She sighed. “This is going to require more design and strategy than one person can do in the amount of time we have.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I hope you weren’t planning to try on your own.”
They were supposed to be partners. He might not have experience working directly with a lady before, but he was confident partnership still meant what he thought it did.
Tucking her smartphone into her jacket pocket, she glanced at Tegan. Then she met Adam’s gaze. “I’d planned to take the lead. I’m not so great at delegating. My former partner got to know me well enough to coax tasks out of my hands or beat me to them. It’s not exactly fair to expect you to do the same without any kind of warning.”
Ah. Well then. Her self-awareness was becoming one of his favorite aspects of her. “You’ve now warned me. I will do my best to learn to work with you, but we need to agree on this kind of open communication. I can’t read your mind to anticipate what you need from me, aye?”
She nodded. “It’s going to be a learning exercise for me too. I’ll try.”
“Do. People like us, we don’t try. We do.” He glanced at Tegan, still sitting and watching her. “Those ears. They’re big for his head, don’t you think? All he needs is a robe and a light saber.”
Laughing, she headed for the entrance of the main house. “Let’s get the tour of the interior of the buildings before we go.”
He fell in at her side amicably. “What kind of business issues do you think led to our client needing this level of security?”
“Hmm?” She lifted her shoulder in a one-sided shrug. “I’m still considering the possibilities.”
But she wasn’t disregarding the risk associated with the cause for all this paranoia. Good. A paranoid person wasn’t necessarily wrong. It’d help them protect their client and properly secure his home if they had more context as to how this situation evolved from the beginning.
“Either way, we’ve got a clear statement of work to guide us.” She sounded confident in their organization’s document. “Our client might not know what he’s leaving out. There’s assumptions outlined in the contract to protect us from scope creep.”
“Yeah.” He drew the affirmative out slowly as he thought on it. “Do you always stick to exactly what’s in the contract?”
She slowed a step, and Tegan checked his pace to stay with her. “Not always. I do what there’s time to do within the limits of the contract. If we need to put extra effort in to be sure we do the right thing, we will, as long as we’ve still got the time covered in the contract. The client doesn’t always remember what they agreed to in the statement of work.”
“They remember that you did the right thing.” Or people could end up remembering only the one wrong in a history of solid, good performance. One black mark could erase all the good done in a career.
“Yes. A part of what we’re doing here is making sure our client becomes a positive reference. Safeguard needs a few real wins to counteract some unfounded rumors.” She didn’t want to share what those might be, he guessed.
“Then we do what needs to be done to make sure our Roland is happy with our work.” Adam considered Jay, wondered if he should flag his old friend as a potential risk to the project. Then again, it’d been a couple of years since they’d served together. Adam had changed since then, grown into his skin. All he needed was the chance to prove himself to his new team. The least he could do was give Jay the same opportunity.
“We fulfill the statement of work, every deliverable.” She gave him a smile finally. “And to your point, it’s not always about what’s in the contract or on record. It’s about perception of the full experience. We’ll make sure Roland has good things to say about his experience with Safeguard.”
Adam returned her smile with a grin of his own. “Sounds good, partner.”
Chapter Six
Victoria studied the maps of Roland’s property again, tapping her pen against her notepad. Laptops were good for the final briefs on her security design and defense strategy, but she preferred the freedom to make notes and scribble on paper in the draft stages. At this point, she’d taken copies of the original plans and marked them up to give her more detailed indications of terrain. Now, she had a clear perspective on low-visibility areas and dead-space.
It’d been a surprise to her when she’d realized the current security team had been limiting their surveillance to the standard perimeter cameras. There’d been several areas of dead-space—places where it was impossible for a person to see while walking the grounds—both on the perimeter and near the main buildings. Some of those spots were gatherings of ornamental shrubs and large bushes in the landscaping. A full-grown person could hide in those in daylight. At night, they were havens of darkness without even lights to keep the areas shadow-free.
She’d made notes for the landscapers to make changes as soon as possible. If she had to, she’d tear up the shrubs near the house herself.
The property was incredibly vulnerable.
Granted, the current security team had been in place before there’d been a sense of urgency to establish real defense in depth, layers of security and defensive lines designed to defend each other in the case of an attempted incursion. They’d increased the frequency of random patrols of the area in response. What pricked at her was the sudden need for it now. If they had more specifics on why it was suddenly a priority when it so obviously wasn’t previously, she’d have a better idea of what she was defending against.
“Partners do not run off and hoard all the work for themselves.” Adam sounded seriously irritated.
Victoria resisted the urge to hunch her shoulders. Instead, she forced herself to look up and meet his gaze steadily, even if he was right. “You were completing an important task.”
He narrowed his eyes. A muscle twitched in his cheek as he clenched his jaw. “You had me up on the highest part of the main house installing additional surveillance cameras. One of the other bros could’ve done it just as well.”
