by Malone, M.
Just let it go already, Lucia.
She slung her handbag over her arm and then turned the light off before retracing her steps back to her room. The envelope had gotten slightly smashed under her wallet and keys so she gently smoothed it with her fingers before taking it back to bed with her. Under the covers, she hesitated before pulling up the flap. Now that the moment was here, part of her wondered if it wasn’t better to leave the past in the past.
When she’d first started searching for more details about her brother’s murder, she’d still been completely mired in grief. Her mind had been focused solely on getting answers and filling in the gaps that her own memory refused to fill. Now that so much time had passed, she’d finally settled in to a life of her own and things were good. Did she really want to know what had happened that day? What if she couldn’t handle it? It wasn’t as if knowing who was responsible would bring her brother back.
But it would give her some closure, wouldn’t it? At least she’d know why. Even if it wouldn’t bring Rafe back, it would mean something to her to know the people responsible for her brother’s death had been brought to justice. She wasn’t as much of an idiot as her brother and Noah had assumed. She was aware that he hadn’t always lived his life on the straight and narrow. But no matter what he’d done, he didn’t deserve to die the way he had. No one deserved that.
Wiping away the tears that had spilled over on her cheek, Lucia lifted the flap of the envelope and pulled out the piece of paper inside. It was a copy of a deed of sale.
HoloCorp, Inc.
Her heartbeat stuttered for a moment and then hammered against her ribcage. It was just a name, but it was more than she’d ever had before. And this time she had exactly what she needed to follow the breadcrumbs.
More like exactly who she needed, she thought as she grabbed her cell phone and scrolled through her contacts list. When she found the name she was looking for, she tapped the screen before she could change her mind.
“Lucia? Is everything okay?”
She smiled. Matthias always sounded worried when she spoke to him, something she found endearing. It was interesting that the same words from Noah made her feel smothered, but they just seemed sweet when coming from Matthias. Then again, he was a gentle sort of guy, always more worried about what she needed than himself.
The fact that he had a bit of a crush on her was part of it, too. And in all honesty, he was a much better choice for her. He was cute. It was kind of ridiculous actually. Like Noah put “No Uglies” on the job description. And Matthias was sweet. No way would he ever invade her privacy. Then why not Matthias? The answer was simple. He wasn’t Noah. He was missing that raw sexual edge.
“I’m fine. How are you?” The sounds in the background got abruptly louder and Lucia giggled when she heard what sounded like sighs and feminine moans. “Are you guys watching porn over there?”
There was a beat of silence. “No! Uh, that was just Jonas being an asshole.” After a brief pause, all the sounds receded. “Sorry about that. Uh, what’s up?”
“I need a favor.”
“Of course. Anything for you.”
“Um, a favor you can’t tell Noah about.”
He was quiet, and Lucia felt even worse. She was asking him to choose her over his friend and boss. It normally wasn’t something she’d ever do. His crush on her was an open secret amongst their group, and she had always made an effort to be considerate of his feelings. Lucia wasn’t the kind of girl who considered a man’s feelings a weapon to use against him. But in this particular case, it was a risk she’d have to take in light of what she was asking him to do.
“I normally would never ask you to do that but…I wasn’t sure who else to call.”
Matthias sighed. “You can always call me. You know that. What do you need?”
“To track down the owners of a corporation. All I have is a deed to a property purchased in the corporation’s name. That’s probably not enough, but it’s all I’ve got.”
“It’s no problem. Send me what you have and I’ll see what I can do.”
Suddenly, she heard Jonas’s voice in the background. “Why are you hiding out in here? Are you sexting?”
“No, I’m not sexting. It’s Lucia.”
“Why are you sexting with Lucia? I’m telling…”
“No one is sexting,” Matthias shouted, sounding exasperated.
“Hi, Lucia!” Jonas yelled.
Matthias groaned. “Dude, stop yelling in my ear.”
