Not that I needed protecting at all.
Owen was a bounty hunter by trade. Which seemed like an exciting job before he started explaining everything he did. A lot of paperwork and research was apparently involved. The only exciting part was getting his fugitives but even then, it involved a lot of paperwork. Sometimes he would do some side work for Brock but when he began to explain he must have thought better of it and stopped talking for several minutes.
Noah, on the other hand, was a financier. It hadn’t been his first profession, but after a few years of running a small business with Owen he had decided to put his skills in math to good use, making a lot of money for other people. From the little I could understand, he put small business owners in touch will wealthy investors and got paid for it. Mostly I heard blah, blah, blah and money because although he was nice, I couldn’t understand most of his explanation.
Both of them had worked as bodyguards at one time. Owen still did on occasion., which also sounded exciting and didn’t involve as much paperwork, but started to sound equally boring when he explained who was typically guarded. Politicians and corporate businessmen used to be their main clients in the past and they rarely had to do anything but babysit. Noah had decided to stop babysitting at some point, while Owen continued on in the line of work.
Babysitting was exactly what they were currently doing with me.
Owen had ordered the most expensive steaks on the menu from room service and had billed it to the room. Which meant they were extremely high dollar gourmet steaks, along with anything else the Fleming brothers wanted to try.
I looked into my half-filled glass and wondered how many shots Noah had put in it. I was starting to feel a little drunk.
“What’s wrong, little sister?” Owen asked while spearing some shrimp off a large plate in the middle of the dining room table.
I blinked at him. “I’m not your sister. In fact, Ian-Brock and I aren’t even dating.”
Noah chuckled. “We know, you’re just helping him out.”
I nodded dramatically. “Just helping. I think you put too much tequila in here. I need to go get some clothes to wear. I can’t wear the same clothes tomorrow. The underwear that Brock got me is nice though.”
“Whoa there! No details. He bought you stuff?” Owen asked.
“Yup, and a dress. And I think some jewelry and nail polish. My hair too.”
I put my head on the glass table.
“Interesting. You’re not dating but he’s buying you things. Sounds like a relationship to me. When is the wedding?” I heard Noah ask.
Sitting up straight again I almost lost my balance. I pointed my finger at him. “Don’t even say that. I can’t get married.”
“Why is that?” Owen asked while taking another shot.
“Because I’m Andromeda Wellington and I kidnapped my brother. I’m a kidnapper. Probably a fugitive and my name on my birth certificate says Jones. Ian-Brock would be marrying a criminal.”
Noah winked at me. “I think if Ian worked on it, that could all go away. He’s done that sort of thing before. Besides, we’ve all committed a crime from time to time. Kidnapping isn’t all that crazy, right Owen?”
Owen was still chewing on something and just nodded.
“Uhm, I think you can get jail time for that, Noah,” I disagreed. “Plus, I faked my name and paid a guy a lot of money to change my identity. That’s fraud. I’ll probably be locked up in jail for a long time.”
Noah took another shot. “I think you’ll be fine.”
I shook my head. “I don’t look good in orange though.”
Owen stood up. “I think she needs some water. How much alcohol did you put in those two drinks?”
Noah shrugged. “The normal amount, maybe a little less.”
“She’s tiny, Noah. Even I can’t drink more than three of those damn things if you put the normal amount in them.”
I stood up and leaned on the table to steady my balance for a moment. “I’ll get water.”
Owen grabbed my arm when I leaned a little too much.
“You need to sit down, Andi. I’ll get it.”
Blinking a few times, I ran a hand down my face. “No, I’ll come with you, I think I need to walk this off or something.”
I saw Owen give Noah a nasty look. “Ian’s going to kick your ass.”
“I really need to go get some clothes from my room,” I said and turned toward the kitchen.
Owen grabbed my arm and swore under his breath as I weaved for a second beside him.
When we made it to the kitchen I leaned up against the counter and looked at all the cabinets wondering where the cups were.
“I’ll get it, you just hold that counter up,” Owen said as he reached into the refrigerator and got a bottle of water out.
He uncapped it and handed it over.
As I took a few hesitant sips my phone started ringing. I tried to set the bottle down but it tipped over while I grabbed for the phone in my back pocket.
Noah walked into the kitchen and grabbed my arm while Owen tried to grab the water and me at the same time. I elbowed both of them then answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey baby,” Brock answered.
“Don’t baby me Ian! You lied!”
I tried to shrug Owen off and ended up sliding down the counter to the wet floor.
I scowled up at the brothers. “Now I’m wet. Can someone please get me some clothes?”
“What the fuck?!” Brock barked. “Are you still with Owen?”
Owen scowled at Noah. “You are in deep shit brother. You go get her clothes.”
Noah rolled his eyes.
“Yes, and Noah is here too, Ian-Brock.”
“What are you talking about with your clothes? You are still clothed, right?” he asked with another bark.
“Of course, I’m still clothed. Did you think we were sitting around playing strip poker or something? We were eating and drinking.”
