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

forward on the table, staring them all down. “We have probably the most important job of our lives ahead of us, and it’s imperative that we act now before it’s too late.”

“What is it?” Ice asked, eyes wide. “Is it protecting the president?”

“Saving a foreign diplomat,” Burg chimed in.

“Taking out a terrorist cell?” Chance asked excitedly.

“Nothing like that,” I shook my head. “But I will tell you this, the safety of all our lives is on the line.”

They all stared at me with huge eyes, except for Rocco and Sinner. Rocco nodded along, looking around the room, because he knew what was going down. Sinner just rolled his eyes at me.

I cleared my throat and looked at all of them. “We have reason to believe that Brooke is…pregnant.”

“Wait, does this have to do with the ex?” Gabe asked in confusion.

“It does not. At approximately fourteen hundred hours,” I said, flicking the TV on with the remote, showing the video footage from Rocco’s house. “Rocco was working on his rulebook for after his marriage to Brooke, at which time she got very angry with him for what was written.”

“Are you serious, Cap?” Cazzo asked. “You called us here because of the damn rulebook?”

I paused the video and stared him down. “It’s not just the rulebook. We need to have the relationship manual written and compiled, hiding the real rulebook that he’ll hide within the documents for Brooke to sign.” I pressed play and we all watched as Brooke unleashed her anger on Rocco. When the video was finished, I stopped the feed and hung my head. “This isn’t just about Rocco anymore. We’ve all been there. We’ve all been put in the position that no man should ever be in. We have to fight this as a whole. We’re a team, and we have to work together right now to ensure that we never end up in the position Rocco’s in right now.”

“Um, I hate to point this out, since I am a woman,” Florrie said, with her arms crossed over her chest . “But you’re asking Alec to write a manual that I’m aware of, and you think that’ll go well for him?”

I nodded. “You’re right. Deception is key. We’ll need the women to write some as well.”

Knight pushed off the wall. “Let me just point out the flaw in your plan. First, you do realize that just because you write a damn rulebook, that doesn’t mean that any of them will actually follow it. It’s not legally binding.”

“It’ll be laminated,” Sinner said.

“Again, not legally binding. What you have is a damn rulebook disguised as a relationship manual. And you expect us to waste our time on this?”

I took a deep breath and sighed. “I know you weren’t here for it, because you were off taking your revenge, but I woke up with a pressure trigger engaged under my mattress, all because I didn’t handle you properly, according to Maggie. How many of you can say you want to wake up the same way one day?” I glanced around the room, but none of them said anything. “Let me tell you, that was the most terrifying experience of my life. And I’ve been to war.”

“So, what is it you want from us?” Jackson asked.

“What we need—” Rocco cut me off by clearing his throat. I glared at him, but he motioned me on. I rolled my eyes and started over. “Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to break off into groups and get the relationship manual written by the end of the week. We have no time to waste. Rocco, you work on getting that rulebook written.” I glanced around the room and took a deep breath. “We have fewer jobs for the next few days. Use your time wisely, ladies and gentlemen. Our sanity depends on it. Dismissed.”

Everyone got up and left the room. Everyone except for Knight. “You don’t really expect me to participate in this shit, do you?”

“Knight, out of everyone here, you probably have the most valuable advice. Not only have you fake died on Kate, but you also know how to handle your woman better than any of us. Your information is crucial to us all.”

He slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if trying to rein in his temper. I could see his fists clenching every few seconds as he got himself under control. “I really fucking hate working here sometimes,” he muttered before pulling out a chair and sitting. “So, what part are we working on?”

“I hope you’re including me in this,” Lola said from the doorway.

“You want in on this?” I asked.

“What? Because I’m a woman? There are rules, and there should be rules laid out in every relationship, and not just for the women. And technically, my husband is not like all of you neanderthals, but he still needs boundaries. I have plenty to offer in the way of advice.”

“Alright, let’s get started then.” I pulled out my computer. “Okay, what do we start with?”

“Stalking, of course.”

I looked at him for a moment. “Stalking,” I repeated.

“Married or not, you still need to know how to stalk your woman, or man,” he added, “appropriately. If you do it wrong, you’ll just end up in jail or with a knife in your chest.”

I cleared my head and typed in How To Successfully Stalk Your Woman. “I can’t believe I’m typing this.”

“Hey, you wanted this manual, and like it or not, it’ll be passed down to our kids. If you think this is just for us, then you’re dead wrong. We can’t have our kids making the same mistakes we did. Well, the mistakes you’ve made. I’m pretty flawless.”

“Fine, I’ll type as you dictate.”

“Stalking is an art form. Not all men are capable of doing it correctly, and if you’re a woman, you’ll only be seen as psychotic.”

“Hey,” Lola snapped.

“It’s true,” I nodded. “Look at Molly. We all thought she was insane.”

Knight nodded and continued. “When done properly,