Rook Security Complete Series

by Camilla Blake

  She trailed off, not knowing quite how to explain.

  “Bex.”

  She dropped her eyes to him and he was looking at her so kindly, so sweetly.

  He grinned. “I can totally work with that.” He popped up onto his knees and kissed her, fast and firm.

  ***

  It took Atlas less than ten seconds to convince Rook to take on Bex’s case. He sat across the desk from his boss and longtime friend and blinked.

  “What do you mean shut up, of course I’ll do it,” Atlas asked, confused.

  Rook chuckled and leaned back in his chair, his dark hair immaculate, his white shirt impossibly crisp. “It means exactly what you think it does. I’ve been wondering about this girl who’s got you tied in knots. May mentioned to me that she might be in trouble. I was actually going to bring it up with you soon, if you didn’t bring it up with me.”

  Atlas cocked his head to one side. “So, you’ve been talking to May recently?”

  “Nuh-uh. We’re talking about your shit. Not mine.”

  “So, you admit that there’s shit to talk about where you and May are concerned.”

  Rook shot Atlas a hard look.

  “All right, all right,” Atlas lifted his hands palms up. “Fair enough. We can talk about my shit. Actually, better yet, let’s talk about Bex’s shit.”

  Rook leaned back and eyed his younger employee for a long moment. “Start from the beginning. Walk me through it.”

  Atlas did just that. He left nothing out. Although they were both aware of the glaring holes at certain parts of the story. It was clear that Bex hadn’t told Atlas every detail. It was something he was just going to have to get comfortable with.

  As they spoke, Rook took notes. He googled stuff. He even made Atlas stop so that he could make a phone call to someone he knew in Atlantic City. An hour and a half later, he tapped his pen against his palm and looked out at his view of the East River, the Statue of Liberty in the far distance.

  He twirled on his chair and came back around to look at Atlas. “We’ll have to look into this further, of course, but I’d feel better if she started staying here. In the bunker. As soon as possible.”

  Atlas’s knee started jogging up and down. “You mean you want me to go and get her right now?”

  “What’s the downside to that?”

  Atlas looked at the ceiling and considered. “Bex is the kind of person who needs to be eased into new things. I’ve gotten so far with her only because we’re going at her pace. If we drag her here tonight, we run the real risk of disintegrating her trust in all of this.”

  Rook nodded and leaned his head onto his closed fist for a moment. “My connection at ACPD doesn’t think that Roderick has eyes on her. He doesn’t know where the hell she went. He’s still looking for her in Jersey, according to the surveillance they’re running on him. I don’t think she’ll be in real, bodily harm until she testifies. If she testifies. For now, I think we can afford to let her acclimate to the situation.”

  “Does this mean that we’re working two clients?”

  Rook shook his head. “I’m dropping Cliff.”

  “What?” Atlas knew that account had been a huge moneymaker for them this year.

  “It’s not the kind of work I want to do.” Rook rose up from his seat and walked over to the view, giving Atlas his back. “I want to help people who truly need it, Atlas. Not just the people who can pay. I’ve been messing around with the idea of taking on a few pro bono clients every year.”

  Atlas stilled. “I’ll pay for Bex’s account.”

  “No, you won’t. No one should have to pay to keep the woman they love safe, Atlas. We’ll take care of your girl.”

  He turned, and seeing the look on Atlas’s face, grinned. “Don’t argue with me, kid. You know that Moreau pays us enough every year we could take twelve pro bono cases a year and still come out on top.”

  It was true. Their movie star client was extremely generous. No matter how much Rook invoiced him for, somehow, they always ended up getting paid at least double.

  “I guess I won’t argue then.”

  Rook turned around, one eyebrow cocked and his hands clasped behind his back. “Good. Let’s get to work, then.”

  ***

  Atlas had only planned on spending a few hours at work that day, but he and Rook had started working on Bex’s security plan and they just never really stopped. It was six p.m. before they poked their heads above ground and realized that they were gonna be late for Naomi’s get-together if they didn’t hurry.

