“Jesus, woman,” I hear Derek mutter behind me, clearly talking to our receptionist. “A fire alarm does not mean stay at your desk.”
“Translation,” Seth says, “get up and get out.”
I round the corner and bring Emily’s empty desk into view. “Damn it.”
Derek appears by my side. “I’ll get Mom and Dad.” He charges toward the door and opens it. “Holy hell,” I hear him curse as I walk to the hallway, followed by a barked, “put some clothes on.”
I’d laugh if I weren’t so fucking worried about Emily and Jessica, pushing onward to the lobby again, cutting left to the break room and then the copy room. There’s no sign of Emily or Jessica. Moving toward the exterior lobby and elevators, I dig my phone from my pocket and punch in Emily’s number, only to have it go straight to voice mail. My gaze catches on the ladies’ room, and I push the door open and enter. “Emily! Jessica!”
Nothing.
“Damn it.”
Urgency builds inside me, a tight ball that settles in my gut, and I rotate, exiting the bathroom. At the same moment, I find Emily and Jessica exiting the stairwell just as several staff members enter behind them. “What the hell are you doing coming up, not going down?” I demand, closing the small space between me and them, my focus on Emily. My hands come down on her arms and the relief I feel, the way just touching her and knowing she’s okay, allows me to breathe again, speaks of how on edge Martina has me.
“Is this the kind of trouble I fear it is?” Emily asks softly, angling her body away from Jessica. “The kind that visited last night?”
“What does that mean?” Jessica asks. “The kind that visited last night?”
“It means,” I say, glancing at her, “I’m going to have you escorted downstairs and out of the building.”
“We can go down on our own, Shane,” Jessica insists. “Go get your parents.”
Emily’s hands settle on my forearms. “Shane,” she says, urgency in her voice as she presses for an answer to her question.
“I don’t know,” I say, and being as honest as I can be, I add, “but we’re going to assume that it is until it isn’t.”
Seth exits the offices to join us. “Your father says he can’t walk right now, and your mother refuses to leave him,” he announces. “Derek’s staying with them.”
“They’re all leaving,” I assure him, the elevator dinging as Cody steps off.
Holding the door, he announces, “There is no fire. There’s something else behind the evacuation, and I can’t get an answer on what yet.”
“Then do we still need to evacuate?” Jessica asks, stepping forward.
“Yes,” I say in unison with Cody and Seth.
“The absence of a fire isn’t the absence of danger,” Cody states, his attention on my assistant. “In fact, the unknown is full of limitless possibilities.”
“Just another day with the Brandon family,” Jessica states dryly, her hands on her hips, eyes locked on Cody. “Obviously since you’re hanging out with Seth, you’re competent, but you started and then this happened. How do we know you aren’t involved in all of this?”
“Because I said he’s not,” Seth says flatly. “And he’s in charge right now. You and Emily need to go with him and get out of the building.”
Jessica laughs. “Delicate delivery has never been your specialty. God, how I love you.” She eyes Cody. “I’m ready. I don’t take orders well, but if you say please, I’ll call you Master.”
“If you say please, I’ll let you call me Master,” he replies. “Now get in the damn car.”
Jessica laughs. “Oh, I like him too. It’s not love yet, but it feels good.” She heads toward him.
I shake my head and focus on Emily. “You too, sweetheart. Go with Cody. But don’t call him Master. That’s me. And right now I have to get my parents to listen to reason and actually evacuate, even if I have to carry my damn father down. I’ll catch up with you.”
“I’m good at getting your father to do things,” she argues. “Let me help. Then we can all leave safely.”
“I’m not risking your safety over my father’s stubbornness,” I say, despite the fact that she’s right. She has a strange ability that no one else does to soften that man.
“I’m not risking your safety over your father’s stubbornness.” She grabs the lapels of my jacket. “Let’s do this together.” She softens her voice. “All of this.”
She’s not talking about now. She’s talking about last night. This morning. All of this.
“Sweetheart,” I say, reaching for her hands. “I hear you. I do. I know what you want, but right now, I need you to go with Cody and do what he says. Please.”
She wants to argue. I see it in her face, but all she says is, “This is killing me.” Her grip on my jacket loosens.
And damn, I love how eager she is to help but how smartly she makes the decision. I cup her face and kiss her. “Do not leave Cody’s side.” I release her and eye Jessica. “That goes for you too.”
“No worries there,” Jessica assures, me, linking her arm with Emily’s. “We’ll see you outside, Boss,” she says, setting them into motion, and Cody wastes no time herding them to the elevator car and sealing them inside.
Once I know they’re on their way to safety, Seth and I step together. “It’s a bomb threat,” Seth says. “I didn’t want Cody to create panic by telling them. I have men on every floor clearing them. Cody and two of his men are taking Emily and Jessica to the coffee shop a block down to get them out of the line of fire. Nick is waiting in the lobby to take you all there as well.”
“How worried are we about this?” I ask.
“My gut says I should go to your father’s office and pull a gun on your parents to get us all the hell out of here.”
“Then let’s go get them.” We rotate and step forward, when Derek and my parents appear behind the glass in the lobby, walking in our direction.
“The gods of bitches and bastards answered my prayers,” Seth murmurs.
“Hey now,” I say. “This is my family.”
He laughs. “Exactly,” he says at the same moment my mother exits the lobby.
“Finally we’re here,” she announces, hugging herself, her dark hair a wavy wild mess. Her pale skin, which is as perfect as I once believed her to be, is now smeared with mascara, telling me she’s been crying. My mother doesn’t cry.
My father follows her, joining us, and immediately launches into a hacking fit, a napkin to his mouth, his head down, the lion, the king, weak, defeated. Hating that we see him this way, and the truth is, I do too. I really fucking do. Derek does too. I see it in his eyes as he exits, then looks at me, his expression stormy and some mix of frustration and torment, which I think he’s earned. The man just saw our parents fucking, followed by what preceded that discovery.
Seth crosses to the elevator panel and punches the call button, seeming more than a little eager to end this little hallway clash of the Titans, or rather, the Brandons. “Let’s get everyone to a secure location.”