In The Darkness (Project Artemis #1)(45)
Because what they gave up to be a part of Project Artemis was a hefty price.
“One final note. You may come and go from this place as you like. There are cars enough for everyone. Each of you knows how to lay low and stay out of the limelight. That’s one of the reasons you were chosen. But in exchange for all you have here, there is one requirement. You must remain unattached. If at any point you decide that your love life is more important than your job, you will have to resign your position. Other than living here, which won’t be too much of a hardship for anyone, your remaining single is the only other non-negotiable. If that’s impossible for anyone, please let us know now and you can leave. No harm, no foul. If not, the first assignments will be handed out today.”
She waited for any of them to speak up and say they couldn’t abide by the rules, but not a single one did. Nick had told her he made sure to only recruit men he knew could accept the structure of the job, but she’d wanted to make sure. Giving up the chance of being in a relationship would certainly give her pause. She knew it was a lot to ask of the team, but she needed their focus to be entirely on the women they would help.
“Please feel free to take a look around after you find your rooms. Lunch will be served at noon precisely. Summers told me he was preparing a huge country ham, so be sure to come to the table hungry.”
Persephone thanked them and turned to face Nick. “I’m going to the office. I want to discuss things with you before any assignments are given out.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
As she left the room, she felt good about this group of men. She only hoped they’d do for their clients what Nick did for her.
Chapter Fifteen
Nick opened the door to the office he and Persephone shared and smiled at the scene in front of him. Hard at work, she tapped away at the keys on her laptop, truly a woman on a mission.
“So what do you think?” he asked her about the team he’d assembled.
Her fingers stilled and she looked up at him with intensity in her eyes. “Well, I’m not all together sure about all of them, but for now, I think we’re off to a good start.”
He stopped at her mention of not being sure about the men he’d assembled. “Which ones?”
Persephone raised her eyebrows. “A con man? I mean, he clearly can physically handle himself. All of them look like they can. But I got the sense he’s more carnival barker than I think I’m comfortable with.”
Chuckling, Nick thought back to how many times he’d heard Julian described in similar terms. “Well, I can tell you his ability to understand the psyche of criminals and his photographic memory have come in handy more than a few times when we worked together. I think if you give him a chance, you’ll see why I brought him on board.”
She twisted her face into a grimace. “And Gideon has something about him that I’m not sure of. Maybe it’s the way he looks. I’m a little worried he’s more playboy than what we need.”
Nick mentally made a note to never let Gideon find out that Persephone had called him a playboy. The guy would just be too damn pleased with himself that a woman thought of him that way.
“I can tell you that he’s a world class bust ass too, but remember he was a Navy SEAL. That’s got to count for whole hell of a lot. Trust me. He’ll be fine.”
A slow smile spread across her lips. “I trust no one more in the world, Nick, so of course I’ll give both of them a chance.”
“Good. I think the team we have to start with will be able to handle whatever assignments come up.”
“I hope so,” she said, pointing at her laptop screen. “We’ve got three clients who need our help already. One in D.C., one in Miami, and one in a small town about an hour outside of St. Paul, Minnesota.”
He walked around her desk and stood behind her to read the details of the cases already waiting for the men. Leaning down, he placed his hands on Persephone’s shoulders and scanned the page in front of him.
The client in D.C. had appealed for help from the police but to no avail. She’d run up against the old boy network that protected politicians, and the man was now threatening not only her career as a congressional staffer but her life.
“How did we find out about this case?”
Smiling, Persephone leaned back against his body and looked up at him. “Not everyone in the D.C. police kowtows to the politicians.”
“My faith in the system is momentarily restored,” Nick said with a smile as he looked down into her beautiful eyes so full of focus.
“And the other two?” he asked as he skimmed through the details about a woman in Miami being stalked by an ex-boyfriend who just happened to be a professional basketball player and another woman in Minnesota in hiding after accusing her boss of sexual harassment and then being the victim of a suspicious home invasion that seemed more to scare her than to steal anything.
“In the past month, I’ve reached out to police forces in every major city in the US, and I’m halfway through my list of smaller cities. I also have people at every one of my father’s newspapers who have promised to contact me if they know of any woman in trouble. It’s a start, at least.”
Nick bent over her and kissed her softly on the lips. “It’s more than a start, Persephone. I just hope we can keep up with all the requests we’re going to get.”