Griffin Chapter 6

“Mr. Gerard,” I started to say until he raised his brow, then I changed it. “Travis, I don’t think all your men are unsalvageable. They have the foundation of skills we need. We just need to build upon them. There are security measures going into place as early as tomorrow. We’ll add as many as we need. We’d like to begin tomorrow, working with the guards and security personnel to get their skills up to par.”

“What about Rockwell? I don’t think he’s one you want to stay.”

I heard Hadley make a slight protesting sound when her dad said that, but she didn’t say anything. As much as I personally disliked Rockwell, he was one of the best we had, although his attitude had to go if this was to work.

“Not necessarily. If he can get rid of his attitude toward us and focus on the job he’s paid to do, I want him to stay. He, Ellis, and Fletcher are the best. We can work with the others who function as your personal guards. Some of the ground and gate guards have to go. They’re not gonna cut it.”

“Okay, if you’re sure, but I’ll make it clear to him if he doesn’t straighten up, he’s gone. Hadley, do you have any objections to that?”

“No, Daddy, I don’t,” she responded quietly. I tried to determine whether she was lying, but I couldn’t tell.

“Fine, I’ll tell the ones we need to let go tomorrow. I have to get their severance packages together, and the payroll manager has to cut their final checks. How do we fill their spots? There’s no way I can get more guards from the staffing agencies I use in a day or even two. They have to be vetted and the whole nine yards.”

“True, and you can work on doing that for when we’re no longer here. For now, we can take care of it for you. We have men and women we can use. If we need more and we don’t personally have them working for us, we have others. How do you feel about bikers?”

Hadley gasped, and her mouth fell open. Gerard didn’t even blink. “I assume you mean the ones like Anderson’s niece is married to?”

I slowly nodded. I didn’t know Anderson had told anyone about Zara and the Warriors. “Yes, that club and others like them. They’re our friends, and we’ve worked together in the past several times. Sean, Mark, Gabe, and I stake our lives and reputations on them.”

Justin told them, “My brother and my cousin are members of the club in Dublin Falls, Tennessee.”

“My sister is married to one there too, and they rescued her after she was taken and raped and was to be sold. That’s how I met the Dark Patriots and decided to join them when I got out of the service. They helped with her rescue,” Beau said through gritted teeth. He still hadn’t fully forgiven himself or his brothers for all being away when it happened. Hadley gasped.

“One of my sisters is married to Blade in Dublin Falls, who is Justin’s cousin. They saved her from the crazy cult we grew up in. Heath and I served together. That’s how we came to be part of the Patriots. We can all vouch for them unconditionally. Many of them served as well,” Ben told them.

“Wow, Anderson never told me all that. Okay, I say I don’t have an issue with bikers as long as they’re part of the clubs you trust. How soon can we have replacements here for the men I have to let go?” Travis asked.

“I’ll have the first few here by noon tomorrow. We’ll go from there. Until we have the current guards better trained, I need you and your daughter to remain here at the house. We can’t risk you out in public.”

“Dad, we can’t—” Hadley started to protest, but he cut her off.

“Hadley, we’ll make it work. You can postpone your trip, and we’ll figure out the rest.”

She didn’t appear happy, but she didn’t argue. Whatever useless or insignificant things she had planned could wait. “Good. I suggest if we’re gonna make this happen, we need to get to work. I’m leaving Heath with you, Travis. Ben will watch over Hadley. Until you talk to your men, I don’t want them guarding you. I especially don’t want Rockwell guarding Hadley while he’s pissed.”

“He won’t hurt me,” she argued.

I flicked my eyes to her arm, then her face. She hadn’t told her dad he left bruises. If she resisted, I would. She received my message loud and clear. She gave me an upset look, but I didn’t care. I was here to keep her safe, not be her friend.

After the details, we got up to go our separate ways. Hadley said goodbye to her dad and then walked out. Ben followed her. Heath took up his position outside the closed study door. Beau and Justin came with me.

