“Can you cut it out with the sad eyes comments?”
“Make your eyes happy, and I’ll stop. Do you want me to take the guns? You’re handling them like you’d handle a big spider.” She held out her hand.
“I’ll handle them.” He adjusted his hands, trying to be a little more at ease with how he was holding the guns.
She winked and turned and left the room, then peeked back in. “Hug?”
“India,” he growled, though for once, he was grateful that she had been there. Carstairs had arrived armed, which meant his uncles were getting irritable about the small stipend they got from the company, and the deal he had worked out with them years ago was no longer working.
Chapter 4 - Enzo
“Spencer Moss. You can call me Moss,” the man across from Enzo said, reaching out to shake his hand. Moss’s handshake was unimpressive, and Enzo studied him, trying to figure him out. He was harmless looking—a tall, blonde white guy who you’d assume did things like buy panini makers and talk about the vintage of a wine.
“Enzo Gallo,” Enzo said, trying to assume an expression that a competent security professional would wear, even though he was a little unsure what that would be. The military had been easy. It had never required things like this job interview in a fancy coffee shop. Enzo studied the space with practiced efficiency, noting not only the amenities of the shop but the exits, the people inside, the cover should a gunfight arise. Not that a gunfight was likely. On the table, Moss had a plate with some pastries on it, but he didn’t eat any, just sipped his tea. Enzo grabbed a chocolate croissant and ate half of it in one bite, wondering what that told Moss about him.
“Great to meet you. Apologies for the unusual interview location, but the assignment is a little unusual as well,” Moss said, pulling out a file folder and flipping it open. In it were several photos of a beautiful blonde woman who looked quite a lot like Moss.
“A relative of yours?” Enzo asked.
Moss didn’t answer his question, but Enzo saw her name on the file and took that as a yes. “You served alongside Cooper Renton?” Moss asked, dabbing his mouth with a napkin like he was the fucking queen.
“Yes, sir.” Enzo had spent the past ten years of his life in an elite Army Special Forces unit. He had come to this interview recommended by his former commanding officer, who seemed to think he would enjoy working with Moss. Enzo wasn’t sure he saw it, but he needed a job. He would take what he could get.
Moss studied him. “You look like you’d be a lifer.”
“My mom got sick about six months ago, and I retired at the end of my tour to help the family. She passed, but I didn’t feel like going back was the right thing to do. I have a little brother in Portland. He’s in college.” Enzo had answered this question about a million times while trying to figure what life after the military should look like for him. Renton had said this gig would pay well, and money was what Enzo needed at the moment. But usually private security jobs involved an office, and this guy was meeting him in a coffee shop. Something about the job had to be a little off the books. Moss picked up his cup and stirred his tea, adding a little honey.
Then, the tall blond man shifted in his chair, angling himself in another direction, which, to the untrained eye, would not have looked intentional, but Enzo suspected it was. This was the second thing Enzo had seen him do that was out of character for his useless rich guy persona. Things that only someone who had military intelligence training would notice.
“All right, well, I brought you here today because my sister is getting herself into some kind of trouble, and I need someone to look out for her,” Moss finally said, sipping his tea. “Renton said you needed a job.”
“Does this sister want a security detail?” Enzo asked.
“Not so much. But you come highly recommended, and I pay well,” Moss said. He paused, fiddling with his watch for a moment. “Tell me what you just noticed.”
“About you, or about that guy who came into the shop who looks like he wants to kill you?” Enzo said, grinning.
“Stop looking so cocky. You’re hired.” Moss looked slowly around the room and stood up. “Come on, let’s walk and talk.”
“Great idea.” Enzo didn’t know what was going on, but he wanted out of the coffee shop, and away from the threat.
The man that had been watching them did not follow as they exited the coffee shop. “You’re handy to have around with your whole big brute thing,” Moss said. “I think you intimidated him.”
“And you didn’t?” Enzo watched Moss’s gait, which was easy going and unhurried to the untrained eye, but Moss had an athleticism that was hard to miss. This guy was likely fast as fuck.
Moss shrugged. “Most people don’t realize they should be intimidated by me until it’s too late.”
“And that’s intentional,” Enzo said.
“Is it?” Moss shot him a grin, and this time Enzo saw him survey the surroundings, although discreetly. “So, back to my sister. She’s involved in a hacktivist network, and usually I don’t interfere, but she has some sort of nefarious plan involving this company, Blackstone Industries.” He shook his head with a sigh. “Something about pay scale inequity and fighting for the minimum wage workers.”
“Back up. Are you actually a security agency?” Enzo asked.
“Well... India and I, we’re thinking of forming one. But right now we’re a nonentity, so you’d be doing odd jobs for me,” Moss said. “It would be a personal sort of thing.”
“You’re hiring a full-time security guard to protect your sister? That seems expensive.”
“She’s my only family.”
