“Well, then it’s a good thing we still have quite the drive ahead of us,” she shot back without missing a beat. “I’m gonna hear this, Parker. One way or another.”
He sighed. “I was asked to do security for this very important family who was visiting from abroad. It was an extended contract. They were going to be in the U.S. for almost six months. It was a huge chunk of change, and it would fund the company through hard times with the jump it gave us on finances. So I took it.”
“Why do I get the sense that you should’ve said no?”
“Because you’re a hell of a lot smarter than me, that’s why. I said yes because I got greedy and cocky. I trusted them and their security expert, a bodyguard who insisted on always staying with them. Now, I don’t usually allow external bodyguards to be on site when I’m in charge. It’s a liability that I just never wanted to contend with.”
“But?” Jade asked, as perceptive as ever.
“But I didn’t listen to my own damn instincts. I let the money coming into my business get to my head. I folded, and this man wiggled his way into my company.”
“Rueben,” she guessed.
“Yeah, it was Rueben. At first, all I knew about him was that his methods made me a bit uncomfortable. Our employers didn’t seem to mind, so I turned a blind eye. But as it turns out, Rueben wanted my company. He staged a few issues with the family’s security to make me look inept.”
Jade gasped. “What? He attacked the family that employed him?”
He nodded slowly. “See, one of the things I didn’t like about Rueben was his past as a mercenary.”
“Aren’t mercenaries guns-for-hire?”
“Basically, yes. That’s how Rueben got his start in security, and with that family especially. It turns out the father was a bit of a crook. Well, actually, a little more than a crook. He was into some very shady stuff.”
Jade’s frown was so deep that he just knew what her next question was going to be. “How come you agreed to do security for them?”
He gulped again. “They were just that good at keeping their involvement under wraps. No amount of deep diving revealed anything when I was looking into them before accepting the contract. It was only when I started working for them that I realized something super shady was going on.”
“By that point, it was too late, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. Rueben pushed me out of the company, and so I sold it before the hostile takeover could take place. They wanted to use my good name and reputation to expand their illegal activities.”
“And you just couldn’t let that happen.”
He nodded. “Exactly. Not on my watch. I did what I could and let the proper authorities know what was going on.”
“And? What happened with that?”
He shrugged. “Not much. The family had all kinds of protection because of who they were. Rueben was able to wiggle out, as he always does. I lost all of my credibility.”
She heaved a heavy sigh. “That’s why you really retired. It had nothing to do with you being set for life or wanting a slower pace of life. You retired because you felt ashamed of what you let happen right under your nose.”
“You sure don’t mince your words, Rosebud,” he mumbled.
“Well, no. I don’t. But I’m right, aren’t I?”
He nodded curtly. “Yeah, you’re right. I retired because of the shame I feel. It has nothing to do with anything else but me. I always tried to prove myself so damn worthy, but in the end, I’m just a cocky fool. An idiot, just like my father said.”
“Hey,” she reached out to squeeze his thigh. “No. None of that. I’m mad as hell with you right now for keeping this from me, but you almost have to know that you’re not actually an idiot, Parker. If someone is set on misbehaving and pulling the wool over your eyes, then they have an advantage over you right then and there because they won’t play by the rules.”
“But it was my job to know what those rules were so that I could break them if I needed to or at least be able to spot it when someone was breaking them.”
“I’m sorry, Parker, I really am. But the way you’re talking right now? It sounds like you wanted to be a superman who knows everything. You’re human. You can make mistakes just like the rest of us.”
He sighed. This would be a really great fucking time to tell her that he was a shifter. He was laying out all of his dirty laundry, and if he kept this from her right now, there was no telling how she would react later on if she were to find out. He had no choice. He had to tell her.
“See, that’s just the thing. I’m not human.”
Jade snorted and rolled her eyes so deeply that he was even able to see it as he continued to drive them toward Half Moon Key. “Okay, there. You’re not human. I get you’re an intense person, but that’s a little much.”