“She’s not happy with you,” Beau observed unnecessarily.

“I don’t give a damn if she is or not. We’re here to keep them safe. I’m not looking to make friends.”

“What about looking for something else?” Justin asked.

“I’m here to do a job, and so are you. Don’t forget it,” I warned them. They both nodded.

As I went to call the rest back at headquarters, I tried not to think of Justin’s something else comment. It wasn’t in the cards, and I wouldn’t waste my time thinking about it. The sooner we found whoever was behind this and eliminated them, the better. I could go back to Hampton and forget Hadley Gerard, and she’d go on to live in her ivory castle like the princess she was.

???

It wasn’t until the next morning that Travis was able to talk to the guards we’d determined could stay if they agreed to do as we said and would work to bring their skills up to par with what we expected. He spoke to them after he discussed the severance packages with those who we believed wouldn’t be able to keep them safe no matter what we taught them. I offered to be present when he told them the news, but he refused. He said it was ultimately his decision, and he’d do it. I was a little surprised when Hadley sat in on all of them.

I’d just finished explaining to the ones we wanted to keep how the process would go. I scanned all their faces intently as I explained. I knew my guys were doing the same. We were trying to see who was merely agreeing to keep their job but wouldn’t do what was needed. Most looked a bit apprehensive, which wasn’t unusual.

Rockwell was the one I watched closest. He’d come in and sat down, not saying a word to anyone, not even the other guards. I noticed they sat away from him. He was trying to hide his hostility after the explanation of who went and who stayed. I didn’t want him here, but he was one of the best. I couldn’t let my personal dislike of him dictate our decision. If he stayed in line, then we had to keep him.

After we finished, Travis addressed them. “I know some of you may be upset about the decisions made. It wasn’t personal, and the people I let go weren’t left adrift without a generous severance. However, this situation has illustrated to me how lax our security is in some ways. We haven’t stayed current, and this threat, I believe, is real. With that said, I’ve given the Dark Patriots the authority to act in my name when it comes to anything dealing with security on the estate and every place in between, including my offices. If you won’t abide by that, give them respect, or follow their training program to hone your skills even more, then please see me afterward. I’ll arrange for your severance as well.”

No one said a word. He let the silence stretch for a good minute or two before he nodded at me. “Griffin, would you like to fill them in on what they can expect today and in the coming few days? We’re gaining several new people, correct?”

“New? How? It takes weeks, sometimes months, to hire a qualified bodyguard. I wasn’t aware of any candidates being vetted,” Ellis asked, sounding mystified and slightly miffed.

“We haven’t done that. We want you to work on those hires so that when we leave, you have properly trained guards to fill the gaps. We’ll be happy to help you with the process. Since you’re the guy in charge of all the guards, I understand. We’ll work on that together. However, in the interim, we are bringing in our people who are vetted and qualified. We’ll start with more operatives from Dark Patriots. If we find they’re not enough, we have another bunch we can ask to help,” I explained.

“What makes these people qualified? All we have is your word,” Rockwell popped off. I knew the little bastard wouldn’t be able to remain quiet. I narrowed my eyes on him. I was about to put him in his place when Travis did.

“I say they are based on what the Patriots shared with me. Make no mistake. You work for me. If you want to continue to do so, you’ll stop challenging every decision Griffin or his men make. Or would you like my daughter to beat you again in a physical challenge and find herself a new bodyguard? Straighten up, or it will be arranged. I hate to see you lose five years of great employment over an attitude problem.”

Everyone stared in shock. You could tell Travis was about at the end of his patience with Rockwell’s behavior. I fought not to grin and clap. I heard a faint snicker from somewhere, but I couldn’t tell who had made it. I knew it wasn’t one of my guys because they were next to me, and it came from across the room.

The thunderous expression on Rockwell’s face was getting worse. Suddenly, the door opened, and Hadley walked in. I didn’t know she would be attending this meeting. She gave us an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry I’m late. I had an important call that I had to take. Please, don’t mind me,” she said as she slipped onto a chair next to her dad.

