by Lexi Blake
Noah looked tired, his shoulders slumped and circles under his eyes. Still, he managed a small smile. “I have a hard head. Hi, Drew. Thanks for coming. I’m going to find a way to pay you back for the medical bills. Sorry about that.”
“Who said I was paying your medical bills?”
Bran huffed. “He’s joking.”
Well, no one had mentioned it to him, but he felt a little bad. Noah already looked like shit. “Sorry. Sarcasm is my primary language. Noah, we need to talk.”
His mouth was in a sullen line, but his shoulders came up. “All right. You want me out of the house, don’t you? I get it. I’m causing trouble.”
Drew turned to Bran. “Am I that pessimistic? And how does he get his mouth to do that? It’s like the sad opposite of a smile. I didn’t know lips could turn down that harshly.”
Bran’s eyes rolled. “Brother, you are practically mopey most of the time. And you look a whole lot like that. Check a mirror sometime. Noah, no one’s throwing you out. You’re our brother. Get used to the big brother’s sarcasm. Give him hell back.”
Noah leaned against the pillows, his exhaustion obvious. “I don’t want to cause trouble.”
“He’s nothing like me because I loved causing trouble.” He hated the fact that he was starting to feel for the kid, especially when he still wasn’t sure he knew the whole truth.
“See, more sarcasm,” Bran pointed out. He moved to stand beside Noah’s bed. “We do need to talk, though. Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt you?”
Noah was silent, his head shaking in the negative.
“What about your friend Jase?” He wasn’t sure what the kid was thinking. If someone tried to kill him, Drew would look to the criminals in his life.
Noah groaned, a deeply frustrated sound. “Why would he? I didn’t steal anything from him. I did the work he asked me to do. When he’s needed updates, I did them.”
“I thought you no longer spoke to this asshole.” He’d been clear on that. What the hell else had Noah left out of his story?
A fine flush hit his skin. “He hit me up online a couple of days ago. It was easier to simply do what he wanted than to fight him. He’s a serious hacker and he’s got connections. It was a couple of lines of code. He’s struggling with his POS. I fixed it and everything is fine now. He’s got no reason to hurt me. He knows I’m not going to turn him in and I’m not a threat.”
POS. Point of sale. In this case, though, it could mean piece of shit because that’s what this Jase guy was. He remembered what it was like being vulnerable. It was Hatch who had saved him from this kind of problem when he was young and starting out. Hatch had been there to tell him he was being a dumbass. He’d been there so Drew didn’t get taken advantage of. Sure, he’d done it half drunk at all times, but Drew had known he could count on Hatch to make sure he wasn’t indebted to assholes.
“Is his number on your phone?” Drew asked.
Noah flushed. “It’s a new phone, but he managed to figure out what my number was.”
Bran chuckled. “That’s what happens when you give girls your number on social media.”
What? “Tell me you didn’t. It’s bad enough you announce your every move on the Internet. You give out your phone number, too?”
“She was hot,” Noah protested. “You don’t understand. She was like the hottest girl at the prep school a mile away from Creighton. When I posted that I might be your brother and I was heading to Austin, she wrote to me. She never paid any attention to me before. I think she’s interested now.”
He needed a keeper. “Yes, since you posted a ridiculously personal piece of information on Facebook about your freaking paternity. There is such a thing as privacy, you know.”
Noah shrugged as though the idea had never once occurred to him. “Why? If I hadn’t talked about it, Brittany wouldn’t have reached out to see if we could meet up sometime.”
“She’s willing to date you because you’re suddenly the brother of a billionaire.” He was definitely missing the point.
“I’m totally okay with that,” Noah admitted. “She’s got double D boobs.”
Ah, youth. Damn millennials didn’t think anything was real until they’d posted it on the Internet. He reached his hand out to Bran. “Give me his phone. When did the asshole call?”
Noah frowned as Bran handed Drew the phone. “Yesterday morning around ten. I got it done. I told him it was the last time. He agreed.”