  Atlas was a little bummed because he texted Bex only to have her inform him that she was already over at Naomi’s. He’d wanted to go home and get cleaned up and then head over there with her. It was their first party as a couple. Well. It was their first day as a couple. And he’d wanted to show up with her. He wanted to see her in private first, make her laugh, make her blush, warm her up a little bit.

  But life was life and that wasn’t in the cards for them tonight. Instead, he and Rook knocked on Sequence’s door together. Naomi flung it open and kissed one and then the other full on the mouth.

  “Hi!”

  Atlas laughed as she flung an arm around his neck. “Hey there, sister-in-law. Been drinkin’?”

  “Just a teeny weenie.” She held up two fingers in front of one of her eyes and attempted to see through the space.

  “Who has a teeny weenie?” Atlas asked her, just to make her laugh. Which she did. Heartily.

  “If we’re measuring weenies,” she said with a drunken volume. “Then I’m gonna need both hands.” She yanked her arm from around Atlas’s neck and threw herself off kilter, right into Sequence’s arms.

  “What exactly do you need both hands for?” he asked, smiling down into his wife’s face in a way that showed he’d heard every word.

  Naomi grinned, her cheeks going pink as she stared up at him.

  Atlas heard her respond, but he wasn’t really listening, his eyes were too busy scanning the room. There was Cedric blushing as Elena whispered something in his ear. There was Geo, tossing the baby too high in the air. There was May, mixing up some fancy drink. And then, yeah. There she was.

  Sound sort of faded out as he caught sight of Bex, sitting so far back in an armchair, her legs stuck out like a little kid’s. As soon as he caught her eye, she blushed and looked away. She touched the back of her neck and Atlas realized that she’d gotten her hair re-faded. And was that? Yes. She was wearing his Dolly Parton concert tee and a pair of skinny jeans. He attempted to roll his tongue back into his mouth.

  He crossed the room with long strides, not caring an ounce if he looked overeager. Who cared? He was eager as hell to get to his gorgeously sweet girlfriend, blushing and sipping a beer as she tried not to watch him cross the room.

  He realized, once he was about two feet from her, that the closer he got, the stiffer she got. Ah. Understanding washed over him. She was nervous enough about being physical with him without having to be physical in front of an audience.

  He really hoped she didn’t think he was big enough of an idiot to attempt to French kiss her in front of all of their friends.

  To put her at ease, he parked his caboose on the arm of the chair she sat in and bumped his shoulder against hers. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” she said shyly, barely giving him her eyes.

  He leaned his head down and rubbed his forehead against hers, the same way he’d done in bed that morning, and then he reached for her beer, taking a sip and handing it back. “Sorry I was late. Rook and I got to working and we only realized we were late for the party about twenty minutes ago.”

  “Rook’s here?” Bex craned her head to look around and Atlas realized, with a rush of warmth, that she’d apparently been so caught up in his arrival that she hadn’t even noticed the other man who’d come in with him. Something about that just made him feel good.

  “Yeah.” He nodded his head across the room to his dark-haired boss. “I keep forgetting you two ha
ven’t met yet.”

  “Shhhh,” Bex hissed, her eyes trained on him.

  Atlas followed her gaze and realized immediately what had her so captivated. Rook was slowly approaching May, his ex-wife, like a trainer approaches a newly domesticated animal.

  He seemed to be appraising the danger she posed and drinking her in all in one fell swoop. If May were a rose, he would have huffed all the pollen straight out of her. That’s the way he was looking at her.

  May said something to him and Rook’s cheeks went a little pink. He held his hand out and she pressed one of the fancy drinks she’d been making right into it.

  Atlas wished he had popcorn. It was rare to see May and Rook interacting and he didn’t want to miss a minute.

  But ten seconds later, something obstructed his view in the form of a pudgy, pink, grinning girl, her hair all sticky and her hands grabbing for her uncle. Geo handed the baby over to Atlas.

  “Well,” Atlas said, his focus automatically fully on his niece. “If it ain’t Cookie Baby. The crumbliest cookie in all the West. They call her Brookie Cookie, but that’s a lie, ain’t it, Cookie? You’re not a cookie. You’re a biscuit. You’re a little baby biscuit with cheese on top.”