As I watched her move to that seat, I saw I wasn’t the only one. Everyone gave her a short glance, and some had a smile or nod for her. Only Rockwell stared at her the whole way. Even after she sat down, he kept looking back at her. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. My trust level with him when it came to her was almost zero. I’d see about having him reassigned. Ortiz or Sanders could take over full time. They’d both let me know that when they came today. They’re full-time jobs had been reduced to part time or more like as needed.

Neither was where I wanted them to be skills-wise, but they took directions and tried hard to do everything we asked for yesterday. If we assigned both of them to her and found someone else to help, she’d be fine.

I cleared my throat. “We’re through the explanations, and they know we have people coming from our teams. The first ones should actually be here any moment. They texted to let me know before we started this meeting that they were close. We’ll introduce you to them, and then your assignments will be given out. Every day, we’ll hold a variety of skills training sessions. There will be different instructors based on the skill being taught. You’re expected to attend the ones you’re assigned. You’ll be given a deadline by which to have them completed. We don’t have time to do this leisurely. The faster, the better. It’s vital you do it and put your all into it.”

Fletcher raised his hand. I nodded at him. “What if we can’t work our eight hours and then work even more on top of it? Don’t get me wrong, I want to do it, but I take care of my mother at night while my wife works. She has dementia, and she can’t be left alone, not even to sleep.”

I felt for the man. Dementia is a horrible disease. I wasn’t sure what to tell him. I was more than okay with working with him, but if he had to be home every night and he was doing guard duty full time to get paid, I wasn’t sure how to circumvent it.

“Fletcher, you and I will work on this. I’ll get someone who can stay with your mother at night when Ana works on the days you need to do your classes. This is an added work requirement, and I won’t penalize you for it. I know your circumstances, and I’ve already reached out to a couple of staffing agencies. Don’t worry, I’ll cover the cost as well since it’s work-related.” Travis informed him.

The relief on Fletcher’s face was obvious. I thought I saw his eyes get glassy. “Mr. Gerard, I don’t know what to say. Thank you so much. I swear I’ll get through the training as fast as I can, so you don’t need to pay for someone long. Ana doesn’t work every night, so she’ll help cover some of it.”

“We’ll do it as long as we need to. Alright, anything else we need to know?” Travis asked the rest of them. They all shook their heads. We were interrupted by a knock at the door. Travis called out, “Enter.” I wasn’t surprised to see Porter walk in.

“Excuse me, sirs, but Mr. Griffin has several people here to see him. I was told earlier that they were expected. Do you want them brought in here, or should I take them to the study for refreshments until you’re done?”

“Bring them in here, please. Thank you, Porter,” I told him.

He gave me a slight bow. I thought it was odd but dignified for him to do it. It reminded me of times past, like in those old movies, when having servants was much more common. He walked out, and a minute later, he was back with our team. There were four of them, and I was glad to see them.

As they entered, everyone stared at them. I watched to see what their reactions would be to Mark in particular. He came in, looking like a biker with his tattooed arms straining the seams of his shirt. His jeans and black riding boots completed the look, along with the black leather jacket he had slung over one shoulder. His sunglasses were pushed up on his head, and his steely eyes scanned the room. He wasn’t smiling. These days, it was Sloan and Caleb who made him smile and laugh, although we were getting more of them. The Mark we knew years ago had been irrevocably changed into Undertaker.

I motioned for them to join us at the front. They made their way over. Once they claimed a spot, I made introductions. I pointed to Mark first. “This is Mark. He’s one of the other co-founders of the Dark Patriots. We served together in the Navy. He was a SEAL as well. This is Aryan, Giovanni, and Jae-Joon, but he goes by Jae. They’re all experienced security specialists with our company. They’ll be helping not only with patrols, guard duty, and training, but Jae will also be adding more cameras where we think they’re needed and upgrading the alarm system.”

