Page 20 of Danger and Dominance

“Nope, he’s our ginger of all trades.”Jensen grinned.“He knows a little about everything.I think he feels like he has to since he’s technically in charge of our missions.He doesn’t like it when he doesn’t understand something or has to ask us to do something he knows nothing about.”

“That makes sense.”It also made a good leader, she would imagine.Not that she’d ever been in a place to know.

“What are your plans for today?”Jensen asked.“Did you want to go anywhere?”

“What?Oh, no,” she said as she realized he was thinking about whether he would need to accompany her anywhere.“I don’t need to go anywhere.I was thinking I would look over the job listings Jennifer gave me yesterday and see what’s available, then just… try to decompress.”

“Cool.What were you doing before?”

“Um…” Cassidy hesitated, feeling her cheeks heat with shame because she knew how what she was about to say was going to sound.“Well, Don didn’t want me working, so I was going to nursing school, but I dropped out.”

Red flag.She knew that.At the time, it had sounded good, though.Why work if she didn’t have to?Why not stay at home and do whatever she wanted to do and keep up the housework so they could save some money instead of having someone come in to clean?And if she decided she really did want to be a nurse, she could always go back.

But somehow, they’d never had the money when she wanted to go back, even though he’d ‘saved’ money by getting rid of the cleaning service he’d had.Somehow, it had never been the right time for her to go back.According to him.

“Ah.Gotcha.”The expression on Jensen’s face was sympathetic, not judgmental, but it didn’t matter.

She was judging herself.

“Well, I don’t know if there will be anything in there that correlates to that.I think it’s mostly admin-type stuff, but who knows.”

“Admin-type stuff sounds great.”That’s what she’d been doing at the temp agency where she’d gotten a job.Master Adam from Stronghold had helped her out with that.Now, she was getting help with this job.

At some point, she was going to have to stand on her own two feet.Even if it meant Don finding her.

But not yet.

Not right now.

Maybe when she was ready to do that, she’d move somewhere far, far away.Europe might be nice.She’d always wanted to visit Ireland.

“Well, good luck.Let me know if you need anything.”

Jensen shot her a smile and ambled out of the kitchen, leaving her alone to think about what she was going to do with this temporary stopover between the life she was escaping and the life she wanted.

8

David

As soon as the elevator doors opened on Monday morning, an unwelcome sight greeted David’s eyes.He could see straight into the Black Fox Security lobby where Jennifer was standing behind her desk—not sitting—with an unhappy expression on her face as she faced down a blond man David recognized immediately and who definitely did not belong there.

Scowling, David stalked out of the elevator.

His movement must have caught Jennifer’s attention because she turned her head, and relief flashed across her face.Seeing her change in expression, Marshall turned around.Unlike her, he scowled as soon as he saw David.

Pulling the glass door open, David raised his eyebrow, keeping his anger off his face as he faced off against the former third owner of Black Fox.Everything about Marshall offended his sensibilities, from the fact he’d been embezzling from the firm to knowing the man had been sleeping with Lincoln’s first wife before their divorce.Even though he’d supposedly been Lincoln’s best friend.

Jennifer slowly sank back down onto her chair, watching both of them warily but no longer so on edge now that David was there.

“How did you get in here?”he asked before Marshall could say anything.“I thought your access was revoked.”He was going to have to have a word with Samuel and the other gate guards.

Marshall smiled.Maybe David was biased, but it was a smarmy smile.And it didn’t reach his eyes, which remained coldly blue as he met David’s gaze.

“Hello, David, good to see you, too.”

“I wish I could say the same, but I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to be seeing you in here anymore.”

Lifting his shoulder in a shrug, Marshall looked smug, and he didn’t bother answering David’s question.