A Sense of Security: A Christian Romance (BlackThorpe Security Book 6)

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  “Well, let’s get you set up with your electronic gadgets.” Trent gestured to a table against the far wall on the other side of his desk. “I’m sure that Marcus has told you about the security we have in place. My number one rule is that only a BlackThorpe employee should touch these things. If you have trouble with any of it, you come to me. No nerdy neighbor or computer savvy boyfriend is to touch my machines. Don’t break that rule, and we’ll have no problems.”

  Alicia smiled. “Understood.”

  “Here you go.”

  Alicia looked up from the formal letter of employment they’d given her to sign when she’d gone to HR after her time with Trent. She was still trying to absorb the salary and benefits that her new job included. It had almost brought her to tears because finally—finally!—she could hope that the light at the end of the tunnel wasn’t another train barreling straight at her.

  The woman who’d taken her picture earlier laid her freshly made security card onto the table. “Keep that with you at all times while you’re onsite. And if you go to the Wellness or training centers for any reason, take it there as well. As per Marcus, you have clearance for all departments.” The woman’s expression told Alicia that she wasn’t entirely in agreement with his decision. “We don’t usually give such broad access to someone who hasn’t had a full background check, but since Eric is your family, they’ve waived that.”

  Alicia breathed out a sigh of relief. She’d hoped it would go that way but knew it could have just as easily gone with Marcus wanting a full check into her past. “Thank you.”

  The woman gestured to the papers in front of Alicia. “You finished reading those?”

  Alicia nodded. “Just need to sign them.”

  “One copy is yours, and I’ll take the other.” The woman waited as Alicia scribbled her signature on both sets of papers. “You’re to go back up to Marcus now. Since it’s a secure floor, you’ll need your card to get back up there.”

  The woman walked with her to the elevator and showed her what she needed to do to get it to go back to the top floor. For the few minutes she was alone in the elevator, Alicia leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath then slowly let it out—hoping it would take some of her nervousness with it.

  This is what I wanted. I can do this.

  When the doors silently slid open, Alicia felt a little more composed as she stepped out.

  Kelsey looked up from her computer and smiled as Alicia neared her desk. “Get everything done?”

  “I think so. They told me I did.” Alicia lifted the employee security pass that now hung around her neck. “I think it’s official.”

  “Are you feeling a bit overwhelmed?” The woman gave her a sympathetic look. “I know I was the first few days on the job, but the people here are really nice and very helpful.”

  “I hope so. It sounds like I’m filling a position that has a tendency to scare people off.”

  “You’ll be fine.” Kelsey smiled reassuringly. “And if you need help, let me know. Or one of the other assistants. One of us will be able to help you.”

  “How many other assistants are there?”

  “Including you? Four. Marcus and Alex each have their own. Beth has been with Alex about three years now. The other two assistants, Vivian and Lorraine, work for the other department heads. Vivian works for Trent and Eric while Lorraine works for Adrianne and Than. Melanie actually has her own assistant, but she doesn’t work out of this building. And me, I’m kind of the assistant to the assistants slash receptionist. If you have a question, you can come to me first, and if I can’t help you, I’ll let you know who can.”

  Alicia made a note of the names and who they worked for. She had a feeling that would be important information to know. “Thank you. I hope I don’t overwhelm you.”

  “You’ll be fine.”

  Appreciating the woman’s confidence in her, Alicia glanced down the hallway. “I think I’m supposed to see Marcus again.”

  “Yep. He’s in his office.”

  After thanking Kelsey yet again, Alicia walked to Marcus’s office, the plush carpet masking her footsteps. The door stood open, but when she stepped into the doorway, she noticed that Marcus was on the phone. She started to step back, but her movements must have caught his attention because he looked up and motioned for her to come in.

  She settled into the chair he pointed to as he continued the conversation. It was a little awkward at first to sit there while he held a conversation with someone, but then Alicia realized that if she was going to be part of his business, she would likely hear a few of these types of conversations.

  His gaze was on the notepad where he was jotting some notes, so Alicia was able to observe him surreptitiously. Unlike Eric, who seemed to smile at the drop of a hat—especially now with Staci and Sarah in his life—Alicia was fairly certain she could count on one hand the number of times she’d seen Marcus smile, and she’d still have a thumb and two fingers left over.

  He was one of the most intense individuals she’d ever come across, and it was extremely difficult to get a read on him. Given her mother’s emotional struggles over the years, Alicia had become adept at reading her moods and adjusting her actions and reactions accordingly. She’d always felt it gave her an advantage to be able to have that kind of knowledge about a person. Between that and having people underestimate her, Alicia felt that she was able to protect herself.

  But not being able to read Marcus better would deprive her of the edge she wanted to have in her working relationship with him. Anticipating his mood or what he wanted before he said anything would have been very helpful for her. Maybe, as they worked together, she’d be able to pick up on the more subtle nuances of his personality.

  He sat with the phone pressed to his ear, tapping the end of the pen he held on the notepad. He’d taken off the dark gray suit coat he’d been wearing earlier, and the sleeves of his white shirt were now rolled up to his elbows. The watch he wore had a simple leather strap, but the face of it looked like it was something that definitely cost more than the watches she saw at Walmart.

