Ford Security

by Clara Kendrick

  I kick my feet off the side of the bed and land against the cold concrete floors before making my way into the bathroom to take care of business. I use the bathroom first, and then brush my teeth. And as suds of toothpaste cover my teeth in white bubbles, I catch a glance at my own reflection in the mirror. I’m still not used to having longer hair, not after twenty years of keeping my head buzzed. It’s still weird to look at myself in reflections and see that I don’t exactly recognize myself with the different hair.

  It’s weird how the smallest, dumbest thing can make one change how they view themselves. If a physical change can cause this much confusion to myself, then I can’t imagine what a changing heart must do to a person. Take Lola for example. She used to be a woman driven by money and greed, driven by the need to appease her father. Now, she’s driven by the need to make things right. That right there? That’s a change of one’s soul and I can’t begin to imagine how that must feel. Liberating, I’m sure, but I’m equally sure it’s confusing as hell.

  I rinse my mouth out with warm water and spit it back out into the sink. Then I reach for my dog tags and drape them around my neck before moving back into the bedroom to find Lola shuffling in bed. She tosses onto one side, groans out loud and then sits up in bed. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she had to have gotten up in the middle of the night to sneak into the bathroom and fix her makeup and hair. But I do know better because I’m a relatively light sleeper. Just the slightest shift in pressure on the bed is enough to wake me up and I slept like a damn baby.

  She looks like a damn vixen, almost like an angel who lost her wings. She’s a little bit sinful but beyond beautiful. She glances over to me and smiles warmly. “Do we have to get out of bed?” she questions with a groan before letting out an obnoxious yawn as she pushes her hands above her head. “Can we just pretend that we don’t have anything to do today and just lie here?”

  “While I’d love that…” I step to the bed and sit down on the edge, the weight of my body pushing deep against the mattress. “I think we both know we have very important business to take care of today.”

  “Yeah, I know” She shifts in bed and throws her arms around my neck. Her hair dances along my shoulder, tickling me and sending chills down my spine. But I’m not going to lie, her touch against my skin is enough to comfort me and make me forget that we’re basically about to commit mass murder today. “It’s all I could think about, even when I was dreaming.”

  “I hope you were dreaming about beautiful things.” I glance ahead at the mirror to get a good look at her in the reflection of the glass. “I hope you were dreaming about your new life.”

  “It’s terrifying.” She swallows nervously and unwraps her hands around my neck, drops down to sit on the edge of the bed beside me. She looks so tiny and demure next to me in our reflection, she looks weak and fragile. And though she might be a hell of a lot smaller than me, she’s anything but weak or fragile. She’s the strongest damn woman I know. “It’s like I don’t know who I am without my identity. When I become someone else, I’m afraid I’m not going to know where I fit in this world anymore.”

  “You’re going to fit in where you’ve always fit in.” Even though I can see her reflection, I cock my head over my shoulder so I can look her straight in the eyes. “You’ve always been better than your father. You’ve always been better than the life he wanted for you and that makes you different and it makes you special. You don’t need to worry about who you’re going to be, because if you ask me, I think you’re going to be just damn fine.”

  She rolls her eyes and laughs softly. “I’ll take your word for it.”

  “I can’t begin to understand what you’re feeling, Lola,” I sigh and rise to my feet, drag my palm against my forehead. “I can’t begin to explain what you’re going to feel, but based on my own personal experience, I can tell you that things will always get better.”

  “That sounds like a campaign slogan for at-risk teens.” She shakes her head gently and bows it down so that she’s staring at the floor. “I’m not an at-risk teen, Zach.”

  “I’m just trying to tell you that I’ve been to the bottom of the bottom before. I’ve felt trapped, like there’s no real way out. I’ve felt lost and confused, especially in those first few years after I returned home from the war. For the longest time, I never thought I would ever find the light at the end of the tunnel, but I did.”

  “Yeah?” She stares me down, her eyes begging for me to continue. “What changed?”

  “I found a purpose.” I scratch at the back of my head and then lean backwards against the dresser, holding onto the ledges of the wood furniture with my palms gripped tight around the edge. “I found this place.”

  “Ford Security, you mean?”

  “Not exactly but close.” I shake my head, my mind wondering what would have become of me if Dom never brought me and my brother into this circle. We’re more than business partners. We’re a family, although that family has been somewhat torn apart over the last year. My brother is looking to retire from the business, Luke is missing in action, and Chase is too busy making wedding plans to be of much use lately. But still, I try imagining my life without these boys in it and I simply can’t. Each and every one of them feels like a brother to me, especially Zane but we’re actual blood-brothers, duh. “It’s not about this place by itself, but it’s more about the fact that I’ve found a family here, and that’s the most important thing in this world.”

