Nightingale: A Reed Security Romance

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  “Get the fuck away from me! I hate you!”

  “I know, baby,” he said, holding me close to him.

  “How could you do that to me?” I cried. “How could you take him from me?”

  I wiggled free from his grasp and slapped him hard across the face. He didn’t try to stop me, so I slapped him again, feeling the sting harsh against my skin. I pulled back and slapped him again.

  “Florrie, we’ll get through this.”

  “You asshole! I could have been gone already! I could have him still with me if it wasn’t for you.”

  I swung hard, punching him in the jaw. His jaw snapped to the side as he stumbled backwards from the force of my blow. I pulled my gun and held it right in his face. My hand shook as I contemplated taking his life right then. I knew I would never be able to do it, but I felt unhinged and on the verge of a breakdown.

  “Florrie,” Alec held up his hands slowly, letting me know that he was not going to do anything. “Put the gun down.”

  A tear slipped down my cheek and I shook my head. “You took him from me. I’ll never forgive you for that. I hate you.”

  “You hate me right now, but we’ll get through this. I swear to you, I will not stop fighting for him.”

  “You already did,” I said right before I swung the gun down hard against his temple.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Cap

  Reid moved across the room like he was terrified that someone was going to shoot at any moment. The kid had been through enough at his previous home. I was sure this was not helping to make him feel safe. He reached Sean and glanced back at the chaos, then slipped out the door with Sean. Chris had lowered his weapon as soon as Alec took off toward Florrie, so I was hoping that the threat was neutralized enough so that I could talk with Sean and Reid.

  “Hey, Reid,” I said, approaching slowly as I put my gun away. “I know this really sucks, and I know we told you that you could stay as long as you wanted. I want you to know that we’re not asking you to leave, okay?”

  “I know,” he said with all the maturity of an adult.

  Sean led him back toward the front of the compound and I followed behind, shutting the door of the garage so that he could no longer hear anything going on in there.

  “I don’t think I need to tell you how bad that would have been if other officers had been there,” Sean whispered.

  “I know. Fuck, I know.”

  “What’s going to happen now?” Reid asked.

  “Well, the social worker is waiting for you in the main building. They’ll take you to the Fullers and you’ll head home with them after you’ve gathered all your stuff together.”

  “So, I’ll get to see Florrie and Alec again before I go?”

  I glanced at Sean. I wasn’t so sure that was a good idea, but I wasn’t going to stop him from seeing the two people that had essentially saved his life.

  “Yeah, you’ll get to see them again. I’m guessing that the Fullers will need a few days to make arrangements to get back home, so you’ve still got some time to say goodbye.”

  He nodded, but he didn’t look too happy about it. I didn’t know what was going through this kid’s head right now. He was probably worried about how all this would play out when he got to Utah, and that was something I didn’t want him to be concerned with.

  “Reid, I have some friends that work out in California. Now, they’re not exactly close to you, but if you need anything, if you don’t feel safe, you call them and they’ll pick you up as soon as they can.” I pulled out the phone that I had snatched from the office and handed it over. “I’ve got a new phone for you. It’s loaded up with anything you could need. I have every one of our numbers stored in there, along with OPS’s number.” I pulled out the OPS card and handed it over. “Keep that on you at all times. If something happens to your phone, you’ll still have their number.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Alright, kid. Go with Sean.”

  But he didn’t move. He just stood there staring at the ground for a minute. “Do Florrie and Alec hate me?”

  “Why would you think that?”

  “Because I caused a lot of problems. They’re fighting because of me.”

  “They’re fighting over you because they want to do what’s best for you. I think you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to them, but they have very different ideas about what should have happened. But that’s for them to worry about. None of this is your fault.”

  He nodded and headed out with Sean, back through the forest instead of through the building. There was no way Reid was going near that chaos again. I opened the door to the garage, ready to deal with the chaos that was brewing now that the kid was out of the line of fire. The tension was still high in the room and Alec was lying on the floor with Rocco kneeling over him.

  “What the fuck happened?”

  “Florrie decided she didn’t like what Alec had to say. She cold cocked him with her gun.”

  I sighed and ran my hand over my face. “Take him to medical and check him out. Hunter, help get him over there.”

  “No fucking way.”

  “Excuse me?” I snapped.

  “He let his kid get taken away. Sorry, but there is no way in hell that I’m helping him.”

  “Let’s get one thing clear right now,” I said to all of them. “Despite what you may feel about what happened with Reid, we are still a family and we still help each other. Your teammate is injured. Get the fuck over there and help Rocco.”

  Hunter clenched his jaw in anger, but stalked over to Alec and helped Rocco get him up, even if he wasn’t very gentle about it.

  “I expect all of you to meet me in the conference room as soon as Alec’s awake. And no fucking guns. Rocco, call me when he wakes up. Where’s Florrie?”

  “Her suite,” Knight answered.