I heard him let out growl. “I’m going to kill them.”
“I think I’m a little tipsy and I’m on the floor. And you lied.”
“Baby, give the phone to Owen. I lied, I’m sorry but I did it for a good reason. I’ll take care of you when I get home. I need to talk to Owen now.”
I didn’t bother looking up at either Noah or Owen when I shoved the phone up in the air in their direction. I waved it around until one of them grabbed it.
Noah picked me up off the floor as Owen started talking to Brock. “Sorry girly, I didn’t think you would get so plastered off two drinks.”
He carried me over to the sofa and set me down. I slumped over onto a pillow and watched as Owen paced around the living room.
Owen glanced over at Noah with an annoyed look. “Yeah, Noah was just saying he was going to go get her some more clothes. He’ll have the concierge or whoever on the floor down from ours help him. I’m sure between the two of them they can manage.”
Noah leaned down and asked, “Any requests from your closet?”
I shook my head. “No, just clothes.”
He scratched his head like it was a foreign concept that I might not have a list of things to tell him. Standing back up he signaled to Owen and walked down the hall to the front door.
“She’s fine, I promise. Noah just made her a Fleming margarita.”
He paused. “I know she’s tiny, that’s what I told him. We’ll get it straightened out. Are you sure you want her moved?”
“Moved?” I asked Owen.
“I’ll let you tell her.”
Owen handed me the phone and wandered back to the kitchen.
“Hello?” I said.
“Hey baby, feeling okay?” Brock asked.
“Yeah, your brothers were just filling me in on your sordid youth. We ate some steaks from room service and obviously we were having a few drinks. Apparently, I’m a lightweight. Just tipsy I think. Owen was getting me some water earlier.”
As if on cue, Owen set
a water in front of me and I took several drinks.
“Yeah my family has their own specialty drinks that you might want to avoid. Other than that, are they behaving themselves?”
I sighed. “You know, for a person that wants the truth so much from me, you’ve lied a few times and I’m not particularly happy about it.”
“Andi, my objective was to find the asshole that fucked with my information. They hacked into some servers and pulled out data to feed it to Aiden’s competition. I told you I would do anything to protect my family. Aiden’s interests included.”
I huffed. “Okay, I guess I can understand that but you can’t have a double standard for me and then not expect some fallout when you clearly didn’t let me know things either. You want me to trust you and you aren’t willing to impart information. It could have been as simple as telling me one of your brothers was helping. And that car thing yesterday, that would have been the prime opportunity for you to say something.”
I could hear Brock sigh. “Would you believe me if I said it slipped my mind in the middle of everything that happened yesterday?”
“No,” I said pertly.
“I’ll be home later tonight and we can talk about it. Just be a sweet girl and do what you’re told. The hotel isn’t the safest place right now so you’ll be moved to my house.”
I pulled the phone back from my face and scowled at it for a minute.
“Sweet girl?” I asked, and heard Owen let out a slow whistle from across the room. I looked at him and he tried to act like he hadn’t heard that comment.
“Brock, Ian, whoever you are, I don’t have to do what I’m told. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. What do you mean it’s not safe?”
Brock growled. “You can call me whatever you want Andi, Andromeda, but you need to listen to my brothers until I get back.”
“No, tell me what’s going on.”
“Okay, here it is sweetheart. Maggie was picked up this morning when she was caught in the server room.”
I frowned. “That doesn’t add up. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan but she doesn’t strike me as the brightest person. From what you indicated, this person had some serious skills.”
“She was hauled out of the building this morning along with someone else. I don’t feel comfortable with you at the hotel just in case.”
I was confused, none of this had to do with me specifically. It didn’t explain why I had two insane Fleming men guarding me and keeping me in the penthouse.
Noah and two hotel workers came through the front door with two suitcases and a duffel bag. They set them in the hallway then Noah tipped the workers, who left afterward.
I was starting to sober up the longer I sat talking with Brock. It was likely from the water but it was also partially from my temper that was on the rise. Moving me to his house looked like I was “moving” as in moving in. Most of my clothing that I had brought to the hotel and Drew’s probably fit into those suitcases.
“Brock, catching your mole, if Maggie is honestly involved, has nothing to do with me. Frankly, now that you have caught her, kind of, our deal is off technically. I agreed to help and that was the extent of things. Now you’re moving my clothing and me to your house? Why are your brothers here? And where the hell are you? None of this makes any sense.”
“I can’t tell you where I’m at right now,” he said before pausing. “You’ll flip out. I’m just asking you to trust me and be patient for a little longer. I’ll explain everything when I get back. Things aren’t done with us at all Andi, so get used to it. You’re part of my family now.”
“What does that even mean?!”
“I’ll tell you later.”
I clenched my fist around the phone and hissed, “Brock, this is ridiculous! This is exactly why we can’t be together. Double. Standards.”
“Andi—”
I hung up on him. His brothers were looking at me and chuckling until I turned my full glare on them. They managed to wipe the smiles off their faces for the most part.