The guards murmured. I saw some apprehension when they looked at Mark. Wait until they discovered his nickname. It would inadvertently come out. We all called him that a lot. He didn’t mind. He said it was hard for him to remember to respond to Mark unless it was Sloan using it after living as Undertaker every day for five years.

With nothing left to say at the moment, I turned it back over to Travis. He didn’t waste time dismissing the others after telling them to go about their usual duties until we came to find them. After the last one left, which, no surprise, was Rockwell, who was eyeing us and Hadley, Travis came up to the new additions with his hand out and a smile on his face.

“It’s so good to meet all of you. I’m Travis Gerard. Please call me Travis. Welcome to our home and thank you for coming to help us. I thought it best to get them out of here so we could relax and talk freely. This is my daughter, Hadley. Please sit. Can we get you anything to drink?”

They shook their heads. I knew they were taken aback by his friendliness even though I’d warned my brothers. Hadley was smiling at them. I saw Aryan and Giovanni eyeing her appreciatively, even though they knew better than to do anything about it. I’d have to remind them of that fact just in case it slipped their minds.

“Hello and welcome. Thank you so much for coming to help us. I’d like to talk about something before we get into whatever we need to discuss. I planned to talk to you about it yesterday, but then things got busy and tense.” She directed this at me.

“Sure, go ahead, what is it?” I asked as we all sat down.

“It’s about the threat against me. I don’t think we should be taking it so seriously.”

I sat forward abruptly as I spoke in a low voice, the one I used when I was trying to intimidate someone. It wasn’t intentional. It just slipped out before I could stop it. “What the hell are you talking about? They specifically said they’d make you experience a fate worse than death before they killed you and sent you back to your dad in pieces, Hadley! What’s not serious about that? Have you lost your mind?”

“Don’t get all snarly with me, Griffin Voss! Just let me explain. Yeesh! There aren’t many people outside of this house and a few at the office who know I even exist. After all these years, it’s suspicious that suddenly, my identity would be exposed and me targeted. Dad is the face and backbone of the company. If they want to mess with the completion of the latest project, they’ll get more of a response by taking Dad and holding him for ransom or, God forbid, killing him. Doing that to me won’t destroy Gerard Industries with Dad there. The board will be able to continue it. I think it’s a diversion. The focus is being shifted to me, leaving him more vulnerable. I want him to have more protection on him rather than on me. Two guards should be more than enough for my detail.”

You could’ve heard a pin drop when she was done. The frowns on everyone’s faces told me what they thought. It was the same as me. There was no way in hell we’d have less protection for her. Both of them were our priority. Before I could tell her that in no uncertain terms, Mark surprised me by speaking up. Usually, he kept his own counsel until it was needed.

“Hadley, I’d hoped you’d learned enough over the past couple of days to know there’s no way we’re pulling protection off you to put on your dad.”

She opened her mouth, but he stopped her. “Hold on, let me finish. We plan to provide extra protection for your dad as well. You’re right. This could all be a diversion tactic, but we won’t take the chance we’re wrong. Our mission is to always protect our country, the innocent, and those unable to protect themselves. What your dad’s company does for our country earns him our protection on its own. Add to it you’re innocent and less able to protect yourselves than we are. You’re not getting rid of us until this is over. My wife would kick my ass if I went home and said we didn’t do our job.”

I snickered. I couldn’t help it. He was a monster of a man, but he wasn’t lying about Sloan. She was a badass. All you had to do was hear how she went undercover with him into an outlaw MC and freed more than one club from their poison. Plus, she was a Marine before she joined us.

“What’s so funny?” Hadley asked.

“I was picturing Sloan doing it. She’s a mean thing. She has to be to live with Undertaker and put up with him. He’s not lying about her, though. So you see, you have to let us do both and not give us grief about it in order to protect him.”

She glanced at him, and I saw her mouth twitching. She finally got it under control. “Should I ask how you got the name Undertaker?” she asked Mark.

