Chaos & the Geek (Grace Grayson Security #1) - Elizabeth Stevens Page 0,9
at each other – Rollie glaring at Nico’s lack of information – and nodded.
“Okay,” I said. “So, I’ll deal with Mrs Fortescue on Friday. We’ll do Champers Day on Sunday. And we’re not going to bother O Lord about his…thing?” I looked down at the paper in front of me. “Mrs Fortescue only wants one of us until half ten, so that shouldn’t be too hard.”
There was silence as we all looked between each other. Eight years of knowing these guys and we could communicate with far more than words. When they all looked at me again – except Nico of course who was still busy behind his screen – I nodded.
“Right. Sorted.” I stretched my neck and pulled my tie lose.
“Woohoo!” Rollie cried, pushing himself away from the table. “Meeting over.”
“For me. Haven’t you got to check on Jefferson this afternoon?” I looked at him and he sighed.
“Yes. I do.” Rollie checked his watch. “Fuck. Now. May I be excused,” he teased, and I flicked my hand at him. He chuckled as he got up and swanned out yelling, “Nico, I need new comms. And I promise not to mention anything about dates!”
Nico’s eyes stayed glued to his screen as he got up muttering to himself and followed Rollie out. I shared a smile with Hawk and Tank.
“Right. What have you boys got this afternoon?” I asked.
“Lesson with Mrs Hartley,” Tank answered, and we grimaced in sympathy.
“Have fun with that.”
“Paperwork,” Hawk sighed.
Tank snorted. “I think you win the shittest job competition,” he said as he stood up.
“Ah, I dunno. Chaos has twice as much paperwork and I think he’s got an issue with Falkner to deal with?”
“Oh, boss wins again!” Tank chuckled.
I stood up with a wry smirk. “And this is why I’m the boss.”
“Oh. All work and no play make Chaos vewy gwumpy,” Hawk teased.
I raised my eyebrow at him. “Chaos is always vewy gwumpy, birdboy,” I replied deadpan and he and Tank barked laughter.
Hawk shook his head and I missed his words as I wandered to my office. We all had our own offices now, thank fuck. Back when we first started Grace Grayson Security, Rollie was threatening to dismember the lot of us with far too much regularity and I was sure Nico had had the place bombed as insurance. Now we all had our own corners to have our personal time and things were a whole lot less tense.
Sometimes I wondered just how well we were all actually adjusting to civilian life again.
I sat at my desk and lost myself in my work for the rest of the day. Falkner was a fucking pain in the arse and no mistake. But when it came down to it, the man was scared of me. He put on a good face and his bluster only got him so far. When I put my foot down, he listened.
So it was after midnight by the time I’d dealt with all the bullshit behind the scenes things I’d never expected to have to deal with when Hawk and I drunkenly decided that we should go into private security; there was money in and out in every fucking direction, schedules, classes, copy for the website, and making sure Nico didn’t get lost in the deep web and remembered to eat or sleep.
It seemed never ending. But it’s not like I had anything else to focus my attention on. Still, I could only get by for so long telling the team to sleep if I didn’t do it myself.
So I got up, grabbed my bag and wandered out. The rest of the guys had had jobs or classes all night, so they were gone. Except for one. The one who never left. I walked past his office on the way out and saw he was at least asleep. Sure, he was lying at what looked like a really awkward angle on his couch, his laptop on his legs and his glasses all wonky. But at least he wasn’t still working.
I ducked in, closed his laptop and put it on his desk, slid his glasses off his face, threw a blanket over him, and turned out his light on my way out. Nico’s and my SUVs were the only ones still in the parking garage and I couldn’t say I was surprised; our building wasn’t known for late-night businesses.
I was actually yawning by the time I pulled into my park in the Mayhew garage and I let out a deep breath before I