Page 77 of Don't Leave Me

“This is where you do everything?” I grip the back of my neck. I really expected more.

“Hell no.” He chuckles and shakes his head. “Follow me.” He walks right over to a wall and pushes in the center. A door opens and he walks through it.

“That… was unexpected.” I frown as I step through the door and it closes behind us by itself.

“We don’t enter this area if anyone is here. This is like our secret lair,” a man sitting at a huge desk murmurs.

“This is Maddox. He’s the Bradley in Bennett Bradley Security.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” I hold out my hand and smile when he stops working to shake it.

“It’s nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot of good things about you. Especially from Sophia. She won't shut up about how amazing you are.” He smirks.

“Does she ever stop talking in general?” Mason rolls his eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the girl to death. She’s so much like Kelsey.” He turns towards me. “Her aunt and my gorgeous wife.”

“She was a model, right? Now she’s a nurse?”

“Exactly. Maddox’s wife was a model, then nurse too. They met when they were both kidnapped. It was a blast.” Mason lets out a long sigh.

“I think you’ll need to tell me this story some time. I’ve heard comments about it, but I haven’t been told the entire thing.”

“After you guys get settled in, Kelsey’s going to invite you over for dinner. She was upset we were out of town when you were visiting. She can't wait to meet you.”

“We’d love that. Thank you.”

“What about me?” Maddox scowls at Mason.

“Oh, you know she’s going to invite you and Cali. Possibly even Jesse, that’s Wyatt’s uncle.” Mason adds for my benefit.

“I feel like I need a chart to keep track of who is who.”

“Good luck. That would take up more than this wall.” He motions to the wall that’s probably close to thirty feet long. “The real aunts and uncles are easy. It’s Kelsey, me, Zoey’s parents and one other aunt and her husband. It’s the pseudo uncles that get complicated. Jesse is Kennedy’s brother, but I guess since Wyatt’s adopted you could argue it’s not his uncle.” He scratches the thick stubble on his jaw. “It’s complicated.”

“That explains all of Mulberry Lane. It’s complicated.” Maddox chuckles.

“I’ve always considered my family just my sister and her kids. Sophia’s shown me how family is so much more than blood.”

“Yeah, that’s been ingrained in her since birth. She cares more about who sticks by her side than who she shares DNA with.” Mason nods his head, clearly agreeing with the thought.

“So, the lair is a secret from everyone?” I motion around the room.

“Not everyone. Sophia knows how to get in here and so does the rest of the family. We don’t want any clients knowing though. We have our meetings in the lobby with clients. We really don’t get many here. For the most part things are handled at the clients’ homes or businesses.”

“And you only do private security?”

“And private investigation, though our bread and butter is security. We don’t really want to follow a bunch of cheating assholes and take pictures of them. We’re happier trying to protect someone who’s life is in danger or checking the security someone already has in place.”

“Those are my favorite. These people pay us to try to get through the security they paid millions of dollars for.” Maddox chuckles. “Most of the time we make it through in less than twenty minutes.”

“Sometimes we get schools or businesses who want us to run through active shooter drills too. We kind of do it all.”

“That’s cool. What will my position be within the company?”

“How much computer knowledge do you have?” Maddox arches a brow.

“A decent amount. I thought I wanted to do cyber security for a while. I didn’t finish the degree, but I almost did.”

“How would you feel about finishing your degree and being our cyber security guy? It’s a huge field and we’re constantly getting asked if we can handle it. We’re too old for this shit, but Colt told us you could do some of it. You’d be the head of cyber security and can hire whoever you want.”

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