Protecting Lulu (Global Protection Agency)
Page 23
He nodded his head in agreement. “So when this is all over, we’re going to have mani-pedis and do lunch?”
“You’re not a mani-pedi and lunch friend. I have much more in mind for you, Mr. Callahan. Much, much more.” She ran a finger over his lips and watched his eyes go wide.
“Are we going camping?”
“I doesn’t camp unless it’s at the Ritz-Carleton. If you want, we can go camping there.”
“That’s the problem, I want to,” he replied. He stood and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead.
She leaned into the warmth of the kiss enjoying the moment between them. She wanted more. Much more than a chaste, good-night kiss.
“Good night, Lucinda,” he said. He left, taking his laptop and the pile of files with him.
As she watched him close the door to the backstairs listening to his feet on the treads, she shook her head. That man was such a tease. He was a bigger tease than she was. She adored that. She hadn’t had this much fun in a long time. Too bad someone was trying to kill her.
She cleared the table of his coffee cup and her tea cup. As she rinsed the dishes, she realized he’d done exactly as he’d planned. He’d distracted her from his sisters and she’d allowed it. Lulu was a fixer and she knew she had to find his sisters. She suspected they were just as worried about him as he was about them. Somehow, some way she was going to fix this.
Noah lay on his bed, the lamp on the nightstand throwing light over his hands as he stared at the photo of his sisters. He couldn’t believe he’d told Lulu about his father and his sisters. The only other person in the whole world who knew was Harrison.
The photo was creased and frayed a bit on the edges. It was starting to fade a bit. His mother sat on the front porch of their Los Angeles home with Daisy on one side, Jasmine on the other and his stepfather seated on the ground in front of his mother. Noah kneeled behind his mother. His new digital camera had come with a timer, so that he could be in the photo, too. He’d loved his Kodak digital camera, the first ever with digital technology. Max Callahan had given him the camera to celebrate being accepted at West Point.
He remembered that day. California had been cool and slightly cloudy. He’d coaxed his family onto the front porch for just a few minutes. He remembered Daisy wanting to help him. At five years old, she was always underfoot wanting to be with him. She’d been so sweet. Jasmine had only been two and still forming her personality, but she’d toddle after him and demand a story. Her chubby hands could barely hold the Dr. Seuss book she loved and demanded it be read to her over and over again.
Jasmine had smelled so sweet that day. Like grass and sunshine. His mother had always smelled like Ivory soap. In the photo she looked so relaxed and happy, so different from the strained, stressed woman who’d dragged him out of his bed in the middle of the night and fled west to get away from her abusive husband.
Max had loved her and he could see the love in his mother’s face as she gazed at him. The twenty years had gone by so quickly. Jasmine would be twenty-two now and Daisy twenty-five. He wondered what they had become, what they looked like now. What were they doing?
Noah remembered how much he’d come to love Max. Originally, Noah had been difficult. He hadn’t wanted another man in his mother’s life, but as the years went by he could see how gentle Max was, how loving. Noah missed them all so much. The ache in his heart grew until he felt the well of loneliness smothering him, taking his breath. They had been so alive that day, and the next day they were gone. Max and Noah’s mother were dead, the family pulled apart because of the anger of one man who wanted what he considered to be his possessions, his property back.
Slowly he folded the photos and put them back in his wallet. Outside in the hall he heard Gideon checking the house, walking down the hall slowly. Usually Noah joined him, but not tonight. He wanted to live with his memories. He wanted to call the Geek because he knew Mark could find them, but he didn’t. The fear of seeing the look on their faces was too much for him. He’d faced dangers in Iraq and Afghanistan, but not like this. The dread of seeing the look on their faces that told him they knew he was a monster was more than he could bear.
He turned the light off and lay in the dark, closing his eyes. Lulu was right. He was afraid. He admired her. She admitted her fears, but she kept going, no matter what challenges stood in her way. He half-smiled. Lulu was an amazing woman and Noah had to admit, he loved her. The feelings had been growing in him, half-formed. But tonight as she talked to him, listening to him admit his mistakes, he’d known he loved her.