  Though he had no ring on his left hand, he had some sort of signet ring on his right hand, but Alicia couldn’t see the pattern from this distance. He once again began to make notes, and as he did, Alicia took note that he was left-handed.

  “Sorry about that,” he said when he finally hung up the phone. “Get everything taken care of?”

  Alicia nodded. “Yes. I’m now officially an employee of BlackThorpe.”

  “Welcome aboard.” A quick smile curved his lips and crinkled the skin at the corners of his eyes. “Now for a crash course in what the job entails.”

  For the next two hours, Marcus showed her what he needed her to do and how he wanted it done. Alicia had assumed that one of the other assistants would be the one to show her the ropes, but it appeared Marcus was very particular about how he wanted things.

  “Do you have plans this evening?” he asked after glancing at his watch.

  She didn’t, but Alicia was feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything and really hoped he didn’t expect her to work late when it wasn’t even officially her first day. “No. Not tonight.”

  “Good. Why don’t we go grab an early bite to eat? I have business I need to take care of this evening. Evening calls happen when we need to contact people on the other side of the globe. I want to get something to eat before my calls come in. We can talk about a few more things and then you’re free to go home.”

  Dinner sounded lovely. At least it would be different from the microwavable food she’d been eating lately. “That would be fine.”

  “If you want to take a few minutes to freshen up, we can leave around five thirty.” He pushed back from his desk. “But first let me show you where you’ll be working.”

  As she followed him out of his office, Alicia couldn’t help but notice the way his broad shoulders stretched the fabric of his shirt and how his torso narrowed to hi
s waist. He was a large man with an underlying strength that reminded her of a lion. She suspected that strength was coiled and ready to strike at any moment should he need it.

  Marcus came to a stop outside the door to his office. “Here you go.”

  She’d seen the big desk when she’d arrived and had assumed it would be hers, but now it was official.

  “Though this floor is secure, please make sure that any files or notes you’ve taken are locked up if you step away from your desk for any reason.” He glanced at his watch again. “Give me twenty minutes, and we can go.”

  Alicia nodded and watched as he turned to go back into his office. She desperately needed a bathroom but hadn’t wanted to ask Marcus for directions. Gripping the handle of her laptop bag in her hand, she headed toward Kelsey’s desk. Hopefully, the woman would still be at her desk.

  Unfortunately, Kelsey’s desk was vacant. Since it was just after five, Alicia wasn’t too surprised, but it didn’t solve her problem. She glanced around the reception area and breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted a small brass figure of a woman on a wall next to a closed door.

  Once inside, Alicia locked the door and set her bag on the floor against the wall. She quickly took care of business and washed her hands then stood staring at herself in the mirror. She hadn’t planned to be going out to eat with her boss and though she was appropriately dressed for work, dinner out was another thing. But there was nothing she could do about it right then.

  She opened her purse and pulled out her lip gloss. After a couple of sweeps over her lips, she dropped it back into her purse. She leaned closer to the mirror to smooth back any stray hairs. It had taken ages to get her hair into that twist, but thankfully it was holding up. She straightened and ran her hands down her sides to smooth any wrinkles in her suit. With nothing else to do, she let out a long breath then picked up her purse and left the bathroom.

  Alicia took her time walking back to Marcus’s office since she still had ten minutes until he wanted to leave. At her desk, she sat down and began to open and close drawers to get an idea of what each held. She realized she needed to ask Marcus for the keys to a couple of them, particularly since he had asked her to lock things up.

  “Think it will work for you?”

  Alicia looked over to see Marcus leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed over his chest. “Yep. Just need the keys for it.”

  He wore his suit coat again, and he brushed it aside as he straightened to reach into his pants pocket and pulled out a bunch of keys. After flipping through them, he removed three keys from the set. “One for the desk. One for the file cabinet and the last is for my office. There might be times I’m away and I’ll need you to get in to retrieve something for me.”

  Marcus held the keys out, and after a moment’s hesitation, Alicia approached him and took them, their fingers brushing briefly. It didn’t seem to faze him, but she was acutely aware of the warmth of his fingertips as she’d touched them.

  “Ready to go?” he asked.

  Alicia nodded. “Should I just leave my laptop here? Or do I take it into the restaurant with me? I don’t want to leave it in my car.”

  “Yes, you can leave it in my office. You won’t need it tonight. Just take your cell phone.” He picked up the case from where it sat on the floor and put it in his office before closing and locking the door. “We’ll just take my car. It’s easier than giving you directions. It’s not too far.”

  Alicia wasn’t all too sure how she felt about not having her car with her but realized she had no choice. It felt a little odd to be going out to dinner with her new boss, but already she could see that this job was going to involve working closely and intensively with Marcus Black.

  And that was an idea that both thrilled and scared her.

