smile when he insists on walking me up, not that I mind indulging him. It’s nice to feel like I matter, even if it’s in a boss-employee kind of way.
“Bullshit,” he spits, making me frown as he offers me his hand and helps me from the car.
“What’s bullshit?”
“That you seem to think we all only care for you in an employee-employer capacity. We care about you because you care about us. Jesus, you literally plucked me off the streets. Who even does that?”
Shit, I didn’t realize I said all that out loud.
“You took a chance on me when nobody else did, you think I’ll ever forget that?” He shakes his head, answering his own question.
“Working for you has given DJ, Kevin, and me a roof over our heads and enough money for me to send both boys to college. You took a bunch of has-beens, jaded soldiers, a homeless man, and a brutalized child, and you made us into more. You breathed life back into a group of people so ready to lay down and die, and you did it with soft smiles and kind hands. You gave us hope where there wasn’t any to be found. You made us a family, Viddy. Jesus, you have changed the lives of everyone you touch. How do you not see that?”
I blink rapidly to fight back the tears, choked up by his words. How can I not be?
Ben’s protective instincts were evident when I first met him. I originally planned to offer him a place on my security team, but he suffered from terrible PTSD and thought it would act as a deterrent. He was upfront about it from the start, refusing to be the weak link in my team. He insisted that I couldn’t have a guard who can’t bear the sound of gunfire without curling up in the fetal position. I didn’t push him, offering him instead the role of my driver, which he readily snapped up. When DJ moved into Ben’s place, he and Kevin had each other for company, especially on the nights I called Ben out.
It all worked out in the end. DJ and Kevin are thriving, and they had an unbreakable bond I knew would last a lifetime.
“Family, huh? I like that,” I tell him with a smile. “But if you make me cry, I’ll kick your ass.”
“Noted.” His lips twitch as we enter the elevator. He hits the button for the top floor and we make idle chit chat about the boys as the elevator ascends.
When the doors open, he takes a protective step in front of me, one born of instinct, and it’s that move that saves my life because when a gun fires, the bullet rips through Ben’s shoulder, instead of my head.
He falls back and I hit the button to close the doors before covering Ben’s body with mine.
Bullets fire in quick succession but they miss me as the doors close. I listen for a minute to the clink, clink, clink they make hitting the thick steel door, sounding almost harmless now.
I lift up and look down at Ben’s pale face. His skin is clammy and his top lip is dotted with sweat.
“Ben, talk to me.” I slap his face, but Ben has left the building, mentally at least, as shock sets in.
This is what he was talking about. The bullet isn’t life-threatening, but Ben’s mind can’t separate the past from the present, and likely thinks he’s back in the sandy desert as opposed to the floor of the elevator.
Climbing off him, I whip out my phone and dial Danny, who picks up after the second ring.
“Hey, Viddy, we were just—” he answers, but I cut him off as I pull my gun from my bag.
“I need you to get to the penthouse. Ben’s been shot. We are in the elevator right now, but I have no idea where the shooter is. I need the team here, and I need you to get Baker to hack into the camera feed so I know where this asshole is and if he’s alone,” I bark, my mind focused and ready for what I’m about to do. There is no fear, just pure unfiltered rage.
“Fuck, we’re on our way. Stay put—”
I cut him off again, pulling the boss card. “Danny, I want to know where they are.”
“Dammit, fuck, hold on, he’s doing his thing right now. Okay, there are two that we can see. One is standing near the elevator on the penthouse floor and