Page 30 of Ensnared By Silence
He smiled, and I replied to him, “It’s a beautiful city. Peaceful.”
“Have you had any problems since you moved here?”
I shook my head, confused by the line of questions. “I don’t mean to be rude, but what’s this all about?”
“We want to offer you a permanent position with Callahan Cyber, but we need to do an extensive background check on you. I asked Amaya to be here because of one of the stipulations for this position.”
“I appreciate your confidence in me, but what stipulation are you talking about?”
“We need to run a DNA test on you as well as investigate anyone you’ve dated in the last five years. I know that would take you into your teenage years and I wanted to make sure you were okay with that as well.”
“Why would I need Amaya here? And what about Hayden? Why are you here?” I asked, turning to him as the weirdness of the moment was confusing the fuck out of me.
“I stopped by to bury the hatchet with Devlin. With you working for them and being friends with their wives, I wanted to make sure he and I were good. This staying separate to save feelings was getting old.” He shrugged and Devlin nodded in agreement.
“And Amaya?” I asked James, and he looked at his wife before lifting her hand and kissing the back softly.
“Can I tell her some of your story?” She nodded and leaned into him as he began. “Amaya grew up in the Flats of Portstill, like all of us did. Well, except Hayden, but we won’t hold that against him.” James winked and everyone chuckled before he spoke again. “She grew up not knowing who her father was, and as we all know now, it’s Preston Pierce. What we didn’t know was he was looking for her for years. using our company to look for her, and it was only when her genetic results came back were we able to put the pieces together and unite her with her family.”
“No offense, but my father is rotting in hell and my mother threw me away when I was six months old. I don’t have any family, so it would be a waste of your time. But I’ll agree if it’s a part of employment.” I chewed my lip and asked Devlin, “Am I getting this job because I earned it or because of my friendship with the group?”
He leaned forward, and I wanted to sit back. When he spoke, people listened, and I never wanted to be on his bad side. “I offered you this job because I’ve never seen someone scrub their past so cleanly in my life. If you had those skills before you went to college, I’m curious what your skill level is now. I want to foster your talents and help you to grow. If you have something to hide, know that I will find it. If it’s just stupid high school shit, no problem.” He leaned closer, and I saw Hayden push up from his chair as Devlin continued, his eyes locked on mine with an intensity unlike anything I’d ever seen. “If there is something in your past that you’re running from, I will neutralize the threat. You have a lot of potential, and I wouldn’t jeopardize my company or my reputation on a friendship. But as a member of my company, I will protect you with everything I have in my arsenal. You earned the job, Aubrey. Be proud of your work. And welcome to the family.”
I smiled brightly and Amaya winked at me from her position next to her husband. Hayden took my hand into his as James asked, “Do you agree to list all relationships, to allow us to investigate your past connections? I need to know that someone from your past can’t get to you and use you to cause harm through our company.”
I didn’t want to tell them about Tucker. I worked hard to delete and erase every link I had to Lincolnville and him, but there would be no hiding him from them once they really started digging. They still had pictures of me on their pages from years ago, and if you looked long and hard enough, you could figure out that we at least dated. Maybe they wouldn’t connect the dots and out my secret, but if they did, what was the worst thing that could happen?
Hayden already knew and still cared for me, showing me love and devotion unlike anything I ever thought possible.
Mathias knew, and he trained me harder, ensuring I could protect myself in the future.
Amaya and Elise sort of knew, and they embraced me, pulling me into their duo, creating a circle.
I couldn’t carry the shame of what happened around forever, and even if the justice I wanted never came, I could lift my head high knowing I moved past the horrors of my childhood and was becoming someone I was proud to be.
“I agree. Is it boyfriend only or do—”
“Anyone you spent over one night with.” He chuckled, and I felt my face grow flush.
Hayden chuckled and kissed me, whispering in my ear, “I love that you still blush, my innocent little vixen.”
James and Skid shared a look, and I couldn’t figure out what they were communicating, but nothing about the situation caused alarm bells to ring. I was safe with all these people, and for the first time in my life, I had friends who were becoming family.
“I have the paperwork in the other room if you want to follow me,” James said, and I nodded before leaving the room.
Quickly, I filled out the information and let him swab my cheek, taking the sample painlessly.
“It will take three to four weeks to get the results back. No matter what the crime shows tell us, it takes time to run the results. How do you want to proceed if we find relatives for you?”
I thought about it and shrugged. “I don’t know, but can we cross that bridge once we build it?”
“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.” We went to walk out, but James grasped my wrist. I turned, and he smiled at me. “Hayden is a great guy. He’s lucky to have you.”
“Thank you,” I replied as we returned to the living room.
“Elizabeth got fussy, so Amaya went back upstairs, but she said she’d call you later this afternoon,” Hayden said, and with a few quick goodbyes, we left the Callahan brothers and Skid to discuss business.
We drove back to my house and changed into our swimsuits before settling on the large back deck that wrapped around the back of the house. Amaya explained how she came to live here and how James came to own it. The pool was a joke, and he installed it a year after he moved in. When she got pregnant with Elizabeth, they moved back to the condo tower since it was a more secure building.