  ~*~

  As they waited for the elevator to arrive, Marcus glanced down at the woman at his side. The top of her head barely reached his shoulder, but that didn’t necessarily mean she was short. At six foot two, most women were shorter than him by at least four or five inches. She stood ramrod straight, her gaze on the closed elevator doors. Her hair was smoothed back, leaving her soft jawline exposed.

  She had seemed surprised he’d noticed her hairstyle earlier, but in his job, it was the details that kept a person alive. So he noticed everything.

  The doors of the elevator slid open, and he put his hand out to keep them from closing again while motioning for Alicia to precede him inside. She assumed the same position once they were in the elevator, though this time her gaze appeared to be on the numbers above the door as the elevator car descended to the basement garage.

  So far, Marcus was very pleased with how her training was going. He couldn’t deny that he was doing more in-depth training with her than he ever had with his other assistants. The very first one had been trained by his previous assistant before she retired, but since then, it had been him trying to train them in the middle of doing his own job. When they had seemed overwhelmed by the training, he’d backed off, but, as a result, they hadn’t been able to handle the job very well. He was determined not to make the same mistake with Alicia.

  He could already see that she had the potential to be the best assistant he’d ever had. And though there was something about her that piqued his curiosity on a personal level, at that point he needed an assistant more than he needed another female in his personal life.

  When the garage doors opened, he once again indicated for her to exit before him. She glanced out at the garage and hesitated for a second before stepping out onto the bare concrete. There were still a handful of cars in the garage, but for the most part, the stalls were empty since the majority of the employees had left for the day.

  “I realize we forgot to get you a parking pass for the underground lot.” Marcus pointed to where his car was parked. “We’ll get one for you tomorrow. You have a car, right?”

  “Yes. Eric very generously gave me Staci’s vehicle when she got a new one.”

  Marcus walked around to the passenger side and opened the door for her. He saw her eyes widen briefly as she glanced into the vehicle. Though he often rode in the company vehicles which were black Explorers, his personal vehicle was the latest Cadillac Escalade model. Fully loaded.

  She glanced at him just before she climbed into the vehicle, and for the first time, Marcus saw a bit of a crack in the reserved front she’d exhibited so far. And it hadn’t been all the responsibilities she would have that had produced it. No, one look at the luxury of his wheels had been what had given her pause.

  Marcus found himself smiling as he rounded the back of the vehicle to get to his door, but he was quick to wipe it off his face before getting in.

  “Comfortable?” he asked as he buckled his seat belt.

  The incredulous look she shot him was clearly a knee-jerk reaction because she quickly schooled her features and nodded. “Yes. Thank you. I’m not sure it would be possible to be uncomfortable in this vehicle.”

  Pressing his lips together to keep from smiling yet again, Marcus started the car and backed out of his spot. He didn’t say anything more as he guided the SUV to the garage exit.

  Though there were any number of restaurants he could have chosen, Marcus decided on one where he figured Alicia would be comfortable. He’d been introduced to it through Eric who said that Brooke and Lucas had taken the family there. A little less posh environment might help Alicia to put her at ease. She was going to have to get used to the circles he traveled in eventually, but for now, he needed her to be able to focus on the job, not the wealth.

  “I’ve been here before,” Alicia said as he pulled into the small parking lot. “Lucas is part owner.”

  “Yep. Eric suggested it one time, and the food was amazing.”

  After parking, Marcus opened his door and stepped out, automatically glancing around the parking lot. When he got around to Alicia’s door, she had already exited the vehicle, which was something he needed to address with her.

&nb
sp; As they walked toward the building, he said, “When you’re with me in a vehicle, please allow me to open your door for you. Not only did my mother raise me right, but it gives me the chance to survey the area before you get out.”

  She looked at him, her eyes wide. “Survey the area?”

  “Just humor me, okay? I prefer to do a cursory check of the area before letting my passengers exit the vehicle.”

  Alicia quirked a brow at him. “So Eric and Trent sit and wait for you to open the door for them?”

  This time he was the one to give her a look. “No. They are quite capable of surveying the area themselves. I don’t expect you to have that ability yet, but you’ll learn it. In the meantime, when you’re with me, please wait.”

  He waited for her to question him further, but she just nodded. Good. He needed to know that if necessary, she could follow his instructions without questioning him. Keeping those around him safe was of paramount importance. Ever since they’d started experiencing security issues—especially after what had happened with Justin’s fiancée, Alanna—Marcus had become even more cautious. The only time he completely relaxed anymore was when he was in the safety of his own home.

  “Good evening, Mr. Black.” The striking woman at the podium just inside the door of the restaurant smiled at him.

  “Good evening,” he said with a nod of his head. “And please, just call me Marcus.” He was pretty sure he’d made that request of her before, but for some reason, Amber Declan seemed uncomfortable referring to him by his first name.

  “I have your table ready for you,” she said as she picked up two menus. “Follow me, please.”

  Marcus stepped back and once again held out his hand to indicate Alicia should precede him. As she followed Amber, Alicia moved gracefully between the tables and chairs in the restaurant.

  “Here you go,” Amber said as they reached a booth near the back of the room. She set the menus on the wooden table. “Your waitress will be right with you.”