She shook her head. “They’re getting the streaming feed from those, yes. But I wanted you to install them since we’re getting the feed from them too.”
For those cameras, at least, she wanted a comprehensive view of the property immediately. Eventually, they’d have access to the property’s entire surveillance system. This would give them the closest thing to a bird’s-eye view in the meantime.
“You’re giving me busywork so you can think in peace.” He’d spoken with surety and a healthy dollop of frustration.
Placing the pen down, she met his gaze. His intensity slammed into her with almost physical force. “Yes. I think better this way.”
“You said yourself this was too much for one person to do alone.” His tone had gone flat again and utterly calm.
She was beginning to realize it was not a good sign. He was angry. So far, he tended to be right with his reasoning when he did this.
“This is what I do well.” She could start out truthfully. Now that he’d called her out, she wasn’t as certain her tactic had been the right thing to do. It’d seemed to make perfect sense when she’d decided the mapping was a priority. “We really did need the increased visuals right away.”
His brows drew together. “You don’t know what I do well yet. You’re not giving me the chance to contribute and that is not fair to our client.”
She’d opened her mouth to retort, thinking he’d been about to tell her it wasn’t fair. She hadn’t expected him to bring their client into it.
“The concept of defense in depth relies on complexity to establish robust protection.” His words were measured, logical, and were inexorably reasonable. “When you design the plan on your own, which I’m guessing you’ve done in the past without someone else calling you out on the way you allot tasks, your plan has a flaw.”
It was her turn to clench her jaw. “I am good at what I do.”
The corner of his mouth turned up in a grim sort of smile. “Good enough to have been in the business a long while. Tell me, how many professionals out there have gone up against a defense you planned? Have you been keeping count? Can you tell me no one has been studying you over the years? I’m betting somebody, somewhere has gotten inside your head.”
Surprised, she remained silent. Thinking. It hadn’t happened yet but she preferred not to wait for shit to happen before preparing for the worst.
He snorted, his body posture relaxing a fraction as some of the tension left his shoulders. “It never occurred to you, did it? Humble. You don’t give the impression, Queenie. Now we’re talking, this isn’t even personal, is it? You did this to your previous partner too.”
Irritated, she glared at him. “Marc had his skill sets. He liked having hands on the technology setup. He’d look over the plans I developed and provide input after I had the majority drafted.”
She wondered now, with Adam’s commentary, if Marc had simply figured out how to work with her idiosyncrasies. Working with a wide variety of personalities had been Marc’s forte. He’d never complained, but he was possibly the most easygoing man she’d ever met. It was a shocking contrast to Adam’s personality.
Her ex’s accusations echoed faintly in the back of her mind. He’d always asserted she couldn’t compromise to make anything work with anyone. No, she could be flexible. “Do you propose a different way to do this?”
A bit more animation returned to Adam’s expression as his eyebrow lifted. “We can brainstorm together over the maps you’ve got done so far. It’d save time if you don’t have to wait for me to review your work and maybe avoid hard feelings later if I have to ask questions where you thought you were clear or if I disagree with you. Let’s make this an active collaboration.”
He sounded like Kyle, different from Gabe or Lizzy or Marc. Before Safeguard, before Gabe had made the decision to split them into two-man teams, they’d been a part of their parent organization, Centurion Corporation. As Centurions, they were grouped into four—or five-person fire teams. Those fire teams had been grouped into larger squads. Within each fire team, each person had a separate specialty and a different role to play.
She was used to splitting up tasks along the lines of expertise. Marc hadn’t had a problem with it because their skills had complemented each other. It literally hadn’t occurred to her to apply both hers and Adam’s energies to the same task.
“You think it’d be a more effective use of time.” She considered it. Every project relied on three major factors: resources, time and budget. If one was a higher priority, they’d need to sacrifice one or both of the others to make it happen. The critical aspect of this project was time. She’d thought to split their resources to manage tasks in parallel, thus saving time. Adam’s suggestion could save time in a different way.
“For the planning stage, yes. As we execute tasks later, probably not. We don’t know each other well. I’ll definitely have questions about your plan. I won’t be able to make assumptions. We’d go back and forth a lot to get clarification.” He grimaced. Obviously, he didn’t enjoy the documentation aspect of working on this sort of project. “We don’t have time for the whole draft, review, make changes, review again system. We need to cut out the review time and work on this together.”
At least he wasn’t suggesting they skip the documentation. Others had tried in the past. It resulted in sloppy work.
“Fine. Pull up a chair.” She’d never tried designing strategy in direct collaboration. Come to think of it, she’d been pushed out of such efforts in past lifetimes, before she’d begun her work with the Centurions. “Let’s give this a try.”
He’d been right about something else too. If the design came only from her, it was a similar approach to other strategies she’d developed in the past. Having him in the mix during the drafting stage was going to add to the complexity of the defense.
He didn’t gloat over winning his point. He simply grabbed a chair.
