“It’s not something I advertise, although it’s not a secret either.We live on the property, but the only men allowed on site are employees or there to interview someone.I’m usually surrounded by women.”
Harmony chuckled with him.“It doesn’t sound like that bothers you.”
“Not at all.We do our best to make it feel like a home for the women and children who stay with us.We want them to feel like guests, not prisoners.Usually they are escaping a situation where they felt like prisoners, and we don’t want that.But there’s a balance between safety and total freedom in a place like Shelter in the Storm.”
“Your wife owns Shelter in the Storm?”Harmony asked.
“She does.Do you know it?”
“Not personally, but it’s been on the news a few times in the last few years.”
Captain Patrick’s face pinched.“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry.I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
He shook his head.“It’s been a rough few years.Frannie lost a friend and guest, and we almost lost many more.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He glanced in her direction.“Thanks.”
Harmony was quiet the rest of the drive to the bank.Captain Patrick escorted her inside, giving her space when she spoke to the banker, but staying close so she knew she was safe.
When they walked out, he asked if there was anywhere else she needed to go.
“You’ve been more than helpful.Thank you.I should probably get back to work, though.”
“Do you have your car at Pickens Systems Inc.?”
“I do.”
Captain Patrick sang the praises of Grant Pickens on the drive back and unknowingly put Harmony at ease.By the time she got her car and made it to work, she’d convinced herself the weird interaction with Grant Pickens was her overreacting to a man who didn’t spend much time with the general public.
That had to be it.He was a good man who gave back to the city.There was no way he was actually threatening her.
“Nice show,”Kiernan said with a smirk.
Grant flipped off his brother.“Fucking bitch.She almost ruined everything.”
“Unfortunately, she’s not the only one who might ruin everything.”
“What does that mean?”Grant growled.
“Roger said Paul’s threatening to talk.”
Grant didn’t reply for a minute.He stalked across his office and claimed his seat behind his desk.The desk he’d worked hard to sit behind.The office he’d sacrificed everything in his life to get.Every day, every moment, he’d worked to get to where he was.
No one was going to ruin what he’d built.
“Did you hear me?”Kiernan asked.
“Yeah,” Grant replied.
“What do you want to do?”
Grant looked up at his little brother.He still saw the scared kid who cried at night when the snow made them so cold their blankets and jackets didn’t help.The kid who didn’t like stealing, even though they had to eat.The kid who turned into a man who understood all those lessons they learned as teenagers.
Kiernan’s gaze was sharp.He had the same brown eyes Grant did, but Kiernan had lighter skin and hair that bordered on blond.Neither of them knew who their father was, and Grant always assumed they didn’t share a father since their mother had darker features and olive skin like Grant.Whether Kiernan was his biological sibling or not never mattered to Grant.They were brothers, and the only family each other had after their mother died.