“Did he?” Drew doubted that.
“Well, not really, but he didn’t argue with me.”
“Why should he? He’s not going to waste his breath when he knows damn well he can yell at you and you’ll fold on him. Watch and learn, brother. This is how you handle a bully.” Drew pressed the button to dial the correct number.
Noah sat up, his mouth dropping open. “What are you doing?”
Bran smiled. “He’s being your asshole big brother. Get used to it. Remember how I told you Drew giving a crap about you would have a trade-off? Here it comes. He’ll be superprotective, but he’ll be a total dick about it.”
He wasn’t a dick. He was having a perfectly normal reaction to someone taking advantage of his youngest brother.
There was a beep and then a masculine voice came on the line. “’Sup, Noah? You know I told you not to call me. I’ll call you if I need you. This isn’t a two-fucking-way street, you asshole.”
Oh, he was going to have so much fun with this. “Hello, Jase. You don’t know me but my name is Andrew Lawless.”
“What the hell?”
“Yes, what the hell. That’s what you’ll say the first time the feds invade your house and take everything you own, and then you get buried so deep in the penitentiary system that you finally understand why we call it our penal code. That is what’s going to happen if you call my brother again. So here are your choices, you little shit. You can leave my brother alone, forget his name. He never helped you. You’ve never even met him. If you do that, maybe I’ll forget that you exist. If you ever call my brother again, I will not only ensure your swift downfall with multiple government agencies so far up your asshole you’ll forget what it felt like to be whole, but in addition to that nasty fate, I’ll send in a team of former Special Forces soldiers who haven’t killed anyone lately. They’re cranky, and torturing your pathetic self would make them feel better. And after they’ve had a turn at you, I’ll get my own freak on. Do you think I reached the top of my field based on smarts alone? Oh no, my friend. I got where I’m at because I’m the worst human being on the face of the earth. I tear apart my enemies, and you are going to be my enemy if you continue to pull my brother into your schemes. Do you want to be my enemy, Jase? Do you want me to put every dollar and connection I have up against you?”
There was a wonderful pause on the line that reminded Drew that it took a while to pee one’s pants. “No. I don’t think you have to do that. I don’t need Noah’s help anymore.”
“And do you feel the need to hurt him?”
“Absolutely not, sir,” he said quickly. “I’m good where I am. Noah’s a good dude. I wish him all the best.”
“Do you understand that if I find out you’re lying to me, or if you get off this line and an hour or two from now have a couple of beers and decide you’re braver than you should be, what I do to you will make most serial killers look merciful, and I’ll get away with it. I’ll skin you and make a rug out of you and put it in my office. Do you want to be the thing I walk on in my office?”
“No, sir. Like I said, Noah and me are all good.”
“Excellent. Good-bye, Jase. I will be watching you.”
He hung up the phone.
Noah’s eyes were wide as Drew handed him back his cell. “Dude, that was awesome.”
“I told you.” Bran put a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “He’s fuck-all crazy, but he�
�s a damn fine brother.”
Noah was quiet for a moment. “He definitely isn’t what I expected.”
“Good, then we’ve established that I’m not a total asshole. So tell me who you think is doing this to you. And don’t lie and shake your head like you did a minute ago. You have a name in mind, but you’re afraid to say it to me.” He couldn’t let Noah stay in his corner. They needed to have this out.
“Fine, I think it’s your friend.” The sullen boy was back.
God, he hoped he didn’t look like that when he got pissy. “It wasn’t Hatch.”
“Then where is he?” Noah asked, some fire back in his posture. “He lives with you, but he’s been gone since I showed up. He told me flat out that he hates me.”
“No, he said he didn’t trust you,” Drew corrected.
“Hatch is a good guy,” Bran said. “I don’t think you know the whole story. There’s a woman out there who helped to kill our parents and she’s resurfaced lately. She nearly killed me a couple of months ago.”
