak out of my ears. Unless my eyeballs fall out of my head first. Honestly, the chance of each happening is fifty-fifty at this point.

Leaning back in the chair my butt might be fused to, I let my head fall against the rest as I blow out a long breath. I’ve been at this for three days now, and while I was initially excited to finally be sort of living my dream of working for GHOST, this shit is getting really old. I keep hitting dead end after dead end and I feel like I'm banging my head against a wall.

I’m tired of sitting, so I might as well get up and get some more coffee. I think I've consumed my body weight in those fancy metal pods Vincent stocks in his breakroom, but one more won't hurt.

I give Elias a nod as I pass, but don't smile. Because Vincent doesn't smile at anyone, and I'm still doing my best to be a reflection of him. I don't want my presencehere to do anything to undermine his authority or make his employees see him differently. I know his reputation for being an asshole is important to him.

Which is kind of hilarious, considering if you look hard enough, it's clear he's not a fucking asshole.

The breakroom is a perfect example.

I walk into the ridiculous room and go straight to one of the many expensive single cup makers lined down the granite counter. After making my coffee selection and setting it to brew, I go to the fridge to pick a bottle of water. There's all kinds. Flat. Fizzy. Flavored. Mineral. Vincent stocks it all. He also stocks soda, juice, and tea. Hell, I think there's even chocolate milk in here.

The breakroom isn’t only stocked with beverage choices. The cabinets are lined with a variety of snacks and food. Everything from cereal to granola bars to shelf stable microwave dinners. There's also recliners and a giant television for anyone who wants to take a little rest during their paid, hour-long lunch break.

I've also discovered there's a gymnasium, sauna, and even a set of luxurious locker rooms for anyone who wants to take a shower after their workout.

This is all on top of fantastic wages and excellent healthcare. Plus 401(k) matching.

Anyone who thinks Vincent is an asshole should be fired. Because if they can't see the truth under his gruff exterior, they sure as shit shouldn't be investigating the world wide web as a career.

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