  I stalked past all of them toward Florrie’s old suite and knocked. I didn’t wait for her to answer. I just walked right in. She was pulling some stuff out of the closet, stuff that she must not have gotten moved over to the new house.

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Leaving.”

  “And why the fuck would you do that?”

  She scoffed, not even sparing me a glance. “Do you really think I’d stay around here, where people don’t have my back?”

  “Is that what you think? Because the whole company is divided right now because of this. You have half the guys on your side, holding guns on the other half to try and figure this out.”

  “Yeah, well, you still let my kid get taken.”

  “Florrie, I’m not going to keep going in circles with you on this. I did what I had to for the company. I gave Reid a phone and he has all our numbers. I got in contact with OPS and asked that they look out for him. They’re sending a team to keep an eye on the house and watch over Reid to make sure he’s okay.”

  “Like that’s enough,” she scoffed.

  “I know you don’t see it now, but you would have regretted running.”

  “You know what I see?” She turned to me, her whole body thrumming with anger. “I see a company that bends the rules for some and not for others. I wasn’t asking for anyone to come with me. I just wanted to slip away.”

  “And leave Alec behind?”

  “He chose to stay.”

  “No, he chose to fight for you and Reid. You just don’t like the way he’s fighting.”

  “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I’m leaving.”

  “Before you leave, we have a team meeting. As soon as Alec wakes up, that is.”

  She didn’t even look sorry about it. I wasn’t sure where everyone went from here. How the hell did I send teams out when they didn’t trust each other? I walked out of her room and headed for my office. I had to come up with some alternate solutions or this company was going to fall apart.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  I was staring down at the list of teams, trying to figure out how to make this work for everyone. Di
d I split them up? Did I trust them to go out and work with men that they just held guns on a little less than an hour ago? My head was pounding and my gut was churning. We were falling apart. Every time we’d struggled in the past, we were all on each other’s side. We fought together and we struggled together. This was something I didn’t even know how to deal with.

  “You okay?”

  My eyes slipped closed at the sound of Maggie’s voice. I needed her right now. She was my rock, always on my side through anything. I leaned back in my chair and motioned her over. When she slid into my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck, I finally felt a little at ease, like everything was going to be okay.

  “What’s happening?”

  I sighed and kissed her. “Everything’s falling apart. Reid’s going to live with his relatives. The court order came through. Florrie and Alec came to blows when Florrie wanted to run away with Reid. There was a blowout in the panic room. Everyone was down there, guns drawn and threatening each other. It was absolute chaos. And now we need to have a team meeting to figure out where we go from here.”

  “Whose side were you on?”

  I huffed out a laugh. “You know me, always on the side of the law.”

  “Not always.”

  “Well, most of the time. I know we can get back to where we were, but in the meantime, all the teams are broken. The only ones that are on the same side are Knight and Lola, and I can’t send them out on jobs.”

  “So, what are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, most of them just chose a side, but Ice actually aimed his gun at Chris.”

  “Wow,” she said, her eyes popping wide. Chris and Ice always had each other’s backs. They had been together forever, but this was threatening to shred their team apart.

  “I know. It’s really fucking bad.”

  “You’ll figure it out. You always do.”

  “I love your confidence in me.”

  “Well, there’s a reason I married you.”

  I nodded, but rested my head against her chest. “I’m so fucking tired. This company is my home. These people are my family, but we’re all falling apart. We’ve always had each other’s backs, but what do you do when there’s literally a fucking civil war in the middle of the company?”

  “Who’s the north?”

  “I am, and anyone who sides with me.”

  “So, what’s the problem?”

  “This is no longer just my company. They all bought in. I don’t have the same control that I used to.”

  “Yes, you do. They might have bought in, but you’re the heart and soul of this company. You started this with your sweat and blood. This company is strong because they have you leading them. No one else takes on everything here like you do, and no one wants to. So unless they’re willing to step up and take control, they don’t have the final say in any of this. Besides, when everything went to hell when Chance was taken, you were the one that pulled us out of that mess, constantly working to figure out how you would get us all home and back to our lives.”

  “So, how do I handle this?”

  “You already know how. You walk into that meeting and you tell them how you’re going to work this so that everyone can stay together. You take charge like you always do and you make it clear that you’re in charge and if they want to stay, they need to fall in line. Don’t second guess yourself right now. Just be the man you always are.”

  I smiled up at her, kissing her softly on the lips. “What would I do without you?”

  “Oh, you’d definitely fall apart,” she chuckled. “But I would too without you.”

  “I needed to hear that,” I whispered before I kissed her. My phone buzzed, interrupting my moment with Freckles.

  “Yeah?”

  “Alec’s awake.”

  “Alright. Everyone in the conference room in five.”

  “On it.”

  I hung up with Rocco and held Maggie a little closer, needing her strength to help me through this meeting. I would help everyone through this crisis, but then it was time for a much needed vacation. I was going to take my family somewhere warm and relax on the beach for at least a month. Well, at least a week. We’d see how long Maggie and I could stay away.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Alec

  I groaned as the bright light seeped into my brain. My head was pounding so hard that I thought about just knocking myself out again so I could go back to sleep.