“So you think Hatch believes this woman is the reason I’m here.” Noah couldn’t quite meet Bran’s eyes. “You think I’m working for her or something.”
He was the touchiest thing. “No, we didn’t say that. But Hatch can be paranoid.”
Noah’s head swung around, obviously happy to grasp on to that statement. “And paranoid people do crazy things like try to mow down an enemy. You know he’s been arrested a couple of times.”
He should have known Noah would look into Hatch. “Yes, but so has Bran. You don’t think he’s trying to hurt you.”
Noah ignored him entirely. “Hatch has been arrested for drunk and disorderly and for assault. Twice. He’s a violent man.”
“He’s an idiot when he’s drunk,” Drew corrected. He took a deep breath because patience was required here. Noah didn’t know Hatch the way he did. “Look, I’m going to find him and we’re all going to sit down and talk and figure this out. I promise you he’s not the one trying to hurt you. I also promise you that I’m going to find out who is and take care of it.”
Noah seemed to deflate. “All right. If you say he’s cool, I guess I have to believe it.”
“I’m going to prove it to you. Bran is going to hang out with you for a while, and then we’ll all take turns so you’re not alone tonight. In the morning, we’ll take you home.”
Noah’s lips curled up slightly. “I would like that.”
“Good.” He wasn’t sure how far he trusted Noah, but the kid was family, and that meant something to Drew.
There was another reason. Shelby’s voice urging him to be more open, to let the kid in because it was the right thing to do. When had her voice become his conscience? Damn it all, when the hell had he developed a conscience? It was annoying, but he couldn’t ignore it. He wanted to do the things that would please her, make her comfortable being his wife.
His stomach dropped because he was absolutely thinking about marrying Shelby. If he married her before she found out what a shit he was, would she honor their vows? Would it buy him some time to show her he could change?
Of course if he changed his stance on marriage, he would have to consider the rest of it, too. Shelby would want children. He’d never truly wanted them because children were fragile. He didn’t want to fail his own children. But perhaps if they had a wonderful mother, they would be okay.
“Is he all right?” Noah’s question broke through Drew’s introspection.
“That’s his deep-thought face,” Bran replied. “Someone’s in trouble.”
Yes, someone was definitely in trouble. Drew was pretty sure it was him.
Chapter Twelve
Shelby stepped into the offices of Williams Investigations and couldn’t quite shake off the feeling that someone was watching her. She wasn’t sure why she felt that way, just an instinct, but the last several days she’d felt odd.
She stopped at the door and turned, looking around and trying to find the source of her anxiety. Nothing. The building was a two story in a lower-class neighborhood on the outskirts of downtown. There was nothing around her but a Mexican restaurant, a bail bond office, and across the street was a thrift store. No one was staring at her.
Of course it could be all about Drew. This feeling she had could be displaced anxiety. It had been five days since Noah nearly died, and Drew seemed to have distanced. Oh, he wasn’t distant in bed. He was quite enthusiastic there. He made love to her every single night and most mornings, but it was obvious he was thinking about something. He was anxious, but when she asked what was wrong, he simply told her not to worry.
He hadn’t even asked where she was going this morning. He knew she was leaving Austin for the day, but he hadn’t questioned further than that. He usually wanted a full schedule if she wasn’t going to work at the office, but this morning he’d kissed her and told her he’d see her at home this evening.
Maybe it was because she hadn’t come to Dallas alone. She told herself it was because most of the family was heading to Dallas for a few hours to shop and help Ellie pick up her gown for the reception. It was a normal everyday outing for a family with a private jet.
He had no idea she was breaking from the pack and taking a meeting with the daughter-in-law of the man who had brokered the deal to kill Drew’s father. After how hard he’d taken the last meeting, she’d wanted to spare him this one.
Also, she couldn’t get Carly’s words out of her head.
Perhaps Drew was getting bored with her. Maybe he didn’t have a long attention span and her investigation was taking a while. Had he thought she would be done quickly and he could send her on her way?