He loved the way she embraced life. He loved her kindness and he adored her arrogance. She had no shame, nor a sense of guilt. He was completely fascinated by her vanity, because he had none. He had the basics in his life—three suits, underwear, three pairs of shoes for business and a pair of combat boots and fatigues for the woods because he liked to camp.
He loved the exotic way she smelled, the softness of her skin. He loved the way her clothes hugged her curves. She was damn hot and sexy. Just thinking about her made him want to open his door, walk to her room and crawl into her bed.
Instead he turned on his side and closed his eyes.
Lulu stood on a small stool while the seamstress walked around her slowly, stopping a time or two to twitch the skirt into position. Lulu admired herself in the mirror. The black strapless Versace gown clung to her as she stood perfectly straight, her hair pulled back from her face into a pony tail to keep it out of the way. The bustier bodice cinched in her waist and the long slit on one side showed just enough leg to make her feel sexy but not slutty. The girls looked like perfect cream puffs peeking over the top of the bustier. She couldn’t wait for Noah to see her in this dress.
Aiden hovered around her while E.J. stayed out of the way, looking not quite bored.
Aiden clapped his hands. “Perfect. You are going to be a hit at the charity ball. I deserve a raise for this.”
“You’re already the best paid personal assistant on the planet. How about I just buy you a house in the Hamptons?”
“Then you’d have to build me a helipad because you know how I hate to drive those windy little roads,” Aiden retorted as he moved around her his critical eye, taking in every detail about the dress.
The seamstress tugged a bit at the bodice. She mumbled something around the pins stuck in her mouth. Lulu nodded. “Aiden has my shoes and the jewels.”
“How do you know what she’s saying?” E.J. asked from her position across the room.
“Emily and I have worked together for years. I know every mumble.”
E.J. laughed. Aiden positioned a briefcase on a table and opened it. He pulled out a velvet case. Inside was a pink diamond necklace nestled against the material.
“Why did you bring those? I thought we decided on rubies.”
“I made a slight change in your look.”
“Aiden,” Lulu said a warning in her voice. “I thought we had a talk about these unscheduled changes.”
“You’re going to like this one.” He reached back into the briefcase and pulled out a pair of Yves St. Laurent six inch stilettos in bright pink. The very shoes Lulu had admired at Bergdorf’s and which Noah said she couldn’t have.
“Did you--”
He giggled. “A certain bodyguard, who shall remain nameless, went to Bergdorf’s …”
“Oh my God, that man,” she cried, reaching for the shoes.
E.J. straightened from her slouch. “What’s going on?”
Lulu couldn’t speak. She felt a prickling of tears in her eyes and her throat closed over with emotion.
“Noah bought these shoes for her,” Aiden said in a stage whisper.
E.J. looked shocked. “Noah bought shoes? Girl shoes? For Lulu? Why?”
Lulu jumped off the stool, grabbed the shoes, and opened the door to the waiting room.
Noah and Ian sat perched on pink chairs looking uncomfortable. Lulu held up the shoes. She shook the shoes at him and tossed
them to Ian. She grabbed Noah by the lapels and kissed him. She drew back, a tear slipping out. “Thank you.” She grabbed the shoes from Ian, turned around, and went back into the fitting room, brushing the tears away.
“Lulu, stop crying. Haven’t men have given you diamonds?” E.J. handed her a tissue.
Lulu hugged the shoes to her chest while she dabbed at the tears. “Jewelry says I own you. Shoes say… oh my God…”
“Maybe I’m not girlie enough to understand, but I don’t get it,” E.J. said with a confused look on her face.
“Shoes are her kryptonite,” Aiden confided to E.J. “She equates shoes with power. The higher the better. He gave her shoes, which means he recognizes her power.”
E.J. pursed her lips. “Still not getting it.”
“A man has to explain to a woman about men?”
