Page 8 of Wild Fixation
“How did the press find out where they were?” he says.
I don’t answer. The question isn’t for me.
In evidence of this, Emmett continues to pace, not looking at me as he stalks up and down the conference room. He’s a lanky whip of a man, tall and dark-haired with a severe, stern face. Or maybe it’s just that he always seems pissed off by something. I regard him neutrally and react as little as possible to his tirade.
“It should have been secret,” Emmett rants. “I told them to keep it off social media. Did one of them post something stupid? I’ll have to put Daphne on it.” His voice lowers to a mutter as he goes on talking to himself.
Then he whirls on me.
“What was it like when you got there?”
I tell him everything I remember in as much detail as I can muster. I know he’ll grill me otherwise, so it’s best to get it all out the first time. I report to him like I’m still in the military, delivering the facts of what I saw when I arrived, how I escorted all the guys out and drove them home, how the press had left by the time I went back for their cars. When I finish, Emmett sighs and rubs a hand over his face.
“I’m sorry you had to do all that,” he says.
He’s stopped pacing. He seems genuinely sorry for the effort I went to, but I shrug.
“It’s my job,” I say.
“That’s the problem: It’snotyour job. It’s not anyone’s job.”
He’s got me there. Technically, I work for The Ten Hours and only The Ten Hours, but the dual responsibilities I shouldered during the tour never really went away. There are a few other people to help with The Ten Hours, but Baptism Emperor has no one at all. They’re completely exposed and vulnerable anytime they leave their homes.
“This situation cannot continue,” Emmett says. “It’s not just dangerous, it could ruin their career.”
I get the sense Emmett cares more about the latter than the former.
“This is the most important time to manage their image,” he goes on. “This is the moment when you build loyal fans. Those loyal fans can’t see them in a candid moment because some God damn paparazzo cornered them in the grocery store and none of us knew it was happening.”
He plants his hands on the table between us, leaning toward me.
“We can’t allow this to happen again,” he says. “Absolutely not. We must manage the press. If they think they can have unfettered access, they’ll only get worse. These guys have no idea how to deal with that. One of them will slip up, if they haven’t already. It will be a PR disaster and we’ll lose them before we make back our investment.”
I try not a curl my lip at the cold, calculating way Emmett describes all this. He talks about the guys in Baptism Emperor like they’re a commodity he can buy and sell. It reminds me of a cow brought to auction.
I hold silent only because I know this is mostly my fault. I haven’t assembled a team for Baptism Emperor yet, and I should have. Something is holding me back, something I don’t want to confront. I keep dithering, rejecting every applicant instead of picking a few and starting to build up a proper team. The guys should have had plenty of protection yesterday. They shouldn’t have needed to call me for help, but they did because of my indecision.
“I’ll build a team,” I say.
“You’ve claimed as much before.”
“I have a folder of applicants. I’m working on it.”
I don’t add that I’ve never had to hire a team. I fell into this line of work because of my size. I’ve been figuring it out as I go along. I don’t know how to interview candidates and guide new people through the hiring process.
“How fast can you do it?” Emmett says. “This needs to be your top priority.”
“I don’t know,” I say. “I haven’t even started interviewing.”
Emmett’s face twists and his eyes narrow. That was not the right answer. I speak up before he can berate me.
“I’ll personally see to their safety in the meantime.”
Emmett pauses, his eyebrow quirking upward.
“It’s my fault this happened,” I say. “I told you I’d get them a team and I haven’t managed to do that yet. The Ten Hours have other security guys who can keep an eye on things. I’ll take care of Baptism Emperor while I’m searching for more help. I did it during the tour.”
The words tumble out of me before I can stop them, but even as I speak I know I’m making a huge mistake. The last thing I should do is put myself in charge of Jacob’s protection, not until I’ve gotten this madness out of my system, at least. It’s dangerous. It’s crazy. It could ruin everything for me. I must be insane to be volunteering myself instead of assigning one of my guys to this while I work on building a bigger team. They’re not any less capable than me, yet the thought of letting someone else look after Jacob while I sit back and hope they’re doing it right grates on me like sandpaper.
