Ignite (Unbreakable Bonds 7)

Jackson crossed his arms over his chest and frowned at Noah. “Seriously, you okay? How close of a call was it?”

He liked that about Jackson. He was damn perceptive. The man wouldn’t be distracted by Noah’s attempt at humor. “I’m fine. We’re both fine. It was closer than either of us would have liked it to have been, but we’re safe.”

“Do you have any guesses as to why you were targeted?”

Noah shook his head. “The cops said there’s been an increase in drive-by shootings and carjackings. It could have been an attempted theft. Or maybe mistaken identity. Thought we were some gang members targeted for a hit.”

“You don’t think it was possibly related to any other activities?”

Noah couldn’t help but smirk. It was no great secret that the Ward Security boys occasionally took matters into their own hands to protect their people. “We’ve been good recently.” Well, except for that little job to rescue Snow and take down the man who’d hurt Jude’s brother.

Jackson took a half-step forward and lowered his voice a little. “I want to make sure you and Rowe know you can rely on me for the more unusual jobs if something comes up. I know I haven’t been here as long as some of the other guys…”

Noah clapped his hand on Jackson’s broad shoulder and squeezed. His heart warmed just a little bit more. Jackson was one of the newest security agents to join the team, and he supported the men and women he worked beside without question. “Don’t worry. We know you’ve got the backs of your brothers and sisters at Ward, regardless of the job.”

Jackson’s face lit up with a mix of joy and relief. “Good. I know I dragged my feet about accepting Rowe’s offer to join the company, but I didn’t want him to think that I wasn’t all in. This place—”

Noah frowned as Jackson stopped midsentence. His face turned pale and all the joy drained from his expression as he stared at a point over Noah’s shoulder. Noah quickly turned around, trying to spot what had crushed the man’s mood so fast.

A stranger was briskly walking down the stairs from the second floor. He had broad shoulders and thick, muscular arms that stretched the sleeves of his black button-down shirt. He wasn’t wearing a jacket or a tie, but Noah guessed that this person had just come from Rowe’s office. The boss man had been complaining that morning that he had yet another interview to conduct, and this guy looked like a bodyguard.

As he reached the bottom couple of steps, the man spotted Jackson. He grinned and winked at him before heading straight for the lobby.

“What’s Dale Carson doing here?” Jackson demanded in a low voice.

“I think he was interviewing with Rowe for the open agent position. Do you know him?”

“I gotta talk to Rowe,” Jackson muttered, not seeming to hear Noah’s question. Without looking back at Noah, Jackson hurried up the stairs toward Rowe’s office.

Curious, Noah followed him. Prior to coming to Ward Security, Jackson had spent five years working for another amazing security company that provided services to billionaires, rock stars, and celebrities. The man knew his shit. But it also meant he knew a lot of other bodyguards. Apparently, this stranger was someone he’d encountered before.

They reached Rowe’s office just as Andrei was stepping out into the hall. The COO smiled at them as he tucked his tablet under his arm and headed toward his office down the hall. People around the building had started to call him “Poppa Andrei” now that he’d finally brought his sweet daughter to meet everyone. Noah couldn’t recall ever seeing such a large group of sweaty, grumpy alpha males turn into gooey, cooing puddles so fast as when they set eyes on that dark-haired angel dressed in her tiny Ward Security T-shirt.

Jackson briefly knocked on the doorframe of Rowe’s office and stepped inside, with Noah following on his heels. Rowe was sitting at his desk, frowning at his computer screen like it was denying him access to something once again. Fuck, Noah felt sorry for Gidget at times. The guy was just horrible with computers, and despite all the amazing work that Gidget did, Rowe couldn’t stop himself from relying on the poor woman to get his shit to work each day. But he had a feeling Gidget secretly enjoyed taking care of her boss. She was a bundle of maternal instincts, and she took care of all of them.

“What’s up, boys?” Rowe said, finally looking up.

“What was Dale Carson doing here?” Jackson demanded.

Rowe’s brow crinkled a little at Jackson’s tone, but the man wasn’t one to beat around the bush about something. “Job interview for security agent. You know him?”

“Yeah, we worked together at Sanctuary in LA. You can’t hire him.”

Noah silently shut the door to Rowe’s office and leaned against the wall beside it. Rowe sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. While Rowe and Andrei oversaw the day-to-day operations and handled the scheduling, Noah had taken over the training of all the agents. If Rowe decided to offer this Dale guy a job against Jackson’s wishes, he wanted to know what he could potentially be up against when it came to either man.