Page 49 of Coming Unraveled
His head tilts to the side pointing to where they’ll be heading and she quickly falls into step. Cohen types a passcode into a small device that juts from the wall beside a steel door, then he presses his thumb into a handle.
As the door opens she works to control her gasp but loses the fight when the wall before her comes into sight. Massive computer screens with multiple cameras and programs run along each of the three walls. In front of each screen sits various chairs where only four sit occupied.
“Guys, this is Jameson’s sister. She’s going to hang for a minute while I figure out who hacked the Brewer’s system. Behave.”
The guys don’t seem to pay much attention, two of the four concentrating on a scrolling list of green numbers on a black screen, another seems lost while watching video surveillance and the other is playing a military game on the massive screen to her right.
“Uh, hello. I’m Everleigh.”
The group may have ignored Cohen earlier, but when her feminine voice resonates in the room they turn their heads at once in a whiplash effect, all but the man who continues to play his game. She watches as a bottle of water comes sailing across the room and hits him point-blank in the back of the head. He chucks off his headphones and sneers at the other guy. As he nods in her direction the large man at the game turns to stare at her like she’s his favorite ice cream.
“Um, Jameson is my little brother. He, um… Cohen said…,” she falters under the sheer amount of masculinity engulfing her in the small room.
The men don’t speak, they just continue to stare at her, their eyes barely blinking, a trait that truly starts to freak her out.
A few clicks happen in rapid succession on a back computer and then Cohen stands from the chair.
“Fixed. The mayor really needs to watch out for her daughter. That little girl has figured out how to hack into the security system three times. Either we should take her under our wing now or the mayor needs to stop making her password each of her kid’s birthdays.”
Everleigh watches as Cohen laughs at his own joke while removing his hat to run his hand through his hair. The man exudes sex and confidence, especially when he smiles, too bad for Everleigh her heart belongs to Brooks. Still, that doesn’t mean she can’t appreciate the male perfection before her.
“Guys, snap out of it,” the man who had been silent in the car ride from the airport commands to his colleagues.
“Shit,” they all grumble as if broken free from a trance.
Cohen steps over to her and opens the heavy door once more while placing a gentle hand on her back.
“Come on guys, pizza is on Jameson.”
As a collective group, the men all start speaking about starving and pizza and something about a hot broad she is sure is not meant for her ears. Although when she glances back at the towering man that had been playing on the computer he winks at her.
Everleigh blushes furiously and turns her attention in front of her as she scurries down the hall and into the waiting room.
“Tabby, we’re going to get pizza. Come join us,” he commands the tiny secretary instead of asking.
Everleigh watches as the woman lights up at the request but shrinks down when one of the other men steps into the space, ready to leave. She can tell there is a story there, but she is very anxious to have another woman at the table so she’s not left surrounded by the group of overly good looking alpha males.
In a feminine voice a bit lower than Everleigh is expecting, Tabby begins, “I have a few papers…” but Cohen interrupts and tell her that it’s a job duty, not a request, to join them for dinner and the poor woman practically sinks into the chair before rising to go with them.
The group crowds the small diner that boasts the best pizza on the island and as Everleigh takes the first bite of the greasy goodness she is hard-pressed to disagree. Tabby, or Tabitha as she asks Everleigh to call her, sits to her right, staring daggers at Brent as he scarfs down a folded piece of the pie. Cohen sits directly across from her and Eli, Tyler, and Luke fill the rest of the table.
As they finish the pizza and the guys guzzle down a few beers Everleigh asks the question that had been lingering in the back of her mind. “So, how is it that you all know my little brother?”
The table goes silent and Everleigh begins to worry.
“How well do you know your brother? His hobbies?”
“Um, not too well. I just know he is opening a software app company. He’s had his face glued to a computer since he was old enough to count his numbers.”
“Let’s just say your brother has developed some of the best technology for the government and its security teams. We met him at a software conference two years ago where he presented a new type of surveillance device and we were so blown away that we invested in the product. In the meantime, he’s become a good friend to all of us.”
“What kind of product? And what is it you do exactly?” she asks curiously.
“I can’t disclose that, but in the next year or two, your brother is going to blow the tech field away with what he’s created. And we run an Information Technology Security System named Scarlet Tech.”
He proudly drinks his beer, his pride in their business evident on how he boasts their name.
“Marines?”