“I’m just trying to say hi.”
“She heard you. I’m pretty sure everyone in the building heard you.”
Lucia covered her mouth to keep from laughing. All the guys on Noah’s team were like family at this point. Family that fought and bickered constantly, but would walk through fire to protect their own.
“Tell him I said hello.”
“She says hello. Now go away.” Matthias relayed the message in a grumpy voice.
“Okay. Well, I know you guys are busy so I’ll go now. Thanks for your help, Matthias. And remember, don’t tell–”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t tell Noah. Got it.”
Right before she hung up, she heard Jonas’s voice again. “Don’t tell Noah? Good luck with that. He’s for sure going to find out about your sexting.”
As Lucia turned out the light, she could only hope they wouldn’t need luck.
chapter 4
Noah checked his phone to see if there were any messages from Lucia. Nothing. It had been a few days since he'd seen her and she was still pissed off at him. Whatever. It was for her safety.
Are you sure about that?
Noah shoved away the thought and dragged his attention back to his workout. Angrily he pushed the button to increase his speed on the treadmill. Outside the window, he watched the throng of passersby and tourists on the streets down below in Midtown as police attempted to direct traffic.
Man, did he love this city.
As a thief on the streets below, he’d never thought he'd end up here now. It was a long way from where he’d started to here. And he didn't take any of it for granted.
Bouncing around from foster home to foster home, he got to see a lot of the city. Unfortunately, he spent most of that time picking the best marks. And nowhere was better for marks than Midtown. Times Square.
But now…now instead of looking at them as targets, he saw them as the people he protected. Sometimes. Other times he was the bad guy.
But that's not who you are anymore. That's not what you do.
Back then, when he’d saved Ian’s life, he hadn't considered where that one action would lead. The dark and twisty path it would take him on. That path had exploited his best skills and nurtured his darkest ones. Despite that, he considered himself lucky. He’d helped people. Saved them. But saving those lives came at a cost.
And when the cost got too high, he’d gotten out.
Noah pushed himself on the treadmill, running until his lungs burned and his eyes watered. Until his heart thundered against his ribs, begging for mercy. When he finally hit the stop button and the treadmill slowed, he dragged in deep breaths, completely unaware that he wasn't alone.
Then he turned and startled when he saw Jonas leaning against the glass doors of the gym.
"You're going pretty hard there," the other man commented as he pushed off the doors and walked closer.
"Jesus Christ, Jonas. You’re a silent motherfucker, you know that? I may consider putting a bell on you."
Jonas just shrugged his big shoulders. "You're welcome to try."
Noah grabbed a towel and wiped his face. "You want to tell me why you're standing there staring at me like you got a crush? Or do you want me to guess?"
Jonas chuckled and shook his head. And he still didn't say anything. Jonas knew him better than anyone. He was his oldest friend.
"What's up, Jonas? You’re creeping me out."
"Well, I was sort of hoping you could tell me. You’ve been out of it the l
ast week. Lucia still not returning your calls?"
Noah knew a loaded question when he heard it. For years, Jonas had pestered him about Lucia. Jonas was the only one who knew how Noah felt about her.
"No, I haven't heard from her. She’ll settle down. See it my way eventually."
"You sure about that? Either date her yourself, or cut her loose to do what she wants to do."
Noah shook his head. "You know I can't do that. I’m supposed to be looking out for her. So if she can’t choose wisely, then I'm going to make a nuisance of myself until she learns."
Jonas rolled his eyes. "How’s that plan working out for you?"
Like shit. But there was no way Noah was telling his friend that. "It's working fine. Get the team ready. I’ll need five for a shower."
After his shower, he joined his assembled team in the conference room. Matthias, with his two laptops and earpiece in his ear. Jonas at the other head of the table lounging back in the chair, his feet kicked up, gleaming loafers on display.
