Chapter Sixteen

Iris

Their home was very nice, and they had the private jet, but somehow it hadn’t sunk in for me that those things indicated this much wealth and success. “Three levels? It’s a pretty big organization, then.”

Nix shrugged. “Compared to some of our relatives, it’s small potatoes, but we like it.” I followed them up to a double door that clicked open as soon as we stood in front of it. “After you, Iris.”

Either there was something that registered who was at the door, or someone was watching from inside. Either way, security was certainly at a premium. I stepped into the cool interior of the building and found myself in a small foyer with another set of doors in front of me. “More security?”

“Absolutely.” Keir approached the second doors, which also opened for him. “It’s our job, after all. Some of it is for clients to feel safe, but mostly it’s just how we operate. How would it look if a prince came for a meeting and the very people he wants protection from came in and assassinated him at the conference table?”

“Bad?” Maybe worse. I followed the two into a long hallway with doors on either side. “Which are your offices?”

“We aren’t on this level.” Nix strode to the side of the hall and palmed the wall there. The wall melted away. “Come on, and we’ll show you.”

This was getting wild. I stood between them facing the former wall, and it reappeared in front of us. “Wow.” Then the floor moved downward, and I grabbed an arm of each dragon. “We’re in an elevator?”

“Yes. Also, a little show-offy, but the clients are impressed, and that makes them more willing to pay our rates.”

“Which aren’t cheap,” I assumed.

“We are the best,” Keir stated in a level tone. “So, no, never cheap, just good.”

The elevator stopped after a few seconds, and Nix placed his palm on the front wall, which, of course, dissolved to allow us to exit. I had no idea how it worked, but stashed that question for later. There was so much more to see, a suspicion confirmed as we walked down a hallway that looked like something out of a sci-fi novel. Lighting gleamed through walls of stainless steel, although it couldn’t be steel if light came through it?

So many questions. We had not encountered any people upstairs, so they must have been behind the closed doors, but on this level, the doors were open, leaving me free to peek inside as we passed. A gym with people working out. A tech area with computers and all sorts of machines I couldn’t identify. A large conference room with a group of men and women seated around an oval table captured my interest. “Are they all bodyguards?” I asked after we had moved to another section of the hallway. The very idea that women could hold this position was exciting. Empowering. “Even the women?”

“Of course. Many of our clients prefer bodyguards they feel comfortable with. Our employees hit all those markers.” Nix leaned in close. “Some of those men and women are non-binary or describe themselves in other ways. We hire based on skills and not appearance or physicality.”

My mood was lifting with every word. “Are they all shifters?”

He caught my arm and pulled me nearer. “We do not discriminate. At all. And yes, nearly everyone you see on this level is a bodyguard or holds some similar position.”

“I could be a bodyguard?” The idea of being in charge of not only my destiny and baby’s but being able to protect others? Mind blowing.

“It would take training. But if that’s what you want, I have no doubt a woman who has accomplished the things you have would be amazing. My dragon would really prefer to protect you, but, if that’s your dream, we’re here for you.”

I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Wow. For now, my dream is to bring my baby successfully and safely into a welcoming home. But down the line…who knows?”

“Who knows, indeed.” Keir moved ahead of us and palmed a door. “This is our office.”

“You share one?” Somehow I’d have thought that they would not only be on the highest floor, even if it was ground level, but they would each have a huge private office. The one they showed me was very nice with partner desks and a conversation area as well as another door that led to a closet or maybe a restroom. But a nice, simple office.

“We also have one on the top level where we meet with clients. We can show you on the way out. It’s…fancier.”

“Ah.” These males were not the “fancy” type. They preferred this comfortable space to one set up to impress.

They showed me around some more before we left. The door in their office did lead to a bathroom with a shower, again, not crazy fancy but nice. Clean and stocked with big fluffy towels and soaps and shampoos and things. There was a cafeteria across from the gym where their employees could eat healthful meals when on the premises. Other employees also made use of this, of course. The floor above was secure to the point they couldn’t show it to me, for now, but the ground floor level was all about marble and hardwoods and other materials that should show any client their success.

Feeling a little overwhelmed by the whole thing, I followed them out to the car and sat in the front seat next to Nix. We drove out of the parking lot and onto the highway before he asked, “You okay, Iris?”

“You are very good at your jobs.”

“Well, thank you, but you haven’t seen us in action. We did want you to see that we have made keeping people safe our life’s work, hoping you would feel more secure as a result.”

“Am I a job too?” I’d been having such a great time looking around their offices until my mood dropped. “It’s all right if I am…”

“Is that what we are making you feel like?” Keir leaned forward in the back seat and rested a hand on my shoulder. “We are not doing this at all well.”

“You aren’t exactly coming on to me, and I understand that I’m a little less than svelte right now, and I am carrying someone else’s baby, but I had begun to hope…”

Keir’s breath was warm against my ear when he said, “We want you as a mate. To share you, to help you raise your young, and achieve your dreams. But we did not want you to feel pressured in any way. Maybe we held back too much.”

“If that is your desire, then I’d say you did, but I have been through some stuff, and a little bit pregnant, and maybe I am overly sensitive.”

Nix pulled the car over on the side of the road and faced me. “Don’t always take the blame for everything. You deserve better.”