Hamilton tapped his pen against the top of the large mahogany table that served as his desk, his thoughts on Dakota again. It had been several days since he’d seen her, but a day hadn’t gone by that he didn’t think of her. Yet, he still hadn’t picked up the phone and called.
Why? He couldn’t pinpoint what it was about this woman that gave him pause. His initial impression of her ticked off numerous qualities he looked for in a woman. Attractive. Physically fit. Adventurous.
The fact that Dominic hadn’t stopped talking about Dakota was a plus. His son meant everything to him, so whoever Hamilton settled down with would have to be able to get along with his kid.
Noting the time at the bottom right corner of his laptop screen, Hamilton pushed back from the table. He had fifteen minutes to get downstairs to his meeting with Atlanta’s finest—the nickname they had given their security specialists. The bodyguards, comprised of over thirty men and a few women, worked out of the Atlanta office and most were former cops or had served in other areas of law enforcement. Once a week, he and Mason met with the team, updating them on new assignments and discussing any issues.
Hamilton grabbed the half-full cup of black coffee he’d been nursing for part of the morning and snatched up his tablet before heading out of his office.
“Oh Ham, I’m glad I caught you,” Egypt Durand, their executive assistant said as she hurried into the main area of the office suite carrying several file folders. Dressed in a pink jacket with a skinny black belt around her narrow waist, and a short black skirt with bold white and pink flowers, she looked professional and stylish at the same time. How she managed to flutter around the office in her sky-high heels always mystified Hamilton, but she did it without missing a step.
“Mason said he won’t be back until later this afternoon. Are you able to cover his agenda items?”
“Sure, not a problem.”
“Great, I need to add two things to his section of the agenda, though.” She pulled a file folder from one of the drawers. Hamilton waited patiently as she jotted notes onto a slip of paper.
Unlike the security specialists hired by Supreme Security Agency-Atlanta, Egypt didn’t have a law enforcement or military background. She was the sister of one of their team members and had worked in corporate America for fifteen years before seeking employment with their agency.
She pushed her long dreadlocks over her shoulder as she wrote feverishly. Hamilton didn’t even want to think about how chaotic the office would operate without her. For the last four years, she had supported him and Mason Bennett, one of the owners who was in charge of the Atlanta office and never complained. As far as Hamilton was concerned, she could ask anything of him and he’d get it done.
Egypt handed him the slip of paper. “Okay, I think that’s everything. Oh, and don’t forget you have two interviews. One at eleven, and the other at two this afternoon.”
“Yes, ma’am. Got it.”
He left for the first-floor meeting room, his black Stacy Adams shoes clicking against the polished concrete floor as he walked past the set of elevators, opting for the stairs. The ten-thousand-square-foot renovated warehouse housed everything they needed and then some. The luxuries included a state-of-the-art gym, indoor shooting range, crash rooms, a huge well-stocked kitchen, and a helipad on the roof.
Hamilton couldn’t ask for a better place to work. After leaving Atlanta PD ten years ago, and despite having a degree in criminology, he hadn’t been sure what he’d do with the rest of his life. All he knew was that he had a young son on the way and he wanted a safer and more flexible job. He had started with overseeing security for Club Masquerade, owned by Mason’s family. Now, as a new managing partner at Supreme, Hamilton didn’t spend as much time at the club and his professional life had exceeded his expectations.
Once Hamilton reached the second-floor landing, he heard Angelo, one of their specialists talking before he came into view.
“Ham, don’t start without me. Give me two minutes,” he said, a cell phone plastered to his ear as he darted past him and up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
“All right but hurry up.”
Hamilton strolled into the meeting room where most of the team was sitting or standing around talking.
“What’s up, Ham?” Kenton, another specialist, said as he approached. “What did I ever do to you and Egypt that you guys would stick me with the diva from hell?”
Hamilton grinned; not because he didn’t sympathize with Kenton, but because the ‘diva from hell’ moniker fit the hip-hop singer perfectly. She was a nice enough woman, but most of her demands were so unrealistic that a few of the team members refused to guard her.
“Sorry, man. Last hired typically get what others don’t want.” Hamilton shrugged.
Kenton was a former undercover FBI agent and had moved from DC to be closer to his family. He was an ideal security specialist with brains, an impressive professional background, and at thirty-five years old, he was movie-star handsome—according to Egypt. Since their client base was mostly comprised of wealthy entertainers and socialites, they often wanted their bodyguards to fit into the image the client wanted to portray. There were even some who wanted their security specialist to serve double duty as their date for the evening. Their clients had an option of seeing photos of the team member they were interested in using as their security detail, and many of their clients often chose Kenton on looks alone.
“All right guys, settle down so we can get started. We have a lot to cover this morning. Let’s start with the movie premiere taking place at Atlantic Station in a few weeks.”
An hour after starting the meeting, Hamilton fielded a few questions.
“Ham, with the movie premiere coming up, you said you wanted at least ten of us there for five hours handling crowd control before and after, correct?" Myles, one of their full-timers, asked.
"That’s right.”
“What about the after party in Buckhead? Will it be the same team members, or are you pulling in a different group?”
“Ha! Look at him trying to come up with a way to rub shoulders with the rich and famous,” Angelo cracked, eliciting laughter from others in the room.
“Man, be quiet. Acting like you ain’t interested, too.” Myles laughed.
“Damn straight I am.”
“All right, all right,” Hamilton chimed in. “It’ll be the same team, and I’m waiting for confirmation on how much additional personnel is needed. Those who are guarding individuals won’t be included in that count.”
After answering a few more questions, Hamilton ended the meeting. He sent a few people to see Egypt for new assignments, while he talked to some of the guys who had additional questions.
Once he finally left the room, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He glanced at the screen and saw that it was his ex-fiancée Jackie, Dominic’s mother. Apparently, she finally saw fit to return his call.