Brock’s loaner phone started ringing again, so I popped the cover plates off and removed the battery. Then took the pieces through the dining room and outside onto the patio where I threw them in the pool.
Screw him.
I passed by Owen and Noah when I came back. Both were laughing so hard they looked like they were going to fall down.
Narrowing my eyes, I turned on both of them. “After you two hyenas are done being idiots, I would like to go back to my room.”
Owen responded first, still chuckling. “No can do, baby girl. We need to get you back to Ian’s house.”
I threw my hands in the air in frustration. “Why? Will one of you please explain this to me?”
Owen looked pensive for a moment while Noah’s cell started to ring.
I pointed to Noah. “If that’s Brock, I don’t want to talk to him.”
He nodded. “Oh, I get it little sis. God you’re perfect for him.”
“I AM NOT YOUR SIS!” I yelled as he walked away laughing again.
Owen put his arm around my shoulder. “We have to go. There’s some stuff that happened today and we can’t stick around here if Ian says we need to get going.”
I looked up at him feeling frustrated and confused.
“I don’t understand, Owen. What’s happened?”
He sighed. “Maggie and that attorney Robert were both picked up today. Robert knows who you are so I’m not sure if he’ll talk about it or not. Or maybe if he has talked about it with someone. Ian hasn’t exactly filled us in about it but if he’s worried about all of this then we’re going to do what he advised us to do.”
“Drew! I have to get him.”
I tried to step back from him but he grabbed my shoulders.
“Aiden and my brother made a statement in the lobby earlier. He’s taking care of whatever needs to happen.”
“You don’t understand! It’s not just my identity that’s the problem. Even if he fixes things for me with the fake identity thing it’s also my parents and whatever they were involved in.”
Owen frowned but didn’t let go. “What do you mean?”
I hesitated for a moment.
“They owed a lot of money to someone. Those people sent these guys to the house and they were threatening them. They said that they gave them some money for their business to start it. Then they said that because they were making a lot of money that they owed them a debt or something. I don’t know what they meant but one of the guys beat me in front of my parents and Drew. They said if my parents didn’t give them the money they were going to kill us.”
“Okay, what else?”
My lip started trembling and my eyes watered. “My parents tried to blow it off the next day. They didn’t care what happened. Then they said they were going to work but I took some money and left with Drew. Then the next thing I knew, the news reported that they had been arrested. It was the same day we left. The same day! If we had stayed those people might have come back and killed us both.”
“Does Ian know this?”
“No. I didn’t tell him because I was going to leave.”
“So, they were trying to extort money for your lives? You and Drew?”
Tears were steadily running down my face now. It was too much and I hadn’t told anyone what had truly happened. Ever. Not even Drew.
“Owen, if Drew and I were killed, there was a two-million-dollar insurance policy for each of us.”
Owen blanched.
“I found the policies in my dad’s safe before I left. Someone would have gotten paid if we both died. My parents would have forked over the money, I have no doubt about that. They left us alone, not knowing I was going to take off with Drew.”
Owen’s grip eased on my shoulders. “So, if those policies are still in place—”
I shook my head. “Robert said he thought we were missing. I don’t know what that means. I’m wondering if someone declared us missing. Do insurance policies
cancel when you’re missing?”
Owen shook his head. “No. But if someone wanted to claim the insurance it’s hard if the person is missing and there’s no proof of death. It normally has to go through the court and even then it has to meet certain conditions. After seven years it can be claimed on a missing person. My parents dealt with it when Ava went missing. I just can’t wrap my head around that one though in your situation. Why would they do that?”
“Because they never loved us. Ever. Maybe Drew, but his time would have run out eventually.”
Owens brows dipped. “What do you mean?”
“They hit me,” I whispered. “As soon as I turned twelve, I couldn’t do anything to make them happy and they were angry all the time. I was dispensable to them. Drew would have gotten it too if things hadn’t happened the way they did. Those insurance policies sort of prove it, don’t they?”
He blinked at me for a second like he was in thought. “Back up for a minute. They hit you?”
“All the time. Just trust me when I say that we weren’t important.”
Owen looked over my shoulder. “Get everything?”
I turned around and found Noah standing a couple of feet behind me with his phone held out. He put it back to his ear as my face turned into a grimace.
He glanced at me then said, “Ian did you get that?”
I shrugged Owen’s hands off my shoulder forcefully and scowled at both of them.
Noah nodded. “Got it. We’ll be headed there shortly.”
I turned away from both of them. None of them got it. I didn’t know any of them well enough to say that they were capable of anything at this point.
Noah and Owen seemed skilled in certain things based on their job descriptions but had they ever dealt with this?
Brock had lied, which might not have been as big of a deal had he been up front on the phone about what was happening or where he was at.
Lies and secrets. Everyone told them and had them.
I wondered if Brock regretted chasing after mine yet.
Chapter Thirteen
Noah had given me something that I doubt Brock was aware of yet.
Chase (Lakefield Book 4) Page 13
