Owned (Office Intrigue Book 8) by Nicole Edwards (bill gates book recommendations txt) 📕

He didn’t respond and I could see he didn’t know how to answer that.

Clearly I was wasting time here. “Okay. I’ll find Talon.”

“I’m right here,” came the booming voice from behind me.

I startled, then spun around, looking up into his handsome face. I sighed my relief, then took his hand and practically dragged him back to my office.

Once inside, I hurried to explain the same thing I’d told Zion, then followed with a frantically spoken, “What do you want to do?”

Talon held my gaze, his tone smooth and even when he said, “What would you suggest we do, Braelyn?”

“We go get him. Bring him back here.”

He didn’t respond immediately.

“It’s the right thing to do,” I hurried to say. “We can’t just—”

Talon pulled me into his arms, cupping my face with one big hand. “We go get him,” he agreed, speaking softly. “If that’s what you want to do, that’s what we do.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

I stepped back, feeling the need to pace but managing to keep still. “Zion said this hasn’t happened before.”

“As far as I’m aware, no, it hasn’t.”

“But we should have a contingency plan for things like this. A way for the possession to get in touch with us.”

Talon pulled me into him again, obviously hearing the worry in my voice. The only thing I could think about was Jones sitting alone in that motel—God only knows what kind of crap hole it was. He’d given up his entire life to become someone else’s possession, which meant he had nowhere to go, no one to turn to. What was he going to do when they kicked him out of the motel?

“It’s all right,” Talon said soothingly, stepping back and taking my hand. “Where is he now?”

“Bowling Green, Kentucky,” I answered, letting him lead me back to my desk.

I sat down, pulled up the information on my laptop. “At least, that’s where the Owner’s residence is. He’s in a motel right now. I’m supposed to call him back.”

“I actually have a training facility just outside of Nashville,” he informed me. “How far is that from where he is?”

I keyed in the information. “Sixty miles?”

“The jet’s in Chicago.”

I nodded, all of it coming together in my mind as I worked to solve this problem.

“Okay.” I keyed in some more information. “Two-hour flight from Chicago to Nashville. Probably take an hour, maybe an hour and a half to drive him from Bowling Green.”

“You can order a car service,” Talon said. “We’ve got numbers for many across the US.”

I felt my breathing slow, the panic dissipating. I looked up at Talon, could feel the tears hovering behind my eyes.

“I don’t want him to sit there alone, Talon. He has no one.”

“He clearly has you.” Talon stroked my face with his fingers. “You’ve got all the tools at your disposal. Bring him home, baby. Once he’s here, you can figure out how to proceed.”

A tear escaped but it was one of relief. I hated thinking about this man having lost his Owner and he had no backup plan to ensure he would be taken care of. At the very least, the Owner should plan for that. Or we should. The company.

I nodded because I knew what needed to be done.

*

TALON

While Braelyn dealt with her first real issue as an employee of Owned, I went through my day, keeping an eye on her from afar. Only because I wanted to be available if she needed me.

Turned out, my girl was rather adept at handling problems. Once she’d learned she had whatever she needed at her disposal, it hadn’t taken long for her to get the possession transported to the airstrip where the jet was waiting to retrieve him and deliver him back to Sapphire Island. He wouldn’t arrive for another hour, just after midnight, and I figured Braelyn would be up waiting for him to get here.

She had honestly surprised me with her concern. Not because she was concerned. That was a given. Braelyn was a woman with a huge heart.

No, my surprise came from how she was handling it. As though she understood the possession was still a possession. Not necessarily from our viewpoint, but from his. She was treating him as though this was what he needed, to be returned to where he’d started so he could be placed again. Which was exactly how anyone at Owned, Incorporated would’ve handled it.

In fact, I’d already seen a proposal come through from her, one that outlined what steps should be taken to ensure possessions were returned here if and when something happened to their Owner, or their Owner could no longer care for them. Admittedly, that was a step we’d missed, and it bothered me that no one had thought about it before.

“I didn’t realize you were still here.”

I looked up from my desk, noticed Braelyn standing in the doorway, watching me.

I smiled. “Reviewing your proposal.”

“Is there a problem with it?”

“Not that I can tell,” I admitted, relaxing back in my chair. “I’ve got some things to add, but I like what you have.”

She remained in the doorway, looking scrumptious, wearing a whisper-thin white tank top over a black bikini top and a pair of frayed-edge jean shorts, some of the most recent pieces I’d had delivered. It didn’t surprise me that she’d gotten comfortable. We’d had dinner, and she’d disappeared for a little while before coming back down to the office. She was the reason I was still here, figuring I would wait to see if she needed anything when the possession arrived.

“What about you?” I asked. “Why’re you here?”

“Just keeping track of Jones. I want to make sure he arrives safely.” She smiled, as though anticipating my next comment. “Don’t worry. I won’t coddle him. I’ve already notified Gideon, told him I wanted Jones picked up and delivered to a private room. At least for the night. Give him a chance to sleep, which I wonder if he’s even done since his Owner passed.”

It was possible he hadn’t.