For the second time in weeks, Dominic had asked to move in with him. According to his son, he didn’t like his mother’s new boyfriend, calling him fake and telling Hamilton that the guy was only nice to him when Jackie was around. Hamilton hadn’t said much during that conversation. He had met the boyfriend and hadn’t cared much for him either.
“Hey, Jackie.”
“Hey. Can you please talk to your son when you pick him up from school? He’s been mouthing off again and disrespecting my new friend.”
Funny how Dominic was his son whenever he did something wrong, but she took credit for his excellent grades and accomplishments.
“Disrespecting him how?” Hamilton moved down the hallway out of the earshot of others. Instead of going back to his office, he headed outside to the back deck that overlooked a small fenced-in yard, and a parking lot on the side.
“Does it matter, Ham? He knows better than to disrespect anyone, especially an adult, and I’m not having it. As it is, he can barely get off of one punishment before I have to put him on another because of his smart mouth.”
He agreed that Dominic could go too far with talking back or questioning their decisions, but he never disrespected someone for no reason.
“This is partly what I wanted to talk to you about when I called earlier. I thought you were returning my call.”
“I…um…I haven’t checked my messages. What did you want to talk about?”
“Your friend. Are you still seeing the same dude, Braeden?”
“Yes, but who I date is none of your business,” she retorted.
“It is if he’s spending the night in my house when Dominic is there. You and I had an agreement, Jackie.”
“Oh, so now Dom is telling you everything that goes on here? You have him spying on me and my man?”
“No, actually he didn’t tell me your man spent the night. What he said is that the guy told him he’d better take out the trash. Considering that conversation took place before I picked Dom up to take him to school, it doesn’t take a detective to figure out Braeden probably stayed the night. So, no. Our son did not rat you out.”
Seconds ticked by before she said, “Oh.”
“Jackie, I don’t care who you date, but Dominic is my number-one priority. He should be your number-one priority too. I’d prefer you not bring one guy after another around him, especially when you don’t know these people well.”
“You act as if I’m with someone new every other week when that’s not the case. Dominic has only been introduced to a couple of the men who’ve been in my life. But this isn’t about him at all, is it? You’re never going to forgive me, are you? You’re going to continue holding it against me that I didn’t stand by you when—”
“Don’t!” Hamilton growled, gripping the phone tighter, trying like hell to hold back from saying something he might regret. “This has nothing to do with the past. This is about our son. We had an agreement. No overnight guests when he’s there.”
“I have needs, Hamilton. You can’t tell me that you don’t have women coming and going from your place when Dominic is there!”
“Never! I have never brought a woman around our son.”
“What about your stuntwoman girlfriend that he keeps talking about? You tryin’ to tell me she isn’t spending time at your house?”
“That woman is someone Dom met on the movie set with my brother. I’m not sure what he’s been telling you, but that was my first time meeting her and I haven’t seen or talked to her since.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter either way to me.” Some of the initial bitterness in her tone moments ago had died down. “You can see whoever you want, just like I can. I don’t butt into your business and I expect you to stay out of mine.”
“Jackie, it’s getting clearer by the minute that you’re not maintaining our agreement. I don’t want my kid in that house when you’re screwing around with every Tom, Nick, and Jerry.”
“I’m not having this conversation with you, Ham. I’m a grown-ass woman. As long as I’m taking care of Dominic and making sure he’s fed, clean, and happy, I can do whatever the hell I want.”
“You’re right, you can. But that’s my house. My house, my rules. If you don’t like it, get out!”
“If I leave, I’m taking Dominic with me, and you won’t ever get to—”
“Be careful, Jackie. Be very careful in what you say next.” Hamilton’s voice went low and lethal as he barely managed his anger. “This is the second time in recent months you threatened to keep my kid from me. I don’t know what that boyfriend of yours is whispering in your ear, but if you even think about depriving me time with Dom, you’ll regret it.”
The silence on the other end of the phone was as thick as a cinder block. They had never gone to court to battle about child support, visitations, or anything regarding Dominic. They had their own agreement that was in the best interest of all of them.
Hamilton saw Dominic whenever he wanted. In exchange, Jackie got to live in a home he owned, rent-free, and he paid more child support than any court would ever require. She already knew that once that agreement didn’t work for either of them, he’d be the one going to court and would fight like hell for full custody.
“Fine. Whatever, Ham. Anything else?”
He debated on whether to mention that Dominic no longer wanted to live with her, but he held off. For the most part, Jackie had done a great job with their son, and Hamilton actually thought she was a good mother. A little high-strung at times, but there was no doubt in his mind that she loved Dominic.
“Listen, if you need me to get him more often, that’s not a problem.” Hamilton understood having needs and though he spent several days a week with Dominic, Jackie was the one who had him the majority of the time. “Also, my parents would love to see him more often. Just let me know if you need more time to yourself.”
“Thanks, Hamilton, and sorry about the way I acted. You’re right. Dominic’s happiness should come first, and I’ll abide by our agreement.”
“I appreciate that and I’ll continue to do the same. We’ve never put certain…needs before the well-being of our kid. I don’t want either of us to start now.”
“I don’t either,” she said quietly.
“As for Dominic being mouthy, I’ll talk to him tonight.”
“Thanks.”
Hamilton ended the call, still thinking about the conversation. He wouldn’t mind Dominic living with him, especially since his son was getting older. Maybe he would still bring up the topic to Jackie soon.
In the meantime, Hamilton planned to investigate the new boyfriend.
Normally, Jackie dated decent guys, but after meeting Braeden a few weeks ago, he hadn’t been impressed. Now that Dominic had brought up his issues with the man, that was a good enough reason for Hamilton to do a little digging. He just hoped he didn’t find anything incriminating.