The Reed Security Relationship Manual: A Reed Security Romance - Giulia Lagomarsino (best book club books of all time TXT) 📗

Everyone in the room glared at her. I cleared my throat, shaking my head slightly at her. “I don’t think now’s the time to bring that up,” I whispered. “Bigger problems and all.”

She nodded. “Right, well, it’s a big problem for me.”

I understood. These guys took protection to the next level. We were all dying to get out and make something explode. A few of us were allowed off the property with little protection, but we all had to be armed any time we left, which I couldn’t say that any of us minded.

“Can we get back to the bigger problem here?” Brooke asked. “I’d like to know how we’re going to get them to back off.”

“Right, so, I’m not sure if all of you have heard, but Rocco is really pushing this relationship manual. Now, Becky has been doing a little spying of her own—“

“Which I would like to point out goes against everything I stand for,” she piped up. “I would never, ever spy on these guys, but they’re getting out of control. Even Coop is acting just as crazy as the rest of the guys, and I needed a break.”

“With them pushing this manual, they’re really upping their game.”

“I don’t get it,” Ivy spoke up. “How exactly do they think that this manual is going to do anything?”

“It’s not,” I confirmed. “But it makes them feel like they have some control. It’s like Robin Hood and his merry men.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s disturbing to say the least, but the manual isn’t nearly as important as the rulebook that they’re trying to slip inside and get us all to sign.”

Whispers broke out amongst the ladies, all of them outraged that the men would try and pull this. I wasn’t actually surprised. It was just par for the course as far as I was concerned.

“Ladies, you forget that we hold just as much power as they do,” I shouted over the constant chatter. When they all looked back at me and I had their full attention, I continued. “If they want a rulebook, we’ll sign their stupid rulebook, but we’ll be prepared to fight back with one of our own. It needs to be equal in strength, knowledge, and above all…harmful to them if they don’t abide by our rules. Ladies, this is the strongest test we’ll ever face.” I walked around the room, looking at each of them as I passed. “This is not only a fight for our freedom, but a fight against the demands they set every day and the power they try to hold over us. We need to be smarter, stronger, and wittier than they are, and as long as we do that, they will never truly hold any power over us. We will be the strongest, fiercest women they’ve ever gone up against, and they’ll rue the day they messed with us!”

The ladies all stood, shoving their fists in the air as we cheered each other on. We may have the craziest men in the world, but we were pretty well versed in crazy also. If they wanted a fight, we would bring it to their doorstep!

Chapter Seven

Chance

I was training in the workout center when Gabe and Jackson entered, both of them looking pissed at me. I ignored them and kept hitting the bag, pretending that neither of them were there. I had a rough night last night. Nightmares still plagued me from time to time, but they were worse since Morgan became pregnant. I knew it was because everything was changing. She was just weeks from delivering, and my dreams no longer circled around what happened on that damn island, but now on the baby that was about to be born. I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to protect him.

We were having a son, and I had to make sure that when he came into this world, I didn’t let the shit happen with him that happened with Morgan and Payton. So, I didn’t need their petty issues right now. I needed to beat the shit out of this bag and work out the dregs of my nightmare.

“Hey, we’re supposed to be working on this relationship manual,” Gabe said, walking up to me.

“Go ahead. I’m not doing that shit.”

“And why the hell not?” Jackson asked.

I stopped swinging and turned to face them. Sweat poured down my face and my breathing was heavy. I snatched the towel off the bench and sat down. “Do you really think I’m the guy to give relationship advice? Look at me? I’m the guy that had his wife leave him while he was overseas. And then I fucked up with Morgan way more than I care to admit.”

“But she married you,” Jackson said cheerily, like he was trying to lift me up.

“Yeah,” I scoffed. “I hijacked our wedding so that we could catch Adams. Her wedding dress was ruined, and we were married around dead bodies. Yeah, I’m a real charmer.”

“Okay,” Gabe nodded, “so, if we did a chapter for you, it would be How to keep your woman after you’ve royally fucked up.”

“Yeah, thanks, that sounds like something every man should read.”

“It is,” Gabe insisted. “Okay, maybe our problems are slightly different, but in the end, we all fuck up. Just look at me, I invited Vittoria for a sleepover at my house, and Isa still married me.”

I shook my head. “You guys don’t get it. I’m slipping through by the skin of my teeth with her.”

“You have to ease up,” Jackson said. “She loves you. Everyone can see it.”

“She may love me, but I’m fucking up left and right. Last night, she started crying over meal replacement shakes I got her.”

“Why would she cry over that?”

“She told me that after the baby was born, she wanted to try these shakes to help her lose weight. So, I went ahead and ordered them for her, thinking she would see it as me being helpful.”

Gabe winced. “You never get involved