“You’ve been focusing on vision. I’ve got a few ideas.”
* * *
Adam had to give it to Victoria, she was a very detail-oriented individual. It’d been over an hour, and she was still studying the maps with painstaking attention. They had notes on making use of both long-range and short-range cameras. Some of the existing cameras would be repurposed in the new plan as appropriate, but they’d also be installing new technology. A combination of regular visuals, night, heat and infrared capabilities would be put in place. They were even going to train Roland’s existing security team on the use of drones.
In addition to the established vision capabilities, there would be layers of precautions. Not every observer would look for more than obvious surveillance. In fact, while some cameras would be left visible, many would be concealed. The idea was for intruders to go for the easy-to-find cameras and disable those, leaving other, less obvious ones intact.
She’d insisted on making note of every detail for the vision aspect of the defense strategy. Their maps now had not only the exact position of every camera but also the range of visibility they would provide in shaded cones. Of course, the cones were color-coded to indicate the capabilities of each camera.
“The surveillance is our best source of intel before and during an incursion.” She was pacing, absentmindedly rubbing her lower back.
“Information is key to success.” It was a saying somewhere. He was sure of it. Keeping his brain busy tracking down where the phrase came from only partially distracted him from watching her in motion.
She was beautiful. He could get all flowery with the descriptions. But what filled his head wasn’t words. It was images and daydreams of touching her again, having her move under his touch in response to the things he wanted to do to her. And he had very good memories of what she could do to him.
Considering how his body was reacting, he remained seated and let the table provide him with some measure of cover. Even in his jeans, she was going to be able to see he was not completely focused on the task at hand. Or maybe she’d assume the concept of defense in depth turned him on.
He’d claim it if she caught him.
“We’re almost there.” She returned to the table to lean over their maps, one hand bracing a portion of her weight as she leaned past him to snag her pen from the other side of the table. “Once these are complete, we can take a look at setting visible two-man patrols at irregular intervals. We need to harden the target with more intimidating physical presence from the security team.”
His cock jumped as she’d mentioned hardening. Hah. Fine. He did find planning arousing when it was her doing the talking.
Her shoulder bumped his, and he placed his hands on the surface of the table in an attempt to keep them off of her. No touching. She had made it clear they were to be a professional partnership.
For now.
“Adam?”
“Yeah.” He’d zoned out. Shit.
“Your eyes glazed over.” She was studying him, within arm’s reach. Her clear gaze was cool, assessing.
She was always measuring the people around her. He wondered if she even realized she did it. The effect was the same as splashing cold water in his face. Being judged did that to a man. “Might be a good time for coffee.”
Easing the chokehold he had on his libido, he subtly adjusted himself and stood.
“I’ll join you.” She reached across the table to sketch another note on one of the maps on the far side.
He groaned, wondering if he dared bite his fist. Because it was either that or reach out and take hold of the very shapely rear she’d presented to him. Being around her sent him back and forth between hot wanting and cold reserve. If he’d wanted to do this to himself, he’d hit a sauna then take a plunge i
nto the bay down at the end of the dock.
She straightened and turned, coming up right against him. Blinking in surprise, she looked up at him through long, dark golden eyelashes. “I thought you’d backed up some.”
It would’ve been the smart thing to do, safer. But his patience had been burned out on work. Now, he was taking a break and riling her up was his newest fun.
“You move fast, Queenie.”
She scowled up at him. She wasn’t the type to back down or try to the right or left of him either. She could push him though, and he’d give her space. But he wanted her to be direct about it.
Instead, she glared at him. “You need to leave off with the nickname.”
“You don’t like it?” He cocked his head a little to the side as he studied her.
“It’s unprofessional.” She blinked a couple of times, and her comment didn’t have her usual decisive conviction.
She was carrying a whole lot of baggage. Eventually, it was going to wear her down if she didn’t let go of it on her own. Keeping her thoughts to herself likely didn’t help at all.
He was curious, in a morbid sort of way, and once in a while he tried to be considerate even if he was being a pain in the ass. “Did your previous partner have a nickname for you?”
He wouldn’t tease her with nicknames if someone had tortured her with them in the past.
A shadow crossed her expression. “No. Neither my partner nor my ex did.”
“But you don’t like them.” He was getting lost, quickly, and she was withdrawing into herself.
Her gaze had become unfocused, the spark leaving her eyes. There must be some bad memories tied to the ex. Talking about her former partner didn’t do this to her.
She shrugged. “I prefer to carry myself in a professional manner. Impeccable. Respectable. Reliable.”
He frowned. As she’d spoken, her comments had cut inward. Far from positive, her words had turned bitter with remembered anger. There was the malaise he’d noticed about her. It’d come and gone throughout their working session. It was a dark, ugly cloud of thought eating her from the inside out. Consuming her and turning her attention deep inside, she wasn’t even aware of his proximity anymore.
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