by D. A. Young
Alicia surveyed him coolly. “I disagree. Noelle is a much more suitable candidate, besides, Darren is busy saving lives. You seem rather passionate about my daughter’s life, Jack. Why is that exactly?”
“I’m interested because she’s got talent to make it to the top. Obviously, I haven’t known Noelle as long as you have, but from what I’ve seen, she is an excellent chef. How do you think those dinners at your home were so wonderful? Tell me, have they been the same since she left? I know I haven’t eaten there since she’s been gone. That chef you hired severely embellished his culinary skills. He got lucky when he discovered Noelle’s passion for cooking. When you hired him four and a half years ago, we strongly advised your husband against it. He didn’t listen to us because you just had to have a Michelin star chef. Did you know that on the weekends, Noelle used to give him cooking lessons?”
Jack took a sip of his sweet tea, watching Alicia’s face flush. He knew at that moment that she had not been aware of the goings-on in her home. Alicia’s expression was now a mask of ice. Oh, you’re pissed lady? Well, fuck you; I am too! Jack thought prepared to go the distance for Noelle.
“Again, what is your interest in my daughter?” Alicia asked, her tone chillier than Antarctica. A man with smaller balls would have dove under the table. Jack Sullivan was not that man, and he was far too busy having a ‘nobody puts baby in the corner’ moment to tread lightly.
Jack reached back into his briefcase and pulled another folder out. “I’m sure your concern for your daughter is…genuine. I’m not a parent, but I’d like to think your feelings come from a good place. At this time, I need you to let me do my job in the best way that I can. Stalking the First Lady is not a priority for Vivienne, Ian, or myself. This is a service we will no longer be providing to you. So I suggest you get yourself moving on that “Let’s Move” campaign and prepare to break a sweat,” Jack continued as if he wasn’t aware that Alicia’s mouth was flapping like a fish out of water.
“What is our main priority as stipulated in the contracts that we sign with our clients is making sure that they always look great and are portrayed in the most positive light. To make sure that they are never associated with negativity and eliminate any threat of it, correct?” Jack asked, holding the folder out to a furious Alicia.
“Correct,” Alicia snapped, snatching the folder from him. How dare this hillbilly talk to her like this? she fumed, thinking that it was time to remind him who he worked for. As Alicia opened the folder, she promptly froze upon seeing the pictures inside.
Jack sat silently, watching the blood drain from her face as Alicia hurriedly flipped through its contents. It didn’t give him any pleasure to do this, but it was his job to protect his clients. Alicia and Ronald were his clients, but Noelle was his heart, and he’d do everything in his power to protect her; even if it meant being a bastard to his clients. Jack watched as Alicia’s eyes rose to meet his, and they were filled with trepidation as she anticipated his next words.
“Alicia Kramer, you are now the threat to your family. My job is to eliminate threats, and I’m damn good at it. I’ve got a couple of options as to how I can proceed with that information, but we need to get a few things straight first.
Do you understand me when I say that you have no more time to meddle in Noelle’s life? Or block her business efforts? You are now at a pivotal point in your life where you realize it would be in your best interest to just let her experience life and be there to support her along the way, you feel me?” Jack asked in his charming southern accent that Alicia was realizing, too late, was tempered with steel. He held up his hand and their server appeared with the dessert menu. Jack smiled in appreciation, keeping his laser-like stare on Alicia as she nodded her head to indicate she was listening.
Jack smiled at the hovering server. “We’re going to need a minute, sir.” He waited until the server left to lean in and whisper across the table, “Good. Now I don’t know about you, but I could really go for some dessert while we focus on how to discreetly extract you from the problems you’ve created down in Florida.”
***
Brooklyn, New York
According to the private investigator Jack hired four months ago, Noelle was very well- liked in the community and participated in numerous neighborhood events. He knew he was going overboard and being stalkerish, but what other choice did he have since she no longer lived at home? How else was he supposed to know she was okay? The report also stated that Noelle wasn’t seeing anybody. He could have just as easily asked his brother Darby to get the info, but the thought of that hound dog watching Noelle made his blood boil.
It took Jack two days to gather up most of the information he needed on her ex. Remy Dumont born in Marseille, France to wealthy Ghanaian parents. They sent him to University in Paris, but he dropped out two years after enrolling. Furious, his parents cut him off and told him to work for a living. Instead, he coasted by on running numbers and living off of rich, older women. Recently he’d fallen in with a very bad crowd and was looking to disappear.
Jack was just waiting on a call from his youngest brother Casey, an attorney in Washington D.C., who had contacts in Paris to confirm what he already knew. There were several ways this could play out, but he was trying to find the right one that would alleviate Noelle’s worry and work in his favor. Jack felt a stab of guilt about manipulating her, but he was too far gone with possessing her to think about that now. Knowing that there had been someone before him made Jack want to ensure that there was no one after him. He was going to be it for Noelle.
So here he was, on a Thursday afternoon, parked directly across from her brownstone; impatiently waiting to get a glimpse of her when he should be working. Jack wanted to relay the information he’d gathered and discuss what their next move should be. From his vantage point, he could see the entire block.
