Page 7 of The Commander

There were multiple reasons it felt right to discharge, and that person was part of that decision. At thirty-four, I’m not old, but I did enlist young and have done enough time on enemy lands to feel like I’ve done my service.

Now, I’m eager to keep all my limbs and contribute in other ways to my country.

So, I’m all ears, listening to what opportunities are coming up. Just not Black Ops.

“Today we’re officially announcing the Black Hawke Security Bodyguard branch.” Josh turns as a large logo appears on the screen behind him. “Until now, we’ve focused services across the state of California. Now we’re going national. Ryder St. James will head up the team with support from Jayden Rogers.”

“That’s my boy.” Liam slaps his best friend on the shoulder.

Jayden grins, acting cool as a cucumber.

I had a rocky start with these two. One night at a beach party, I thought Jayden’s gorgeous sister was single. She was flirting, or so I thought, and I needed to get over someone. Turns out, Liam—Jayden’s best friend—and Jessie were having a secret affair, and I got a fist in my face for expressing interest. Later, I replaced Jayden after he stepped down from Tiffany Stallone’s personal security detail. His now-partner. Gotta say, I’m surprised the two ended up together. Talk about opposites attracting.

“News has leaked in the past week, so we have customers lining up in different states,” Josh continues, snapping me back to the meeting.

“First, we’re setting up the field offices.” Ryder rubs his forehead a few feet away. “We need to be set up properly before we take on too many clients.”

“I hear you, Ryder, don’t worry. As discussed, we are focusing on the New York office first. We have an important client there.” Josh nods across the room to where a guy leans on the far wall, and my money is on him being ex-Special Forces, for sure. “Everyone, I want you to meet Declan, a buddy of mine from the SEAL teams.”

Bingo.

Declan adjusts his black cap on his head and gives a sort of nod to the room. Not shy, just humble.

Classic SEAL.

“He’s heading to New York with Jayden and Ryder tomorrow to get things kicked off. We’ll be recruiting many others, so if you know any good operators who are keen to get into the personal bodyguard business, you know my number.” Aidan slips his hands into his pockets.

A murmur of interest ripples through the room. Phones will be buzzing after this. I know a lot of GIs keen to join BHS. This opens a door for them.

“But wait, there’s more.” Josh grins. “No steak knives, but we do have another arm of the business I’m really fucking excited to share.”

I lower my brows, wondering what the hell it could be. We do corporate security, personal security, and black ops.

Josh points the clicker, and another BHS logo appears on the screen.

“Black Hawke Security Training. We bought land an hour from Fort Irwin here in California, and it’s been set up as a training facility.”

We all share a surprised look.

“When the hell did you do that?” Marshall asks. “In your lunch hour?”

“Something like that,” Josh laughs. “This offering has put us back in the good books with our former colleagues. Or at least, they’re less pissed off.”

“That’s more accurate.” Aidan laughs with him.

“We have a handful of Tier One operators in our organization, from SEALs, Marines, and Green Berets,” Josh says. “Across the Armed Forces, there’s a real strain on active-duty personnel at times, especially when deployments, rotations and other missions clash. Training is essential, as you all know.”

Damn straight it does.

I was involved heavily in training my teams.

“While the GIs focus on operational readiness, we’ll provide training in our new world-class facility by those of us with real-world combat experience,” Aidan says, reading off the screen. “We’re going to teach niche skills such as advanced urban warfare, executive protection, hostage rescue, the latest tactical tech that’s not readily available in standard military curricula, and so on.”

That last point is not always true, but it can be.

“Isn’t it more expensive?” Cole asks the question that was on the tip of my tongue.

“Sometimes it’s about efficiency if they’re after surge training or specialized programs,” Josh replies. “We have it all in one place—shoot houses, mock cities, driving tracks, etc.”