Callum glared at them. “Can we focus? What you’re saying is, you don’t have anything off the video yet, but you and Harry are working on it. Where is Harry?”
“Here.” A hand appeared above the end of the table.
Rachel peeked underneath, and sure enough, Harry was sitting tailor style on the floor, surrounded by at least half a dozen laptops.
She straightened again and looked at Callum, whose head was red.
“Why the hell are you on the floor?” he shouted.
“Needed more space.”
“Get your arse to the table for meetings. This isn’t how we run a business.”
“I swear,” Rachel said. “If you start going on about how much better things were in the army again, I will tackle you to the floor, remove one of your prosthetic legs, and beat you to death with it.”
There was silence before Harry said, “She’s always been cranky in the mornings.”
Lake leaned forward to clasp his hands on the table. “Let’s recap. We don’t have anything from the video yet. We don’t have any leads on the men who attacked Rachel. We don’t know who’s behind all of this, but for some reason, they want you gone from the family company. Did I miss anything?”
“No.” Rachel folded her arms over her red and black color-block dress. “Except that I have no intention of giving in to a blackmailer’s demands ever again. Once was enough, and I’m a whole lot older and less easy to intimidate than I was when I was twenty. They’re going to be very disappointed when I don’t resign today.”
“You can’t go back to TayFor,” Lake said evenly, obviously under the misguided belief that he was the boss of her. “It’s too dangerous. We don’t know what your return might provoke.”
“Plus”—Elle stole a sausage from Ryan’s plate, earning herself a glare as he wrapped his arm around his food to guard it—“there’s no need to go back to TayFor; we found the thief.”
“That’s not the only reason I have for returning,” Rachel said, feeling strangely hesitant about sharing her plans. She glanced at Harvard, and his usual calm demeanor immediately eased her nerves. “Which is why I called you here this morning. I’ve decided to return to my family’s company for the foreseeable future.”
“Yes!” Ryan shot to his feet, fists in the air. “Best. News. Ever.” He grinned as he pointed around the room. “Pay up because I won the bet. She’s been lured back to the family company. I’m rich.” He faced Rachel. “I could kiss you right now.”
“And then I’d have to get a rabies shot, so please don’t.”
“What bet?” Harvard asked as Ryan sat back down and folded his arms over yet another T-shirt that Rachel didn’t understand. This one said, By the Power of Grayskull.
“You know how we had to drop the sex bet?” Ryan said. Everyone around him groaned. “What? We can’t even mention the word now?”
“This is a business meeting,” Callum snapped. “So, no, you can’t mention sex.”
Ryan pointed at Rachel. “It’s not like it’s a secret. They’re obviously doing it, which means I would’ve won the first bet too.”
“You shouldn’t even be betting on your teammate’s sex life.” Callum glared at Ryan, as though that would somehow miraculously make his point sink through Ryan’s thick skull.
“Exactly,” Ryan said. “Once we realized that betting on Rachel’s sex life might cause her to have a full-blown PTSD fit, we canceled the bet. But I started a new one on how long before she went back to TayFor for real. And I won. I am the master!”
“Please, for the love of Prada, stop talking,” Rachel told him.
“I don’t even care that everybody’s in a bad mood. That’s how happy I am,” Ryan said before he got stuck back into his food.
“Rachel,” Lake said, returning her attention to the man who’d started Benson Security, “explain your leaving.” He was also a man of few words.
“It’s really very simple; my family needs me right now. And I fit in there, in a way I never did here or with Harry’s company. Programming is Harry’s dream. Benson Security’s yours. But TayFor has always been mine.” She studied her nails for a moment, wondering if it was time to swap out the red. Perhaps for black. Or maybe an icy silver. “I don’t plan on selling my share in this company. I’d like to remain a silent partner.”
“Is that even possible?” Ryan asked, grinning at his own joke.
Rachel, along with everyone else, ignored him. “I intend to start working for TayFor from today. There isn’t much to hand over as far as Benson Security is concerned; the women’s side of the business has only just started. Perhaps Julia could look after that in my absence.”
“Me?” came a squeak from the houseplant.
“Yes. You. It takes a businessperson to organize it, and you are the most qualified.” She pointed at Harvard. “Apart from that, I’m taking him with me.”
“Bloody hell, Rachel,” Callum exploded. “You can’t just walk out on us and take our people with you.”
“Of course, I can. I’m still a partner in this company, which means I own a stake in him.”
There were groans throughout the room.
“Rachel,” Elle said patiently, “we talked about this during our girls’ night. You don’t own the people who work for you. They…we aren’t chattels.”
“What Rachel means,” Harvard said, “is that I’m choosing to go with her and take over as head of security at TayFor. You can consider this my resignation.”
“Hell, no,” Joe and Noah both snapped at the same time.
Noah glared at Harvard. “The whole point of the three of us joining the same security company as Joe and Grunt was to hang out together. Beast’s already pissed off to follow his wife around the world. If you go too, that’ll just leave me and Joe in London. Grunt might as well be on another planet instead of in Scotland; phone conversations with him are few and far between and consist mainly of me talking and him grunting. You talked me into moving my kids to London. And now you’re backing out on us?”
“I’ll still be in London, and I’ll still get to hang out with you. It’s not like we’re moving to New Zealand; we’ll see all of you.”
“Speak for yourself,” Rachel said.
There were a few people she’d be happy to see the back of. Ryan being top of her list. She already had an annoying younger brother; she didn’t need a second one. And Ryan had been trying to fill that role for years. Although without her around to keep an eye on him, he’d probably choke on a chicken bone. She sighed. She’d have to see the idiot after all. Responsibility sucked.
“Are you going to tell them our other news?” Harvard asked, loud enough for everyone to hear.
“No.” She frowned at him.
His lips twitched. “Then how about I do it? We’re getting married.”
“Married?” Elle gaped at them. “For real?”
“Don’t make such a big deal out of it,” Rachel said. “I’m sure it won’t last.”