“Yeah,” E.J. replied.
“Basically, what he’s saying is that he isn’t intimidated by her power and is therefore a fitting mate for her.”
E.J. leaned toward Aiden. “You divined that all from a pair of shoes.”
“I think he’s in love with me,” Lulu said in amazement.
“Is that bad?” E.J. asked.
“No,” Lulu said dabbing at the tears, “I think I’m in love with him.” She covered her mouth with her fingers. “Oh dear, that was supposed to be an internal thought.”
E.J. pulled out her phone and scrolled through the menu. “Your secret is safe with me.” She glanced down at her phone. “Damn it, Harrison has tonight.”
Lulu eyed skeptically. “So who are you texting?”
“Everyone.” E.J. replied.
Lulu turned back to Aiden to discover he was scrolling through his phone, too. “I got a text from Ian; he’s moving his date up.”
“Which date?” Lulu asked curiously. “The sleep together date or Noah’s declaration of love date?”
“The sleep together date,” E.J. said giggling.
“Hey now,” Aiden added, doing a little dance snickering right along with her.
“You two are giggling like a pair of pre-pubescent school girls. It’s so undignified.” Lulu slipped the shoes on her feet and stepped back up on the stool so that the seamstress could finish pinning the hem to the height of the shoes. She felt like a goddess in the pink stilettos.
All through dinner, Lulu felt odd. She didn’t know how to act. The shoes had changed how she felt about him. He’d been uncomfortable as well. He had darted glances at her even as E.J., Aiden and Ian tried to keep the conversation moving despite an occasional snicker. But Lulu for once in her life, didn’t have much to say.
Aiden had cancelled his own dinner plans to have dinner with her, the amusement on his face making Lulu want to throw something at him. “Emotional support” he had said, but she knew he wanted to see the next step in her and Noah’s peculiar romance. Was it even a romance? Did shoes constitute a romance?
In the limo back to her home, she sat across from Noah studying him, wondering what would happen next. Giving her shoes had meant something to him. She sensed that he’d overcome an obstacle by telling her his story, by conceding his power to her, though deep down inside she knew she’d have to share the throne with him. Disturbingly enough, she was not bothered by not being in control of everything with him. Which came down to a simple point, she trusted him enough to make the right decision. The only other men she trusted the same way were Wilder and Aiden.
She looked out the window and watched the street roll past her. Even though it was nearly nine, people still walked the sidewalks, little puffs of vapor coming from their mouths into the chill night air. Even in the winter, New York didn’t sleep.
They dropped Aiden off at his apartment. He continued to snicker as he walked up the steps to the foyer. E.J. wouldn’t meet her gaze and Ian had finally fallen silent after having carried most of the conversation over dinner.
Lulu stared at Noah’s reflection in the window. Until she told E.J. she thought she was in love with Noah, she hadn’t really considered it. She liked him, she enjoyed their verbal battles. But being in love? Yes, she was in love. She wanted him in a way she’d never wanted any other man.
How would he fit into her world? Why did she care? Three of people she cared about most: Julia, Aiden, and Wilder already liked him. Wilder trusted Noah to keep her safe. Julia loved him enough to flirt shamelessly. Aiden adored him. She knew her best friend, Belle would love him too. Grandma Penny would make him cookies and she didn’t make people cookies unless they were special. Now all she had to figure out was how to reel him in.
The car came to a stop in front of her brownstone. Ian slid out the door and held out a hand to her. She thanked him as she stepped out into the cold. She pulled her coat close to her. She felt Noah put a hand on her back.
With one foot on the first step, Lulu paused to turn to Noah. He was looking at something across the street. She felt, rather than heard, a crack behind her and something wet spattering her face.
Noah shoved her up the steps shouting, “Gun!”
Another crack sounded and Lulu heard something hitting the brick façade of her house. The front door flung open. Noah pushed her inside. “Panic room, now,” he shouted and shoved her past Roman, Dante and Gideon who raced out the door reaching for their guns.
