“Yes. Izzy is terrifying when she’s mad. She’s scarier than you are.”
“That’s not true.” They just don’t know to be scared of me. Izzy, on the other hand, is like a box of TNT that just accidentally got set on fire. It’s a big explosion, scorching anything in its path. Then she feels terrible afterward. I, on the other hand, feel vindicated after my precision explosions take out my exact targets.
“If that’s what you need to tell yourself,” Lila says.
“Why do I employ you again?” I ask, mostly joking.
“Because you’re a badass boss bitch who’s about to have a huge contract with the most famous musician on the planet, and as much as it pains you to admit, you can’t do it all by yourself.”
“Huh. And here I was thinking it was because your brother is dating my sister.”
“You’re a jerk.”
I laugh, turning toward the other end of the hallway as footsteps announce the first people arriving for the meeting. I nod at one of the men from Carter’s team before wrapping up the call with Lila, making sure to let her know how much I’ve appreciated her work supporting me on this and managing some of the other admin work while I’m gone.
I make my way into the room set up for the final security debrief and pause. The normal room has doubled in size to make enough space, the old wall tucked away into a closet in the middle of the room. This is the meeting we’ll have before the first concert at each venue. It’s a big deal, as it’s with the leadership from each of the different departments of the tour, plus the entire security team, including the gate and entryway security teams that the venue provides.
Carter and I planned the agenda two days ago, discussing how we wanted to handle everything. It was remarkably easy to work through who would share which pieces of information. Since my team covers the advance planning, I’ll kick us off at each venue with the big picture, and Carter will bring it home with the specific team roles for his team and the venues’ security teams.
As we near the start time, I interrupt Carter as he’s talking to a couple of the men on his team, and we both make our way to the front of the room. The A/V team asked us if we wanted a microphone for these, but we’re hoping we can be heard without one.
Jaxon enters with a minute to spare, finding an empty seat at one of the tables. You can tell the event security team is trying to play it cool, everyone focusing on their previous conversations or their phones, but having Jaxon Steele sit on the chair next to you is a pretty big fricken deal, and more than a few people are subtly sneaking glances his direction. I was told most performers opt out of these meetings.
I try to hide my smile, giving everyone an extra few seconds to come to terms with the star in their midst. To Jaxon’s credit, he just smiles, his gaze focused on Carter and me at the front of the room, calmly waiting until everyone is ready.
I take two steps toward the center of the room but stop when the door opens again, this time letting in Trent Mitchell. His white Mitchell Security button-down, pair of dark slacks, and fancy loafers make me look like an amateur in my black tennis shoes and heat-up vest.
I glance toward Carter to see if he knew Trent was coming or if he’s just as surprised as I am, but he’s focused on the paper in hishand, not on either of us. I nod my head to Trent, hoping it’s a cordial reaction to his unexpected appearance, and apparently, he takes it as a sign he should take over, because suddenly he’s standing next to me, welcoming the group to the Forever Starts Here Tour.
How it’s possible to speak for five minutes and say nothing, I’m not sure, but when Trent finally runs out of buzzwords and platitudes to say, he wraps up his motivational speech with a personal monologue about how he knew Jaxon growing up.
“And now, let me introduce you to Kelsey Harper, who works for us doing the security planning.”
Is he kidding me? Anyone else and I might’ve let that slide as a universal us, but I’ve known Trent long enough to know he’s using this little show of his as a way to make it seem like Mitchell Security is the one leading the charge here. The man hasn’t been around the entire week, and suddenly, he’s in here, making it seem like he’s the one managing it all.
I force myself not to smile back at him when he shoots a smarmy grin my way, my face naturally wanting to respond in kind. Unfortunately, I’m off my game. My heart is racing from sheer frustration, and I’m mentally trying to cut the parts of my talk that Trent already covered. Sure, there isn’t much overlap, but still. This has been planned for days, and now Mitchell Security just announced to Jaxon and all the other key leaders on the tour that they’re in charge. And it’s not like I can dispute it without it looking like I’m throwing a hissy fit.
Those are probably the words Trent would use, too.Look at that small, blonde woman having a hissy fit because she thinks she’s not being given enoughcredit.
Then, all the men in the room would chuckle, adjusting themselves as they mentally move me from the professional column to the weak-woman one.
If Izzy were here, she’d suggest I hack into Trent’s phone and change the autocorrect so every time he says “proposal” or “plan,” it’d correct it to “dumb ideas” or “micropenis.”
If only…
I finish my portion of the prep meeting and casually introduce Carter from Mitchell Security, our partner security firm. And fine, based on Carter’s raised eyebrow, it’s possible I overemphasized the wordpartner.
I stand silently next to Trent as Carter talks through team placement and rotation, ensuring everyone sees the image of Bennie he sent to their phones. Carter’s team has been briefed on Bennie before, but a couple of the venue’s security members have questions. They mostly want to know if she’s dangerous or likely to be trying to hide her identity somehow. Based on her mental state the last time anyone saw her, it’s unlikely.
When the meeting finishes, I stalk away from Trent, unable to bear the overpowering smell of his too-flowery cologne anymore.
“Kelsey!” I hear someone call me over the slight chaos of so many people leaving.
I turn, my eye catching on Jaxon waving at me from the front of the room, where he’s now standing by the Mitchell brothers. It helps that he’s almost six and a half feet tall, which is tall even in a room of big men.
I walk over, trying not to feel overwhelmed by the sheer size of the three large men standing in a circle before me.
“Everything ready for tomorrow?” Jaxon asks as Carter steps to the side to give me room.