  “Nice to have you back,” Rocco said from above me.

  “How long have I been out?”

  “An hour. I thought I was going to have to take you to the hospital. I might still have to.”

  I tried to sit up, but the slight movement I made had my stomach rolling and my head feeling like it was about to fall off.

  “Yeah, I’d stay down if I was you.”

  “Damn, I didn’t expect her to hit me so hard.”

  “But you expected her to hit you?” he asked incredulously.

  “I didn’t expect it,” I said, holding onto my head, “but I’m not surprised.”

  Rocco held a light up in front of my face and shown it in my eyes. I squinted against the bright light, and instantly closed my eyes when he was done.

  “Yeah, it’d probably be wise to get you checked out.”

  “I’ve had head injuries before.”

  “It only takes one.”

  I ignored him and laid back on the pillow. “Is she still here?”

  “Why? Are you afraid she’ll come back to finish the job?”

  “I’m afraid she’s going to walk away and never come back.”

  He snorted. “She might not be the only one. The whole place is a war zone right now.”

  “Fuck, I didn’t mean to make the whole company go to war.”

  “Well, you did the right thing. Despite what the others think, if she had gone through with her plan, the whole fucking business would have tanked overnight. The police would have dug into all our lives and turned this place upside down to find that kid. Our safe houses would have been compromised and I’m guessing Knight’s identity would have come into question as soon as it became a federal investigation. Trust me, you had the right idea in mind.”

  I sighed and covered my eyes with my arm to block out the light. “And what about everyone else? Are they coming around to the same idea?”

  “Eh. Not everyone. There are definitely some that are pissed that we didn’t protect Reid, but they don’t have much of a choice. Cap told everyone that they can get on board or jump ship. And since our whole lives are wrapped up in this place, they don’t have much of a choice but to fall in line.”

  “Great. So basically, I’m going to have a bunch of pissed off coworkers for a while.”

  “It looks that way. I don’t know how it’s all going to work. Teams are divided right now. There’s not a single fucking team not affected by this. Well, aside from Knight and Lola. They’re both on your side.”

  I huffed out a laugh. “Can’t say I’ve ever been so happy to have Knight on my side.”

  “We’re all on your side. The lines are just blurred right now.”

  “Rocco, Chris held a fucking gun to my head after Florrie beat the shit out of me. I’m not seeing how he’s on my side at all.”

  “Yeah, I’m not gonna lie. I would feel a little threatened if I were you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Florrie handed you your ass. I’m a little worried about the state of your man card right now.”

  I smirked, though nothing was funny. “Hey, I was taking it easy on her because I didn’t want to hurt her.”

  “Sure you did.”

  “And besides, you know Florrie is just as good as the rest of us. It’s not like it’s offensive to be beat up by her. If anything, it’s an honor. I feel safer knowing that she can do that shit so easily.”

  “Wow. You really are fucked up over her. I mean, I knew you loved her, especially after all the sneaking around, but I didn�
�t realize how deep you were in.”

  “She’s everything,” I said with a sigh. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do if she leaves me.”

  “If? Did you not hear her? She hates you. She knocked you out with her gun. You’re just lucky that she didn’t shoot you too.”

  “There were too many other people in the room. And a cop right outside. I’m not sure he would have looked past that.”

  “But you think we would have?”

  I shrugged. “I think it’s a tossup at this point.”

  “Yeah, well, Cap called a team meeting. He said as soon as you’re awake, and you’re awake, so let’s get a move on.”

  I groaned as he took my hand and pulled me up. My head was wobbling on my neck, but I managed to stand up and not fall over, so I took that as a good sign. Based on the size of the knot on top of my head, I was going to be hurting for at least a few days.

  We walked into the conference room a few minutes later. All the seats were taken, mostly from the people that sided with Florrie. She was standing in the corner of the room, not even sparing me a glance as I walked in. Sinner stood and shoved the chair toward me.

  “Shit, let’s all be a dick to the man with a head injury,” he snarled at the others that just sat there staring at me like I was a piece of shit. Yeah, this was gonna be fun. I sat down and closed my eyes for a few minutes.

  “Alright,” Cap said, walking in the room to his place at the head of the table. “Let’s get this meeting started. As you all know, we’re in a bit of a civil war right now. That needs to stop right this fucking minute and we need to start working together like we always do.”

  “Kind of hard to do when you’re sending one of us off to fend for himself,” Chris muttered.

  “Let me make one thing perfectly fucking clear right now,” Cap said loudly. “I did not send Reid off to fend for himself. He has a phone with all our numbers in it. If he calls, you fucking answer. He also has the number for OPS if he gets into trouble. He has their card in case he loses his phone. Sean has contacts in the police department watching out for him. I talked with Cash and he’s going to send a team to keep an eye on Reid for as long as he can. We are doing everything we can right now to keep that kid safe.”