  He really had no idea what he was saying. But it didn’t matter. Brooke was well acquainted with her silly uncle’s antics and she was already belly laughing at his beard chafing at her neck as he blew a raspberry against her. She was giggling and howling as he pretended to drop her and then promptly pretended his fingers had gotten stuck in her armpit.

  “It’s diaper-time, Uncle Atlas,” Geo called.

  “For me or her?” he called back.

  Geo wrinkled her nose. “That’s your business.”

  He laughed and carried Brooke back to her room to change her diaper. He’d never minded that kind of stuff with Brooke. He’d quickly realized that the hum-drum stuff, like diaper changes, and bath times, and meal time, all of that was quality time with a kid. He wanted to be the uncle who made her laugh. But he also wanted to be the uncle who took care of her. And for the most part, he figured he’d done a good job.

  There was no doubt that he’d fallen off on his uncle duties in the last month, since Bex had come into his life. But now that things were on more even keel with her, he was hoping they could start hanging out with Brooke together.

  “You’re the number one girl for me forever and ever, Cookie,” he told her as he tightened her diaper. She made a grab for his beard that he deftly and narrowly avoided. “But I gotta be honest, I think there might be two number ones in my heart. Is that possible? To have two number ones? Sure feels like it. Have you met her, Brookie? Aunty Bex? She’s the absolute best. You might have to teach her about babies though. I don’t know if she knows much about them. You and me. We’ll teach her, yeah?”

  It was getting late, so instead of putting her back in her party outfit, he went ahead and put her into a pajama onesie. Then he took her to the bathroom and wetted a washcloth. He wiped whatever was sticky out of her hair and cleaned off her face and hands. Then he couldn’t help but blow another raspberry on her neck.

  “Woof, kid. Tomorrow you need a bath.” He made a face and let her get hold of his beard.

  Atlas took his niece back out to the main living room and started to pass her around for goodnights.

  “Asslats, you’re such a good uncle,” Naomi slurred from her seat on the couch.

  “Asslats?” he asked, his eyes wide with laughter. “Can’t say I’ve heard that one before. Were you guys doing jello shots before I got here or something?”

  Sequence adjusted his wife over his lap. “She hasn’t really had anything to drink since she got pregnant with Brooke. I think her tolerance is a bit lower than it used to be.”

  Naomi fastened her mouth Sequence’s throat and he chuckled, adjusting her into a more modest position. He made eye contact with his brother. “I give it about eight minutes before she’s passed out cold.”

  Atlas, with Brookie on his hip, circled back to the kitchen. He filled a tall glass of water and passed it down to Naomi as he passed. Then he plunked Brooke directly into May’s arms. “Time for night-nights.”

  May’s eyes lit and she snuggled the baby, giving her some good kisses. May passed Brooke on to Rook and for just a moment, their eyes met over the baby’s head. The muscle memory of passing a child back and forth between them was undeniable. And painful.

  Rook cuddled Brooke, whispering something to her before he passed her to Geo. Geo tossed her, as usual, and passed the baby to Cedric and Elena who kind of sandwiched Brooke between them, smiling the whole time.

  Cedric plunked Brooke into Bex’s arms and Atlas just watched from across the room, his hands in his pockets and his body, for once, still.

  She held the baby awkwardly for a moment, as if she still wasn’t quite sure where to put her hands. But after a second, she got Brooke settled on her hip, one arm slung around her back.

  Atlas thought she’d say a quick goodnight and then pass her off to her parents. His eyebrows raised as Bex rose from her chair, talking quietly to the baby, and wandered over to the window that looked down onto the street. Saying private, quiet, sweet things, Bex gestured out the window and whispered to the baby.

  Brooke watched with round, intelligent eyes until she reached up and played with the hair on Bex’s head. That chubby hand slid down Bex’s cheek and just kind of stayed there. Atlas watched with bated breath as Bex leaned into the touch.

  Then, she turned on her heel and handed the baby off to Sequence. Sequence and Naomi took some moments with their kiddo.

  “She seems really sweet,” Cedric said and Atlas turned.