About a dozen kids were playing in the street and moms were speed-walking with their strollers. Across the street in the park, a yoga class was being one with nature, while enticing aromas drifted from the various food trucks parked along the curb. Suddenly, he saw her jogging towards her brownstone. Noelle’s satiny skin was glistening with perspiration, with her sweat dampened tank top and shorts clinging to her curves. Sighing, Jack glanced down at his dick which now resided in a permanent state of hardness. He was going to have to do something about it and soon.
Jack watched as a group of elementary school kids ran up to her. They busted out singing and beat boxing as one of the boys started break dancing. He was pop-locking and made a motion to pass it on to Noelle. To his surprise, she bust out a few intricate moves of her own and passed it back to the kid. He chuckled to himself as the other kids laughed at their buddy’s stunned expression. Noelle hugged the boy then they all high-fived her and ran off down the street, leaving her to continue on her way.
All of a sudden, Noelle broke into a full sprint, and the next thing Jack knew, she was launching herself into the arms of a tall, blonde guy, whom he hadn’t even noticed standing by her brownstone steps because he was so focused on her. Jack sat up straight. The asshole caught her and twirled her around before soundly kissing her on that gorgeous, laughing mouth. Who the fuck was this clown??? Jack was going to kill that sorry ass investigator after he got done with Ken doll.
White hot rage surged through Jack’s body, and he fought the urge to get out of his car, cross the street, and beat the shit out of this stranger for daring to touch her. Swift action was needed, and he was suddenly clear on which course to take. His cell phone rang. Glancing down at the number, he quickly answered it. “Talk to me, Casey.”
Chapter Five
“Theo!” Noelle laughed as the beautiful man before her swung her around in his strong arms. His scruffy chin found her neck, and she squealed in delight. “When did you get back from London?”
It was good to see Theo Adams, one of her former high school classmates. An up and coming artist, he’d also supplied her with some of the best weed s
he’d ever smoked. Noelle discovered that he was an artist one night as they were puffing away and insisted on seeing some of his work. Thoroughly impressed, she hooked him up with her sister Sloane who owned an art gallery in Soho.
Theo’s career instantly took off. In return, he kept Noelle supplied with weed for practically nothing. Smoking was her way of relieving the tension her interactions with her family caused her. Funny, she hadn’t needed to smoke anything in the four months since moving out of her parents’ home.
The taste of freedom was intoxicating, and Noelle was drunk on liberation. Gone were the prissy outfits her mother liked for her to wear. She now shopped in vintage thrift shops and loved showing a little skin. Noelle embraced her natural hair and only made it to the beauty shop if she knew a family event was scheduled. Just the thought of her parents horrified expressions if they ever discovered their meek-as -fuck, well-mannered daughter was a pot-smoking, borderline hippy. Quelle horreur!
But that was nothing in comparison to how the family would lose their shit if those pics came out. Hopefully Jack would have a solution. Noelle was starting to worry, since she hadn’t seen or heard from him since running into him at Nico’s two days ago. Sidra had tried to reassure her.
“Girl, just ‘cause you can’t see things happening doesn’t mean he’s not making them happen. Trust that he knows what he’s doing.” Noelle really hoped that was the case; otherwise, she would need to have a sit down with her parents soon because there was no way in hell she was going to pay Remy one penny.
“Last night, beautiful. I’ve already placed a delivery order for Aurelio’s meat lover’s pizza and wings. Plus, I brought a lil’ of the good shit,” Theo said slyly patting his shirt pocket. “Tried something new in Sedona that will blow your mind.”
“Ooooh, good stuff! Please tell me you made the pie a large, or I will go all kinds of hunger games on your ass,” Noelle warned half-jokingly.
Theo threw his head back and laughed, causing women on the street to give him admiring glances as he picked up his case of paints. Noelle took a moment to study her friend. Standing at six feet, two inches he looked like a model. With a long and lean build, his shoulder length hair was dark blond and curly. Eyes the color of the ocean, and a sensuous mouth that made women flock to him like bees to honey. To them, Theo was irresistible and rarely was he ever found with the same woman twice, which always led to their heartbreak.
Noelle almost wished she were in love with Theo, because that would be a walk in the park for her. Instead she was in love with a good-looking, judgmental asshole. She was kicking herself for even going to him. Somehow she just thought Jack would be different. She remembered the first time she saw him….
***
Past…
It was Noelle’s twenty-first birthday, and her mother had planned an obscenely large debut to introduce her to New York society. Flustered by the amount of people who were pushing into her personal space, she’d gone off to sneak a quick drink. God, why hadn’t she stayed in Paris? Europeans kept shit real, unlike Americans’ who smiled at you while they sized up the value of your outfit and determined whether you were worth talking to. Her jaw ached from gritting her teeth and smiling so damned much. She could feel her mother’s gaze tracking her every move like a heat-seeking missile.
“Noelle, please keep in mind tonight that you should be looking to make a match. There aren’t that many suitors of our stature, and you aren’t getting any younger, dear,” Alicia said sweetly while adjusting her daughter’s bodice. Translation: Beggars can’t be choosers.
