In The Darkness (Project Artemis #1)(43)

“I’d like you to meet Gideon Roberts, Navy SEAL and expert in hand-to-hand combat.”

Gideon stood to shake her hand and flashed her a gorgeous smile. “Good to meet you. As soon as Nick told me about all of this, I wanted in.”

Obviously brave and downright stunning in jeans and a teal blue button down dress shirt, he reminded Persephone of one of the models she’d seen on a calendar in the nurses’ lounge at the hospital. Something about him made her wonder if the man she trusted with her own life knew anything else that he brought to the team. She didn’t need a playboy messing with some woman’s heart as he helped her escape some terrible danger.

“Thanks, Gideon. Nice to have you here.”

Next, Nick pointed at the man who sat next to Gideon. Not as muscular as the others, he had a more intellectual feel to him. His dirty blond hair and pale blue eyes gave him a more casual look than the others too, even though he wore dress pants and a white button-down shirt that cried out for a tie.

“Persephone, let me introduce you to Xavier Martin, our resident IT pro,” Nick said as the man stood to shake her hand.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Miss Gilmore. Nick might be building me up a little much, though. IT professional sounds like something my mother would make me put on my resume. My real title would be hacker, if we’re being honest here.”

Xavier had a lilt to his voice that made him sound so much friendlier than any of the other men. Persephone had never met a real life hacker before and couldn’t help but admit to herself that she would have thought one would look far scarier in person.

“Nice to have you here with us, Xavier.”

Still focused on the only hacker she’d ever met, she didn’t hear Nick introduce the next member of the team. Following where his finger aimed toward the window, she saw a man standing near Roman with closely cropped dark hair and olive skin dressed in a dark grey suit. He had a look to him that struck Persephone as exotic.

Turning to look at Nick, she whispered, “Who is this?”

“Julian. Julian Cain. Jack of all trades and master of several of them.”

“Like?” she asked, wondering why Nick seemed reluctant to tell her more about this man. She looked down at the file she had on him and found little more than just his vital statistics and that he’d worked with Nick on a number of cases in the past when he was with the FBI.

“Let’s just say Julian here has a way of knowing how to handle people,” Nick answered cryptically. “Julian, this is Persephone Gilmore.”

She swiveled her head to see him walking toward her with a smile on his face. “It’s very nice to meet you, Julian.”

The rest of the men stared at him like she did, likely thinking the same thing that was running through her mind. What was this man’s skill?

He took hold of her hand and held it instead of shaking it like all the other men had. After a moment, it felt awkward, but when she looked at him to let him know he could let go, he locked his gaze on hers.

“I get the feeling you’re not sure about me. That’s okay. I don’t mind proving myself. Also, Nick didn’t seem to want to tell you the whole truth about me. I would be what you would call a con man. Well, a potential con man. I keep on the right side of the law for the most part. Counting cards is one of my talents. I also have a photographic memory. Your man and I used to work together on cases when he was in the bureau, so he can vouch for my skills.”

His voice had a hypnotic sound to it, and Persephone found herself feeling like she had been put under a spell by the time he finished speaking. Or maybe it was how his deep brown eyes stared at her so intently, like he was searching her face for some answer to a question.

Nick pulled her hand away from Julian’s and slid his arm around her waist. “And that’s Julian. Save the act for when we serve drinks.”

The man chuckled wickedly and stepped back, putting his hands up in front of him as he did. “No problem, boss. I didn’t mean to step on any toes.”

Ignoring his apology, Nick moved on to the man sitting in the chair. “And this is Marius Grisham, former CIA black ops. He’s the epitome of the underground man. Expert at infiltration. If you want to find someone, he’s your man.”

Persephone focused her attention on the man who seemed to suddenly appear in front of her. Dressed in black dress pants and a white button down shirt, he looked like he could handle himself as well as any of the other men. Quiet confidence practically oozed out of every pore and his impressive size added to that feeling.

“It’s nice to meet you, Marius,” she said as she extended her hand to shake his much larger hand.

“Very nice to be here, Persephone. I have to say I was intrigued when Nick told me what you had in mind, and if this place is any indication of how this all will be run, I can see myself fitting in just fine.”

She smiled, happy that all her efforts to make their home base everything she thought they’d need hadn’t gone unnoticed by at least one of them. “I want you all to have a place that lets each one of you do this job as effectively as possible. Everything I spend my money on is in pursuit of one goal. To help the women who need you.”

Marius smiled and looked around the great room. “I like the way you think.”

Of all of the men, Persephone had a feeling she might end up liking Marius the most. He seemed to appreciate her efforts, and she liked that.