In the large, minimalist conference room, John always sat at the head of the table with Jamie and Jack on his immediate right and left. Today they’d mixed things up. Jamie sat on John’s right, but Jay sat on his left.
Jack sat next to Jamie. Cate sat next to Jay and Doug sat beside Cate. AJ and Nathan would fill in the other side.
“Morning,” Nathan said as he walked in.
Everyone responded.
When I handed AJ his coffee, he asked, “Trying to save your bacon?”
Leave it to AJ to call me out. I cough-laughed. “Something like that.”
When I served in the Navy, the only thing worse than sleeping with the captain’s daughter was sleeping with the admiral‘s daughter. But at SSI, I realized there was something worse than sleeping with the boss’s daughter—sleeping with the bosses’ sister.
It didn’t matter to her father and her three overprotective brothers that I wasn’t on the SSI payroll when I slept with Madi. It didn’t matter that we parted on good terms.
All three brothers warned me—touch her again and die. They didn’t use those words, but their message was loud and clear.
When they confronted me, I refused to defend my actions outside of saying that we were consenting adults and reminding them that not only had Madi given me a false name, but it happened before I signed my contract at SSI.
Shockingly, John was the least threatening of the bunch.
Once AJ settled in and Doug pulled up the video feed for Meg, John started the meeting. “Welcome back and thank you, Jack, for coming in despite being on paternity leave.”
Jack nodded, a huge smile on his face. And bigger bags under his eyes. Madi was living with them to help him and Meg with their newborn, but I doubted Jack was the kind of guy who slept while his wife and sister stayed up late with his daughter.
John addressed Meg, “We appreciate you taking a moment out of your maternity leave to attend.”
She waved. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
No one was surprised. Meg loved her job and everyone who worked at SSI. Plus, I bet a break from motherhood probably felt good.
“Thank you all for covering my unexpected extended vacation,” John said.
Everyone muttered a response, letting John know it was no problem. We were just glad he and Mary were okay after theordeal they went through before the office holiday party. An ordeal that almost claimed their lives.
John lifted his hand to quiet the room. “We’ll be short-handed for most of the first quarter, but we’ll adjust the number and complexity of cases we accept accordingly.”
Jack had five more weeks of paternity leave, and Jamie would probably start his before Jack returned. How much overlap depended on when Emily gave birth to their twins.
“As you all know, Jay accepted the role of Chief Security Officer and will now be leading the personal protection side of SSI.” He nodded to Jay, who nodded back.
“Jay rounds out our leadership team with his unique skill-sets, and we’re excited to watch him grow in the position.”
“Thanks. I’m also handling the company training program and will send the Q1 training schedule by the end of the week.”
Jamie spoke next. “Due to a growing number of client requests, we’ve asked Doug to put together home security packages. The systems will be self-monitored, unless they hire SSI for personal protection.”
When Jamie finished, Jack said, “When we started SSI, we offered building security to keep the lights on. As we grew, we hired part-time personnel to do those jobs. We’ve accepted fewer security jobs so our part-timers could help with the personal protection jobs. As of today, we’re no longer offering that service.”
None of this was a surprise, as we’d been kept in the loop as the J-Squad openly discussed upcoming changes with the team, often asking for our input.
When John asked if we had any questions, we said no. He ended the meeting, dismissing us to our offices.
“Robinson, I’d like to see you in my office.”
Jay angrily invading my personal space didn’t intimidate me, but his father’s no-nonsense, calm command did. Not that I’d let anyone see it.
The morning meeting was a formality. A chance to welcome us all back and start the year as a team. I hoped my inclusion meant my job wasn’t at risk.