Noelle had just declined another dance, when a man’s melodious voice whispered in her ear. “Please tell me you won’t disappear at midnight and leave a slipper behind. My dear, you’ve been gone long enough, and I refuse to fly to another continent just to have conversations like we used to.”
Noelle whirled in delight to see her godfather standing there grinning with outstretched arms. Ian Rusnik was her late Uncle Harvey’s companion for over twenty years. Normally one to uphold tradition, Alicia Kramer had chucked it in the fuck it bucket and named him Noelle’s godfather, much to the dismay of her snotty, homophobic parents, to please her brother. Harvey was her only sibling and she refused to turn her back on him the way their parents did for being out and proud.
“Uncle Ian!” Noelle squealed loudly, causing people to stare much to her mother’s dismay. He enveloped her in a hug, and she closed her eyes as she took in the familiar scent of his cigars, cologne, and the special godfather scent that was all his alone. “I’ve missed you so much! I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Come dance with me and allow me save you from “Mommy Dearest”,” Ian whispered conspiratorially. Without hesitation, she stepped into his arms, and they began to waltz.
“You’re the best, Uncle Ian. Thank you,” Noelle laughed joyfully and he joined in.
“No need to thank me; I recognized that hungry look on Alicia’s face. It’s the same one she would get when Harvey and I would cook in our tiny apartment. Poor thing was so busy trying to seduce your father that she refused to eat real food until he put a ring on it,” Ian said referencing Beyoncé with a wag of his brows.
“Oh, shit. For real?” The concept of her immaculate mother actually being hungry for food was surreal. Even at dinner time, Chef precisely measured out her meals with measuring cups and now did the same thing for her sister-in-law. Unlike them, Noelle refused to fall in line with that policy. No sir. She loved food way too much.
“Mmmmhmmm. She was like that tiny chicken hawk on the Loony Tunes, and we were hiding Foghorn Leghorn from her.” Ian’s eyes glowed with satisfaction as Noelle struggled to contain her mirth. It was nice to see his goddaughter smiling on her birthday. He felt a pang of nostalgia. Oh Harvey, you would be so proud of our girl, he thought wistfully of his partner who’d died of pancreatic cancer six years ago.
While they loved all of the Kramer children, Noelle was the one who tugged at their heartstrings. Lacking the confidence of her older siblings, she deliberately lagged behind hating to bring attention to herself. Smart, funny, and pretty Noelle was often overshadowed by her sister’s dance recitals or brother’s basketball and lacrosse achievements. Oftentimes, she could be found in the library reading a book or in the kitchen helping to prepare meals.
It frustrated Alicia to no end and, fearing that their daughter would be an underachiever, the Kramer’s took Noelle to see a psychologist. The shrink’s diagnosis: she’s a kid, leave her alone. When that didn’t work, Alicia in disguise of course, took Noelle to Queens to visit a woman, she heard about from one of her maids that claimed to be a psychic. Madame Deon took one look at the fidgeting, anxious, little girl and then addressed Alicia bluntly.
“There’s nothing wrong with your daughter. Nothing that a little love and care on your part won’t fix. A word of warning: If you continue at the rate you are going, you WILL lose her,” she warned. Dislike for this snotty, rich, woman coming through in every word. Her heart went out to the poor angel who was stuck with this uptight, skinny heifer. Alicia Kramer stuck her nose in the air. “Thank you so much for your time, Madame Deon.”
After that, Noelle was put into dance, sports, and singing; all of which she enjoyed, but won no trophies. Needless to say, her parent’s streak of disappointment grew tremendously. It was only when Harvey suggested culinary school that Noelle found her niche. She loved working in the kitchen and challenging her mind with recipes. She won awards for her amazing dishes in county fairs, and how did Alicia reward her? By sticking her in a weight watchers camp for kids to make Noelle aware of the dangers of overeating. Ian was furious as he watched the light in Noelle’s eyes dim. He wanted to tie Alicia to a chair and force feed her bread and sugar for a week.
“Uncle Ian, you are so out of control!” As they whirled around the ballroom floor, Noelle felt a prickle of awareness go through her and felt like she was being watched. She looked around the ballroom until her eyes clashed with a pair
of burning hazel ones; and time seemed to stand still. Leaning against the entry way, with a slinky blonde whispering in his ear trying to get his attention, was a tall man whose broad, muscular build was fitted into a black tux that was clearly tailored just for him; he wore it so well.
He was perfection, standing at about six feet four inches tall with short black hair that had a slight curl to it. Thick dark brows framed his hazel eyes. His sharp cheekbones, firm lips, straight nose, and square jaw were utterly masculine, making all the other men in the room fade away. And he was watching her. His eyes were roving over her from head to toe, mentally undressing her. Noelle could feel her body responding to his perusal and she shivered in Ian’s arms; stunned that a complete stranger could pull such a reaction from her.
“Are you okay, dear?” Ian asked concernedly. He took in Noelle’s flushed cheeks, sparkling eyes, and parted lips. Her attention was focused over his right shoulder.