Oskar sat in front of his laptop looking irritated. But then, that was Oskar. The German rarely smiled. That was probably a good thing given the number of female clients who openly stared at him in interest. If he started smiling back at them, it might be pandemonium.
Ryan and Dylan rounded out the group. They were the newest additions. So far they'd proven themselves on assignments, but he was still testing them out.
"Okay guys." He shook out his hair, wiping away the last remnants of water. "So we had a few new clients come in. And a few repeat requests. Alana Brooks, the singer, is coming back to town and has an open spot for bodyguard duty. Ryan, you worked with her before. You willing to do it again?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Though if she insists on going to a mall again, I'm getting back up. Those teenyboppers are scary people.”
Everyone laughed. Even Oskar.
"You’re afraid of a couple of teenagers?" Dylan asked.
"Laugh all you want but those girls can be dangerous. One jumped on my back in an attempt to climb over me and get to her." He shuddered. “That shit was terrifying."
Matthias laughed. "The great Ryan Delaney taken down by a couple of teenage girls."
Noah knew the kid had a point. There was nothing more frightening in their world than an unknown variable. A screaming girl determined to get to the object of her affection definitely qualified because you could never predict how far they’d go to get what they wanted.
"Okay, I'll put you down. We've also got the Boynton Corporation. They want us to take a look at their security setup. They’ve had a couple of internal break-ins."
Jonas nodded. "I can do the initial intake if you want."
Noah nodded. With their current caseload, he’d been relying on Jonas more and more. Maybe it was time to give his friend a raise.
They reviewed a few additional new cases. One for the FBI, who wanted to borrow Matthias's skills. For that one, Noah would do initial intake himself. He didn't trust the Feds.
After going through the rest of their new cases, he brought up the last item on the agenda. "So, we’ve got a few pro bono cases on the docket."
Oskar groaned. "How are we ever supposed to make money if you keep taking pro bono cases?" Taking jobs that didn't bring in money made the German twitchy.
But he hated scumbag abusers more than any of them. Which was why, even though he grumbled, he was usually first in line for ass-kicking duty.
Besides, Noah had used his buy-out from ORUS to start this place. He’d put that money to good use. Oskar had helped him invest wisely, and those returns went to running Blake Security. That didn't mean Oskar wasn’t wired to obsess over the bottom line.
“For every three jobs we take a pro bono one. That’s how it works. You want to let this latest scumbag roam free?” What Noah didn’t say was that he felt like he needed to do the penance.
Oskar harrumphed. Crossed his arms and sat back. "Whatever."
Noah fought his grin. That was his friend's way of saying ‘Fine. Who do we have to save now?’
Noah nodded at Matthias, who put up the picture of their new client, a smiling young girl with a long brown ponytail.
"This is Ella Wielding."
Matthias popped up another picture, this time a man in his forties. Dark, greasy hair, scraggly beard, beady little eyes.
"This is her neighbor, James Thorne. He's been following Ella. Ella's mother has gone to the police about his inappropriate interactions with her daughter. Ella insists that she’s seen him at the mall, when she’s at soccer practice, and out with her friends. So far he hasn’t touched, but that's just a matter of time. I want everything we’ve got on this guy."
Oskar sat forward, his brow furrowed deep. "What's our endgame?"
Everyone knew what he was asking. Oskar wanted to know if they were going to hand out police justice or street justice. One of those would land James Thorne in the East River.
Noah didn’t flinch. "It depends on what we find. If he's done this before, repeatedly, I'd like to permanently rehome him somewhere he’ll never hurt anyone again."
Oskar nodded his approval, but Jonas pinned Noah with a level gaze. Ryan and Dylan looked unperturbed. Matthias didn’t even look up from his computer. They were all okay with it if guys like this no longer walked the planet.
While Oskar could be downright savage if it meant saving an innocent, Jonas believed in truth, justice and the American way. But even his friend had seen way too much injustice of late. Jonas knew who Noah was. What he’d done before he opened Blake Security.