  She exhales a burst of air and rolls her lips against each other, digs her hands deep into the mattress before turning away from my gaze. “I don’t have a family…”

  “That’s what I’m trying to tell you.” I step to the bed and then drop down on my knees so that I can be on the same level as her. I reach forward, grab her by the chin and angle her head so that she’s looking right at me. “Family doesn’t have to be the clan you’re born into. As an adult, as a strong-ass, independent woman, you can choose the life you want to live, and that means you get to choose your family.” I shake my head and sigh. “It’s not about blood. It’s about love. It’s the one thing in this world that nobody can ever take away from you. So after this is over, take some time off. Figure out what you want your life to look like and then surround yourself with people you love.” I smile at her and it seems to be contagious. Her lips hitch into a warm, glowing, beautiful smile. I pass a thumb over her lips. “And those people?” I shrug and push myself to my feet to stand. “That’s who will become your family.”

  “Well then, in that case, I better choose wisely,” she mutters under her breath before cocking her head upwards. “Will there be a place in my life for you?”

  “Yeah…” I nod, contemplating what a life with her would look like. It’s something I can’t even begin to imagine, but that doesn’t automatically mean it would be a bad thing. Quite the opposite, in fact. In all seriousness, a life with her would be an interesting life and I’d never be bored. That’s for certain. But I also know that I can’t allow myself to think about any of that right now when there are more important issues at hand. I’m focused on surviving this day and then the next, and then maybe I can stop and take a breather to figure things out. “I’m sure it’s something we could negotiate.”

  A cocky grin passes over my lips, and in return she rolls her eyes before climbing to her feet and slapping me playfully against the chest. Playful or not, she leaves a welt on my chest and as I groan out in pain, she twists on her feet and cups her hand over her mouth. Her eyes go wide as she stares at the injury she’s just painted on my body.

  “I’m so sorry…” she gasps as she takes a step forward to stand right before me.

  “It’s only a flesh wound.” I grin and throw an arm behind her head to pull her real close to me, close enough so that there’s measurable friction between our bodies. I reach for her chin and tilt it upwards so I can kiss her softly at first, pressing my lips against hers. My tongue slips past her lips and the next thing I know, I�
��m losing all control.

  I hold her steady at one hip as I push her backwards towards the bed. The back of her legs hit the fabric of the mattress before she buckles backwards onto the bed with me climbing on top of her. I grip her at her waist and hold onto her tightly as I drop my head to plant a trail of kisses along her neck, and then nibble at the lobe of her ear.

  She shifts away from my touch and into my touch, both at the same time. I shift above her, pushing a knee between her legs as I lower myself to kiss her softly on the lips and then devour her completely. This isn’t the same as it was last night. This isn’t straight-up, pure unadulterated lust. This is something more. This is me wanting to kiss her and protect her; it’s about me almost wanting to own her. It’s about something I can’t quite pinpoint, but all I know is that it feels right.

  She breaks away from my kiss and sighs, throws her head backwards to land against a gray pillow. She groans and presses her lips tightly together, her fingers dancing along the back of my neck.

  “What’s wrong?” I question her, drop a hand to comb through her soft hair.

  “Nothing.” She places a hand against my cheek and caresses me softly—this is definitely a side of her I hadn’t seen before last night. A side of her I wasn’t even sure existed. Our brief time together earlier this year was a weird point in time for both us.

  She had appeared at my and Zane’s shared apartment, and with a simple knock on the door and a cold, forced smile, she was able to drag me into the seedy underworld her father operated in. She pulled me in—and my brother by extension—by claiming she needed a personal bodyguard. She had failed to mention that the reason she needed a bodyguard was because her father shot her previous bodyguard in the head because he believed he was getting too intimate with his daughter.

  Zane and I soon became pawns in Seth’s games. Little did we know at the time that the person she needed protected from was her own father. She eventually broke down and told me the truth, that her father had killed her mother using the excuse that she was sick. She feared the same thing would happen to her so I suggested to her that my brother and I could help take her father down.

  That was my second mistake—the first was trusting that she would go along with the plan even after she agreed to it fully. Apparently, back then she was still torn between doing what was right for the world and her own blood-born allegiance to the man who brought her into this world. She let it slip to her father what Zane and I were planning and that’s when he took us into that warehouse with the plan to kill the both of us.

  At that time, I had believed that Lola had seen something in me in the same way I saw things in her. I was hooked on her, caught hook, line, and sinker. And there was nothing anyone could say to me that would make me change my mind.

  But a gun pressed against my forehead did the trick. It was at that exact moment, when the cold metal barrel of a gun pushed against my temple that I realized that whatever I saw in her, it wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t worth dying for.

  And then she came and saved both my brother and I. She had realized that she indirectly led her father to us and shouldered the responsibility. She could have just turned a blind eye, but she saved us and in the process, was willing to kill her own father to do so.

  I wanted to stop her from going back into that building, knowing that a bomb was set to go off. I wanted to beg and plead with her, but I simply didn’t have the time. I remember the look on her face just before she turned around. And that image haunted me for months as I tried to escape the memories of what had happened, and more importantly tried to escape the repercussions of the people that would soon come after me.

  Only, nobody ever came after me. Not until I was sucked back into her world. But this time, things feel different. This time, I swear all of her allegiance lies with me. And if it turns out that I’m a fool for trusting her again, then I’ll be more than willing to pay the price. Because the price would be worth it in moments like this, where she gives me a particular kind of gaze from beneath me.