Another crack sounded and E.J. shouted. Noah shoved her up the stairs to her bedroom, opened the closet door then the door to the panic room, pulling her inside.
Chapter Seventeen
The panic room was large, with king-size bed covered in a dark blue duvet, cream-colored ankle deep carpeting, two light blue brocade chairs, a refrigerator and a bathroom. Lulu had designed it herself. If she ever had to use it, she intended to have all the comforts of home, plus access to her shoes.
Noah sat down at the computer and turned it on. Several screens lit up showing various areas of the house and the front porch.
Lulu took off her coat and realized the red blots were blood. She whirled to Noah. “Are you all right?” She touched his shoulders, his arms.
“I’m fine.”
“But the blood?”
“Ian took a hit.” Noah adjusted a screen.
Lulu saw Ian stretched out on the sidewalk with Gideon squatting next to him holding him down while he opened his jacket.
“Oh my God!” Lulu felt faint. Her hands began to tremble, her body vibrating with fear.
She remembered her mother lying on the floor of her bedroom, blood pooling around her. She forced the memory away. A police car pulled up to the curb and two uniformed officers jumped out. One spoke into his radio. Noah turned up the volume and they heard the officer calling for an ambulance. Shouting sounded up and down the street. A few seconds later a media truck pulled up and parked. A cameraman and a news reporter jumped out.
The street turned into chaos as more police cruisers parked and officers started cordoning off the street. Lulu saw a couple of her neighbors standing on the street talking.
The trembling migrated up her arms to her shoulders, down to her legs.
“Lucinda,” Noah said.
Her legs wouldn’t hold her anymore. She slumped down onto a sofa. Noah grabbed a blanket and covered her with it. “Someone really tried to kill me.”
“Seems like it.”
“All the other accidents seemed so…so accidental,” she said through the chattering of her teeth.
“Someone is upset that you’re not following the plan,” Noah sat next to her and slipped his arms around her, pulling her close.
She couldn’t stop quaking. Even her tongue trembled. Fear strangled her. She had felt this same fear the night her parents had been murdered and she found herself angry that she felt so vulnerable again. And, Ian was hurt, leaving her feeling guilty that he’d been shot because of her.
On the monitor an ambulance roared up to the curb. Lulu closed her eyes, leaning her head against Noah’s chest. She listened to his heart beat while the officers on the street shouted.
“That means he’ll try again.” Her trembling increased and Noah held her tightly.
His phone rang again and Noah answered it. “Okay,” he said and disconnected. “That was Gideon; Ian is going to be fine.”
Her eyes snapped open. On the monitor, Ian was being strapped onto a gurney and pushed into the back of an ambulance. Behind him, an officer waved a news reporter back.
“Dammit,” she said watching the cameraman pan the camera toward her front door. “I’ll have to call my brother. I should tell him I’m fine.”
A second later, her phone rang. She reached for her purse and pulled it out. “Aiden,” she said.
Aiden’s voice was panicked. “I’m on my way. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“It’s only been five minutes,” Lulu said.
“First, are you alright.”
“I’m fine. How did you hear?”
“An EMT tweeted. You know I have birds all over the city,” he said. “Who was shot?”
“Ian.”
“Is he okay?”
“He’s on his way to the hospital, but Gideon said he’ll be all right.”
“Good, he is way too pretty to die.” Aiden took a deep breath. “Is the Birkin safe?”
Lulu almost laughed. She’d just been shot at and he was worried about her purse. He was trying to make her laugh. Bless his heart. “The Birkin survived without a mark.” She didn’t feel fine. She felt like a huge hole had opened up in her life and she was falling through it.
She disconnected and put her phone back in her purse and then smiled at Noah. “I really am fine.”
A look of admiration filled his face. “I know, Lucinda. I know.” He kissed the top of her head. “We need to take some photos for evidence.”
“What?”
“For the police. It will give them some information they need and we have to give them your clothes.”