  “Really sweet,” Elena added, from under Cedric’s arm.

  Atlas’s eyebrows rose up. “She is. I’m just… surprised she showed you is all. She can be really prickly at first.”

  Elena smirked. “Maybe just with you?”

  “Maybe.” Atlas met her smile; they’d always been easy friends. “Perhaps because she spent so much time trying to resist me.”

  Cedric kind of rocked on his toes for a minute, which was usually a sign that he had something to say. He was a slow processor, but also one of the most thorough thinkers that Atlas had ever met. He might not know the answer to a problem right away, but if you put Cedric Swift on the case, no stone would be left unturned. It was why Cedric worked so well with Sequence. Neither of them were willing to let a mystery go unsolved. It was also why Atlas was more than happy to leave the recon to them. He preferred physically protecting people, not solving the mysteries behind their cases.

  “She your girlfriend now?” Cedric eventually asked.

  Atlas took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah. She agreed to that last night.”

  “Atlas,” Elena said and lifted her hand for a high five. “Good work.”

  Elena and Atlas had a special bond. When she’d been in trouble with the wrong people and Rook Security had been protecting her, Atlas had been her first friend. She’d known Cedric from high school, but, as Elena had later explained to Atlas, she’d thought Cedric was too hot to be friends with. So that had left Atlas.

  They got along like a brother and sister and he knew that she’d been wondering why the hell he didn’t have someone special in his life. Elena thought the world of him. He slapped her hand back.

  “Have you talked to her much yet?”

  “Just at the book club and the dance lesson thingy.”

  Cedric went a little pink in the cheek at the mention of the dance lessons. Atlas waggled his eyebrows at the pair of them. “Am I sensing that the two of you benefited from those dance lessons the same way that Sequence and Naomi did?”

  Elena just laughed a sparkling laugh and Cedric blushed even deeper. “Ah.”

  “Yes,” Elena answered definitively. Then her brow furrowed. “She looks lonely. I’m gonna go talk to her.”

  Elena’s dark head moved through the room, Cedric’s eyes on her the whole way. He turned to A
tlas. “Wanna know why Naomi accidentally got so drunk?”

  Atlas nodded and his eyes narrowed as Cedric’s eyes bounced across the room to Elena, eyeing her for a minute.

  “Come with me real quick.”

  The two men disappeared down the back hall and Cedric shoved Atlas into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

  “Is this where you finally confess your feelings and we make out?” Atlas asked, batting his eyelashes at his friend.

  Cedric chuckled. “Nope. This is where I show you this.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out a ring, silver in color and sparkling in the light.

  “Holy shit,” Atlas whispered. “Is that what I think it is?”

  “Only if you’re thinking it’s an engagement ring for Elena.”

  “Holy shit, brother!” Atlas cuffed Cedric in for a tight hug. Cedric and Elena had been in love for two years now, and Atlas had been wondering what was taking them so long to get engaged. “What took you so long?”

  Cedric laughed. “You know I’m a slow mover…” He shrugged. “But, yeah, I also wanted to be able to speak Spanish at our wedding ceremony and learning a new language has been a long road for me.”

  Cedric had a learning disability that made reading and writing especially painful for him. Atlas thought it was beyond sweet that he’d wanted to speak her first language at their wedding.

  “Jesus, man, that’s incredible. Lemme see the rock.” He held his hand out for the ring.

  Cedric handed it over, a huge grin on his face. “You know there’s no rock on that. Elena’s an environmentalist, diamond mining is… never mind. She would never want a diamond.”

  “Wait, why is this the reason Naomi got drunk?”

  “Well, she designed it for me. It was originally my grandmother’s wedding band and I gave it over to Naomi to cast it into something new. That Elena would like.”

  Atlas studied it and had to admit that it was very, very Elena. White gold, or maybe platinum that would look so pretty on her tan hand. And etched into the band were organic, leaf-like designs.

  “And she got drunk because…”

  “Because I came over early to finally see it and when Naomi showed it to me we both burst into tears.” Cedric smiled ruefully. “So Sequence poured us both a shot. And then I needed another. And…”