  In her eyes, I see the confusion and all the questions. I see her trying to come to terms with who she used to be, who she is, and who she wants to be. More importantly, I can see the battle raging in her eyes of who she’s going to be. And if I have anything to say about it, she’s going to be someone amazing.

  She’s going to be mine, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how the day turns out…

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  LOLA

  Before heading out of the factory, Zach and I stopped in to see Marcus sleeping in his room. We startled him from a deep sleep, which was quite the funny scene and a bit of levity on a day when storm clouds circle the inside of my mind.

  Knowing that most likely the world thinks I’m dead again, I knew I couldn't risk picking up the explosives from my source I had originally made an arrangement with. And without the explosives, the plan would fail. So, I inquired to Marcus about using the remainder of his stash of explosives instead.

  Maybe it was because he was groggy and wanted to go back to sleep or maybe he really believed in my mission, but he offered us up enough explosives to send the Grimm Industries building to kingdom come.

  I had a brief talk to him, outlining the reasons I was doing what I was doing. I think at the end of that conversation, he understood exactly why I had to do this. And though I would never take lightly the act of killing more than thirty people, I knew for the better of the people still living in this world, it had to be done.

  And now, Zach and I are on our way to the site where the event is supposed to go down. Now that Richard believes we are dead, I have no doubt in my mind that he will still gather everyone onto the roof top and finally get what he's been wanting all of these years.

  Men like him are predictable. They’re after nothing more than money and power, and right now he sees this void in the world as his opening. He's not going to risk losing that chance.

  It's too important to him. It's like there are a thousand gold bars lying right in front of his face. It's simply too irresistible to pass up. I almost feel bad for the guy.

  Almost.

  With ball caps that hang over our eyes, Zach and I pull up into the parking lot of Grimm industries. We know that we have to be careful because if Richard or anyone else whoever knew me sees me here, the plan will go to shit.

  I'm not taking any chances, though.

  As Zach parks the vehicle, parks right between two other cars so as to blend in as much as possible, I climb out of the car and land on my feet against the hot asphalt.

  For being a winter day, the sun burns hot against us. It's hotter than it has any right to be, even for California. But maybe it's because we are dressed in dark costumes. We're dressed as if we are deliveryman, coming here to deliver the goods. But we're not delivering anything these people are going to enjoy.

  We're delivering the bombs that are going to send them all to hell and they won’t even know what hit them. They’ll go from listening to a God-awful speech to finding themselves in the fiery pits of hell the very next second, and they’ll wonder just how they got there.

  I peer over the top of the delivery van as Zach steps onto the opposite side. We both circle around to the back of the vehicle at the exact same time and meet just as I pop open the first of the two back doors.

  He grabs a dolly and places it onto the ground as I climb into the back of the van and grab the first of four boxes. I carry the first box to him and he sits it gently down onto the dolly. We pile all four of the boxes before I jump out of the back of the van and close the doors behind me.

  The boxes don't look like anything suspicious. They are marked with the logos of a popular and luxurious beer brand, Zed’s Lager.

  Zach leans the weight of his body against the dolly and looks at me in a way that makes my heart melt. He looks at me almost like he's never going to see me again.

  "Don't look at me like that,” I say. “Don’t look at me like this is the end."

&nb
sp; He can't help but to laugh. "I'm not looking at you any kind of way. I'm just looking at you." He furrows both brows, a moment of levity before the shit hits the proverbial fan. "Am I not allowed to look at you?"

  "Don't be ridiculous," I scowl under my breath and roll my eyes. "Aren't you nervous at all?”

  “I am." He shrugs and clicks his tongue against the inside of one cheek. "I just don't think there's any reason for me to carry the nervousness on my shoulders, you know?"

  "Because you've seen it all before, right?"

  He cocks his head at me and flashes a cocky grin. “Are you just going to continue answering my questions with a question?"

  "Touché." I cross my arms. "Are you ready?"

  With the weight of his body still pressed against the dolly, he straightens himself up and wags his finger at me with a shit-eating grin. "See, there you go again. That's another question."

  I let out an audible groan before reaching forward and punching him playfully in the chest. He recoils in faux pain and really hams it up, as if I actually hurt him or something.

  “Do you enjoy hurting me?" he questions me with a shake of his head.

  "See," I point at him squarely, "that's another question."

  "Smart ass…”

  ###

  The elevator doors slide open and I'm going to be honest, I'm scared as hell. My hands shake and my fingers tap against my pants to a non-existent beat. Zach looks over to me and tries to calm me with just a simple look. But it's not enough, not right now. I take a deep breath before I follow Zach out of the elevator.

  Zach pushes the dolly forward and onto the rooftop. Nobody really pays either of us much attention as we pace first to the middle of the rooftop and then finally over to the far right corner. There's a tent set up with tables underneath to be used for catering. There’s an assortment of appetizers, soda products, and bottles of both whiskey and wine on the tables.