Jobe: Alvarez Security Series by Maryann Jordan

slowly as her stomach churned.
    “You’re working with these girls so you must have done some research about gangs and I don’t care if they’re members of a national gang or some punk-ass local group—respect is their mantra. You disrespect them, they will take you down. Do. You. Understand?”
    She nodded, realizing how foolish she had been. “I’m not usually reckless,” she replied softly. “I just got so mad.” She blinked fast, trying to keep from allowing a tear to slip.
    Tony’s voice softened. “You’re doing a good thing here, Mackenna. Let’s keep you safe so that you can keep doing it.”
    Tony began the conversation about her security needs, but Jobe could not keep his mind on the words that were spoken. Ms. Dunn. That’s her maiden name. He quickly glanced at her ring finger and found his breath leaving him as he noted she was not wearing an engagement ring. His palms began to sweat as he thought back to the last letter she wrote after he had ignored all of her pleas to not break up with her…where she admitted he had shredded her but that she would work every day to erase the memory of him from her very soul. And I let her. What a fucking prick.
    Tony had asked Mackenna about the center and what her major concerns were. His eyes cut over to Jobe but realized his most steely soldier was staring openly at his former girlfriend.
    Mackenna could feel Jobe’s eyes on her but refused to look at him. Wishing Jennifer had come with them into the kitchen, she knew her friend was outside grilling her husband on the scene she had witnessed.
    “If it weren’t for the latest drive-bys, I would feel very safe about the center. The neighborhood isn’t bad and we haven’t had any problems. But our new girl is pregnant by someone in a gang and I’m wondering if that’s causing their interest. I…I don’t really know what to tell you. I have no idea what we should have as far as security goes and I have to be up front—there’s no money in the grant for anything.”
    Tony began explaining the basics of security, the lighting at the entrances, cameras installed, and even bars on the first-floor windows.
    Mackenna’s head began to pound as Tony continued to list the things that he would recommend while the man who had ripped her world apart five years earlier was sitting next to her at a kitchen table as though he had every right to be there. Don’t look. Don’t give him the satisfaction of even talking to him. No, wait. That makes it seem like I care. I don’t care. Well, I don’t want him to think I care.
    “Mackenna,” came his warm voice from beside her.
    She could not help herself. She turned and forced herself to stare at him in the eyes. She had thought that having him cast her away while he was overseas had been the hardest thing to bear, but at this moment she was not sure. Facing him was pure agony.
    The silence in the room was deafening. Jobe could hear his own heart pounding and was sure that he could hear hers too. If only—
    Just then the others entered the kitchen from their outdoor assessment and sat down at the table as well. Jennifer appeared stunned, so Jobe was sure that Gabe had filled her in on some of their story.
    The others, determined to keep the conference professional, began immediately planning. Mackenna felt as though she had fallen down the rabbit hole—one minute she was threatening some thugs and the next she was emotionally assaulted by the past. And all the while, these other people in her center were taking charge, making plans as if she were not there.
    Jobe looked at her, realizing that even after five years he could tell what she was thinking. Only the girl from his past was facing off with his co-workers with a toughness that he had never seen before. What’s happened to you?
    The meeting came to an awkward end and Tony assured her that they would begin work the next day with the equipment that they had and the installations would continue after some