“One day, when we know each other better, I’ll tell you. Just know I come by it honestly.”

“Is this look of yours for fun, or do you actually ride?” she unexpectedly asked.

“I ride. In fact, I rode here.”

“Cool. I’d love to see your bike and go for a ride sometime.”

“Whoa, that’s not happening. Only his old lady, his wife, I mean, rides with him,” I jumped in to warn her.

She rolled her eyes at me. “I wasn’t suggesting I ride with him. I have my own bike. It’s just been a few months with the weather since I went out, and I’m antsy. If we have a nice day and you think we can do it safely, then I’d love to go. Do any of the rest of you ride? We have more than one motorcycle in the garage you can use.”

I was stunned by the news she rode. I couldn’t imagine her doing it as a passenger, let alone by herself. Then again, I hadn’t imagined her capable of what she did yesterday in the contest against Rockwell. For a spoiled rich girl, she had a few good qualities, I guess.

“I do, and so does Griffin. Sean and Gabe want to learn,” Beau told her.

“Well, you’re both welcome to use them if we get to go. Now that I know you’ll keep Dad well covered, I feel much better. What do you need from me to help you with the training? Since I can’t go anywhere right now, you have extra hands to use.”

Giovani smiled at her. “Well, what is it exactly you can do that you think will help train your guards? It sounds kinda backward for the person being protected to be training her protectors.”

“Well, I could put them through the physical assessment gauntlet you had them do yesterday. I assume you’ll do it a few more times to help you gauge their improvement. Firearms training is a must, I assume. And don’t forget hand-to-hand combat. I can help with that, too.”

I didn’t know who was more stunned—our newest arrivals or us, specifically me. I glanced over at Travis to see if he would tell me she was messing with us. He was smiling. When he saw me looking at him, he shrugged.

“What can I say? She’s been taught since I lost her mother to protect herself in as many ways as possible. Even though she’s more than good at all those things, I’ve never left her totally unprotected at all times. I can’t take that chance.” I could hear the sorrow in his voice. He genuinely loved his wife. I couldn’t imagine losing someone you loved that much and in such a horrible way. Add to it, he lost a child, too. It was inconceivable.

“I understand. I’m not sure if Hadley’s help will be a benefit or not if her skills are as good as you say. Some might feel threatened or stifled by her being there,” I pointed out.

“On the other hand, she could motivate them, especially if she’s better than them. I say let’s have her come and observe, and then we can decide. If nothing else, we could privately evaluate her skills and give her pointers on improvement if needed,” Mark suggested.

I was mulling the idea over when Beau added something. “You’re worried Rockwell will lose his shit and give us more attitude, aren’t you?”

I nodded. Travis interjected his own comments. “If he does and you deem him too much trouble to deal with, he’s gone. Hadley, I know he’s been with you a long time, and you two get along well, but I can’t have that. Do you know what’s up with him? I’ve never seen him act this way. Have you and you’ve never told me?”

She shook her head. “No, he’s never been close to this bad. Sure, I suspected he was a chauvinist, but he kept that tendency under tight wraps around me. His arrogance was always there, just not so blatant. He’s skilled, and he likes to show it, but then again, who doesn’t? I don’t have a clue why he’s acting like an ass. His loss to me yesterday didn’t help, but I couldn’t let him go unchallenged. He feels threatened by Griffin and the others. If he gets to be too much, you’re right. He has to go.”

I was surprised she was okay with it. Maybe I was wrong about them having a relationship, although it brought up a couple of topics we needed to discuss. Before I could bring them up, Aryan popped in.

“What loss are you talking about?”

Heath was more than happy to explain. The whole time he did, she merely sat there looking calm. There were the expected exclamations and congrats when he was done. I jumped back in before we got derailed again.