Her cell trilled. She looked down, hoping it was Drew. No such luck. Case’s number came up on the screen. She slid her finger across the screen to accept the call. “Hi, Case.”
“Hey, how’s it going?” In the background she could hear the sounds of people talking and someone asking if anyone wanted champagne. “Are you absolutely sure you don’t need backup? Because I could have a bodyguard out here to watch after the women in a heartbeat.”
“Hey, what am I?” Riley’s voice came over the line.
So Case wasn’t enjoying a day of shopping. Still, she didn’t need him hovering over her. “I’m fine. It’s a quick errand. I’ll be back in plenty of time to make the plane.”
“All right,” he said, his reluctance clear in his tone. “I called for a reason. I tracked down the SUV.”
Finally they were getting somewhere. “That’s amazing. You were able to track down who rented it?”
“Yes, but it’s still shitty news. It was rented two days before the first attack and they used a corporate card. Two businessmen from Seattle took possession of the vehicle at the DFW airport branch of the rental agency.”
She could guess the end of this story. “Where was it stolen from?”
“From the parking garage of their hotel. They didn’t even realize it was gone for days because they were attending a conference inside the hotel. It was only when they had to go meet a client that they realized the car was gone.”
Another potential dead end. “Please tell me the hotel has security.”
“That’s where it gets fun,” Case began. “It does, but there was a technical glitch that afternoon, and the cameras turned off during the time the car was picked up. The valet says he can’t remember who picked up that particular car because he ran through about a hundred that day, but he had proper tickets for every single vehicle.”
“So someone stole the valet ticket, got the car, and we still have nothing,” she said with a sigh. “How long are the businessmen in town? Can I talk to them when I get back? Maybe they remember who took the ticket.”
“Already done,” Case replied. “They think they lost the valet ticket their first night here in Dallas.”
“Let me guess, they got dr
unk, hooked up with some women, and woke up the next day hungover and without a car, but the idiots didn’t realize until days later that the car was gone.” So they were at another dead end. “Let’s see if the hotel has security footage of the bar that night. Maybe we can pick up something.”
“I’m on it. You be careful, and seriously, if you want backup, Riley can watch the girls. He loves this Manolo Choo stuff.”
There was another masculine denial from the other end of the line.
“Thanks for the update, Case.” She hung up. So they were absolutely nowhere. She couldn’t even be sure it had been whatever women the businessmen had hooked up with, since someone could have easily slipped the valet ticket out of a jacket pocket while the men were drinking in the bar.
Some investigator she was turning out to be. Noah was afraid to leave his room. He seemed a bit afraid to be in the main house at all. He’d avoided coming to family meals since he’d gotten home from the hospital. He spent all his time holed up in the pool house. He’d been friendly enough, but there was something about him that felt secretive.
Just as she’d managed to get Drew on Noah’s side, she might have to pull some shady stuff to figure out what was going on with the kid. He’d gotten a new computer, gifted to him by 4L Software a few days before. She needed to get a look at his new system. Drew was still combing through the old one. Shelby hadn’t found anything, but perhaps the expert could.
If Noah was hiding something, he was smart enough to have erased it before showing up on Drew’s doorstep. It was time to get hold of something he hadn’t had time to protect.
Shelby pushed through the doors to the office inside. A low hum of conversation greeted her, though there was no one sitting at the reception desk. The space was nicely kept, but nothing fancy. It looked like nothing more than four or five desks with some private offices in the back.
“Hello, you must be Ms. Gates,” a friendly voice said.
She shoved aside her worries and focused on the woman in front of her. Katja Williams was a lovely blonde who looked far younger than her forty-plus years. She also didn’t look like a woman who’d had four kids. Her figure was as slim as it had been back in her modeling days in St. Petersburg before she’d met Kevin Williams and settled down. Shelby had studied up on the family before this appointment, though all the data she’d found didn’t answer the one question she was curious about. Did they still have the same ties? Was she walking into a hostile situation?