The guilt that Noah carried around.
Jonas acted as his conscience. And when it couldn’t be helped, Noah actually listened to his conscience. But if James Thorne turned out to be the lowest of the low, then Noah might let his old self out to play.
Because sometimes you just had to take out the trash.
"Matthias, find us anything you can. Then we'll decide what to do with James Thorne."
#
Lucia eyed herself in the full-length mirror attached to her closet door. Mentally she ran through the checklist of things Nonna was sure to scrutinize and chastise her for.
Skirt length, check.
Blouse tucked in, check.
Hair smoothed back into a simple clip, check.
Earrings in, check.
She sighed. Because God forbid she didn't have earrings on when she went to see her Nonna. She loved her grandmother. She really did. But the woman had antiquated ideas about how a woman was supposed to present herself at all times.
Once Lucia had made the mistake of not wearing proper undergarments to bed as a teenager, and she’d thought her grandmother would faint from distress when she’d woken her for school the next morning.
Lucia had asked her what the big deal was about not wearing underwear to bed. Plenty of her friends did it and claimed it was more comfortable. What was the worst that could happen? All her Nonna had been able to get out between pinched lips was that it was improper. And what would happen if there were some emergency and they had to evacuate their building in the middle of the night?
Lucia hadn’t had the nerve to point out that in the event of an emergency, she doubted anyone would care if she was bare-assed beneath her nightgown.
Growing up, Nonna had also had specific requirements about how a young lady should dress. Particularly, skirt length. Nothing above the knees, as it was vulgar. Blouses should always be tucked in to minimize sloppiness. Plus they must also not be too tight, in order to minimize generous curves.
She looked down at her boobs. Yeah, no minimizing those. And the hair. Well, Nonna had never been particularly happy with Lucia's curls. They'd spent hours upon hours trying to smooth out every last hint of curl.
As Lucia had gotten older, she’d let some of those things go. Besides, she looked better with waves anyway. Although, she secretly loved her wild curls. Besides, really, who had time for blow-drying? Especially not with her job.
The jo
b was another point of contention. Nonna did not approve of fashion as a profession. Or even as a hobby. Which meant Lucia had been forced to sneak in her Vogue and Vanity Fair magazines. She'd hidden them under her mattress like she supposed some guys would hide dirty magazines. She'd been far less concerned about the salacious romance novels JJ had asked her to hide, since Nonna devoured them, too.
Lucia figured she couldn’t complain too much. JJ's mom had been a renowned snooper. There was no getting anything past her. Nonna, while occasionally self-righteous, didn't look very hard. Under the mattress was a decent hiding place in her house. Lucky for Rafe. She smiled thinking of her brother. He’d always been a handful but he’d been so much fun. The best big brother a girl could have.
Outside of the aging brownstone in Queens where she’d grown up, Lucia tugged open the creaking glass door before turning the brass knob of the main door. Damn, it was unlocked. Her grandmother really needed to tighten up the security around here.
Awesome. Now she sounded like Noah. And that was the last thing on earth she wanted. That meddling self-righteous asshole.
With a deep breath, she stepped into the house and was instantly greeted by the scent of garlic and tomatoes. It smelled like home. She missed being here. She missed knowing that no matter what, Nonna was always going to be cooking and fussing about how she didn't eat enough. And at the same time fussing about her figure.
She found her grandmother in the living room dusting.
"Nonna, what are you doing? You're supposed to be recovering from pneumonia. Besides, I got you a cleaning lady so that you wouldn't have to do all this bending and reaching to clean."
Nonna wrinkled her nose. "You know I don't like someone poking around my house.”
"Well, I know for a fact that she comes every week because I’ve been paying her. What does she do if you don't let her clean?"
A slight flush tinted her grandmother's cheeks. "Okay, so sometimes I feed her. The poor thing is so skinny. How is she going to get a good husband if she doesn't eat?”