“There are a couple of things we need to discuss. First, it involves Rockwell. While he remains here, however long that may be, I don’t believe he should remain as Hadley’s main bodyguard. In fact, I don’t think he should guard her at all. His attitude, the way he acted in the gym yesterday, and then the challenge, he’s pissed, and I don’t want a man like that watching her or you,” I told Travis.

He frowned and nodded. Hadley looked somewhat worried. “If we do that, won’t it make him worse rather than better? He’ll see it as a punishment. What can you have him do if he’s not being a bodyguard?”

“It might make him worse and if it does, he makes the decision for us. It might have the opposite effect, and he’ll straighten up because he realizes what he’s risking. He’ll know we’re not fooling around. He could be put on gate duty or roving patrols. Or we could have him as part of the team who provides security when your dad goes to the office or to anything outside the house that can’t be postponed. In a group, I’d be fine with him. He’s skilled, one of the best you’ve got, but he needs to be brought to heel.”

“Who would take his place?” Travis asked.

“Both Sanders and Ortiz mentioned to me this morning that they’re available to work full time. Their other jobs recently went to per diem. I know they need to improve, but both of them, together with help from one of us, would be more than adequate. They can more than keep an eye on her here. If she needs to leave the house, then for sure, we’d have one of us added to her team.”

I saw my guys eagerly perk up—well, all but Jae and Mark. They’d do it, but as married guys, they didn’t have other reasons to be guarding a beautiful woman other than it was a job. Instantly, I decided none of them would be chosen.

“Who would we add from our team, or have you decided yet?” Mark asked. His voice had an odd tone, which I couldn’t place. He was staring intently at me.

“All things considered, I think it’s best if I’m the one. If I can’t go for some reason, then it’ll be you or Jae. How does that sound?”

I didn’t want to dictate to Mark. He had as much right to decide as me. He shrugged. “I’m fine with it. You’ve been here longer, so I’ll defer to you on this.”

“You and Undertaker will be so busy with so many things. Why don’t you let one of us take this off your plate?” Giovanni asked.

“Yeah, we can do this,” Ben added. I saw the others all nod.

“It’s not a problem. We’ll keep it that way.” I told them.

There were disappointed looks but no more protests. I looked at Hadley. “Any comments?”

“Nope.”

“Good. Now, this next one is kinda personal and I don’t mean to pry but we need to know everything.”

“Okay, what do you need to know?” she asked.

“In order to manage your protection, we have to know everyone who’s a part of your life, regardless of their capacity. You gave us the names of your close friends so they can be vetted. We need the same for any men you have in your life. Who should we expect to want to come calling? You realize we can’t allow them contact with you while this is going on. If you’d rather tell me in private, I understand. I’m sorry if I’m embarrassing you.”

“If you cared about embarrassing me, you wouldn’t have asked it in the first place in front of everyone and my dad. Lucky for you, he knows everything about me. As for the names of the men in my life, I assume you want to know who I’m fucking.”

“Hadley! There’s no need to be so crude,” Travis hissed.

“Why not? That’s what he wants to know. I guess him asking about men rather than a man tells me what he thinks of me. Well, Mr. Voss, here are the names of my current lovers, fuck buddies, and booty calls. None. I have no boyfriend or anything else. However, if I happen to pick up someone for a one-night stand, I’ll try to get his name before I screw him. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

She stood up and marched to the door. “Hadley, come back here,” Travis called after her. She didn’t acknowledge him.

I felt conflicted as I watched her go. A part of me wanted to go after her and bring her back and apologize. Another was happy to know she didn’t have a man, although the one-night stand remark I didn’t like. Lastly, I was conflicted by the fact I cared if she had one or a million lovers. It didn’t matter other than for our protection detail. I wasn’t looking to get involved with her. She was a client and even if she wasn’t, rich women with their entitlements didn’t interest me. She had to have them. I just hadn’t discovered them yet.

“Way to go,” Mark muttered in my ear as the others all murmured. Travis looked upset. Shit, I’d have to apologize to him. Damn, why couldn’t shit be simple?