Page 2 of Mitch

Mitch hung up and walked into the conference room where everyone was waiting. He clapped Liam on the shoulder as he took the seat next to him. “How are you feeling?”

“Pucker mate.”

Liam insisted on using cockney words as a way to irritate the rest of the team who barely understood him half the time, although they seemed to be learning quick enough.

Mitch nodded, glad to see his friend back on rotation and fighting fit again, after the gunshot wound he’d received protecting the woman he loved.

Jack, their boss, banged the table with one hand. “Listen up. We have a few things to cover.”

The room grew silent as everyone focused on the job first and foremost.

“Firstly, we’ve had word from the Palace that the Queen wants to do a tour of the commonwealth next year.” Jack flipped a pencil end over end as he spoke. “That means we’re up. We need to plan it, visit locations, and prep. Her usual security will continue with the day to day stuff, but this is where we shine, gentleman. We need this contract if you want to keep making money.”

“What about the threat inside the Palace? Has Gunner given us anything useful?”

Decker leaned back in his chair, the coolest cucumber in the room, and the most well-dressed. He lived in a suit while the rest of them wore jeans, combats, or training gear. Perhaps it was because as the profiler, his brain was his biggest weapon, whereas the rest of them were more the brawn.

“He’s meeting me in two days and says he might have a name for us by then.” Jack sat forward. “Any questions?”

“You got any closer to hiring a dog unit?” Blake was the one with the most experience in personal protection, having had close contact with the Queen long before they got this contract. He was all in favour of having a K9 unit for the teams. Mitch had to say he agreed, it worked for Fortis well and was the only place they had a real gap in capabilities.

“I’m interviewing candidates with Alex and Decker on Friday.”

“What about admin and stuff? I’m sick of getting stuck with that shit,” Lopez said.

Mitch threw a ball of paper at his head. “Stop whining, you big baby.”

Lopez lobbed it back. “You try doing it and see how you like it.”

“Can’t, they need my exceptional skill in the field, nerd boy.”

“Fuck off, grandad.”

Mitch laughed at the dig knowing it was a joke. As the oldest member of the team, he frequently got called gramps and grandad—it didn’t bother him in the slightest. “When did forty become old?”

“When did it stop?” Lopez countered, and the guys cracked up as did he.

“Touché.”

This camaraderie was why he loved this team; they laughed, they joked, but when it mattered, they would take a bullet to save one another. It was a similar feeling to the one he’d had long ago when he grew up surrounded by his gang, except the current one was highly trained and mostly legal.

Until Eidolon, he’d missed the element of belonging that being part of a crew had given him. It was the only part he did miss though. The rest had been too high a price to pay for his best friend’s life. Walking away from the gangs, getting out of South London had literally saved his own life. It was something he’d be forever grateful for, and his mum was the woman he’d always have to thank for it.

As a single mum since his dad’s death, she’d worked her fingers to the bone to keep a roof over their heads, and not once had he gone without. But ultimately, it was her grit, her strength to drag him bodily to another area and away from the people who would have cost him his life had he stayed, that was the thing he was most grateful for.

Jack leaned forward on the table catching everyone’s attention, holding a room with his authority in such a way nobody realised it half the time. “Well, Lopez, you’ll be happy to hear that I’ve looked at the budget and hired an office admin.”

“Thank fuck for that. Tell me she’s pretty, with long legs….”

“She’s off fucking limits. Aubrey will have my balls if you touch her sister, and anyway, I’m not having you pricks hitting on the office staff and costing me a fortune in legal fees when she sues us.”

“Madison? Are you fucking kidding me?” Lopez threw his pen down on the desk, shaking his head.

Madison was a handful to say the least. The team had saved her from a Colombian drug lord after she’d got herself in trouble.

“It’s a favour for Aubrey.”

Nobody responded to that because everyone loved Aubrey, Will’s girlfriend, who was also a local police detective.